Bijelo Polje

What to see and do

• Church of Saints Peter and Paul, the most visited church in town, tied to Miroslav's Gospel (Miroslavljevo jevanđelje), the oldest Cyrillic manuscript.
• Homeland Museum (Zavičajni muzej), founded in 1957 in a building of 1905 put up for the Ottoman secondary school, the ruždija, which had existed in the town since 1871. Other collections are on the museums page.
• Monument to Fallen Fighters near the Lim in the town centre.
• Đalovića cave (Pećina nad Vražjim firovima), the longest cave in Montenegro, with about 20 km of passages surveyed over 29 years, an 18 m stalagmite called Monolit and a hall of about 100 by 40 m. It lies in the Đalovića gorge, a protected natural monument since 1968 (1,106 ha). The village of Đalovići is 48 km from town, the last 8 km on gravel, then about two hours on foot to the main entrance at 764 m. The cave is not open to tourists: it is entered only by experienced cavers with a permit. The caves that can be visited are on the caves page.
• Novakovića cave in the Vraneška valley, 28 km from town, and the Osoja cave; neither has tourist access.
• Fly fishing on the Lim: the Bijelo Polje zone runs from Gubavač to the Gošino bridge, for grayling, trout, huchen and cyprinids; every huchen caught must be released until 1 April 2029. The Lim here is also a rafting river. Other zones are on the fly-fishing page.
• Paragliding from Turjak (1,835 m), the Bijelo Polje take-off, which flies in winds from north through west to south, the widest range of any site in the country; see the paragliding page.

Bjelasica and skiing

The town sits on the north-east side of Bjelasica, whose highest point, Crna glava, is 2,137 m in the official survey. The local slope is Majstorovina on Bjelasica at 930 m, with a surface lift from 2009 and a 300 m piste. The state company Skijališta Crne Gore is building the Cmiljača ski centre on Bjelasica about 14 km from Bijelo Polje, with a base at 1,570 m and a six-seat Leitner chairlift, planned to link with Žarski above Mojkovac and the Kolašin centres; a mountain hut at the base is open to hikers, and Torine, about 25 km from town, is a further planned resort. Until those open, the working resorts are Kolašin 1450 and Kolašin 1600, 50.1 km away by road; all centres are compared on the skiing page. Biogradska gora National Park, with Biogradsko jezero at 1,094 m, lies on the Kolašin side of the massif, and its buffer zone reaches Bijelo Polje municipality. The hiking season on Bjelasica runs from June to October.

History in brief

The Church of Saints Peter and Paul ties the town to the medieval manuscript tradition of Miroslav's Gospel. Under Ottoman rule a ruždija secondary school opened in 1871, and in 1905 it moved into the building that has housed the Homeland Museum since 1957. The town was freed from Ottoman rule in 1912. The Đalovića gorge was protected in 1968, and the survey of the cave that made it the country's longest took 29 years.

Getting there and around

• By train: Bijelo Polje station is on the Bar-Belgrade line, the last stop in Montenegro before Serbia. Four local trains a day run from Podgorica; from Bar the local train takes 3 h 10 to 3 h 39 and costs €7. Station telephone +382 50 478 560.
• By air: Podgorica Airport is 117.6 km away, about 2 h 22 min by road; Tivat Airport 191.6 km, about 3 h 49 min.
• By road: the Lim valley road runs upstream to Berane and downstream to the Serbian border; the main road south leads through Mojkovac to Kolašin and on to Podgorica.
• Health: Opšta bolnica Bijelo Polje, the general hospital, Medanovići bb, telephone +382 50 684 142; the health centre (Dom zdravlja), Voja Lješnjaka bb, telephone +382 50 432 327; ambulance 124. No pharmacy in town is open around the clock. Postcode 84000.

Road distances below are free-flow routing on OpenStreetMap data, without traffic or snow.

When to visit

The town's events run through the year: Ratkovićeve večeri poezije (Ratković's Poetry Evenings), held since 1970; the International Festival of Tamburica Orchestras in August; Dani riblje čorbe (Days of Fish Soup); Ušće Fest in summer; Bjelopoljski bazar; the Festival of Amateur Drama of Montenegro; and a New Year bazaar. The organisers announce the dates each year. June to October is the season for Bjelasica and the walk to Đalovića; the Kolašin ski centres open in December.

Nearby

• Berane, 34.9 km up the Lim valley.
• Kolašin, 50.1 km, the ski town on the same railway line, with Biogradska gora.
• Mojkovac, on the way to Kolašin, with the Žarski ski centre under construction.
• Pljevlja, 68.5 km, on the Ćehotina, which also flows through Bijelo Polje municipality.
• Rožaje, 65.3 km, below Hajla, and Plav, 75.4 km, at the foot of Prokletije.

Questions

Can you visit Đalovića cave?

Only the approach: 48 km by road to the village of Đalovići, the last 8 km on gravel, then about two hours on foot to the main entrance at 764 m in the Đalovića gorge. The cave itself is reserved for experienced cavers with a permit; there is no tourist route inside.

Is Bijelo Polje on the railway?

Yes. The station is on the Bar-Belgrade line, the last in Montenegro before Serbia, with four local trains a day from Podgorica.

How far is Bijelo Polje from Podgorica?

106.7 km by road, about 2 h 06 min; Podgorica Airport is 117.6 km, about 2 h 22 min.