Budva

What to see and do

• The Old Town: the walls walk (€2, April to November, 10:00-20:00, run by the municipal museums) and the Citadel (€5, free for Budva residents with a Budva ID card) are two separate tickets from two separate operators.
• The Budva City Museum at Petra I Petrovića 11: four levels and over 400 m², three of them archaeology from the Hellenistic, Roman and late antique necropolis excavated after the 1979 earthquake, the top floor ethnography. Adults €5, children 12-18 €3, under 12 free. The building opened in 2003.
• The churches of the Old Town: Santa Maria in Punta, the oldest; St John (Sv. Ivan), with the remains of an early Christian basilica; Holy Trinity; St Sava.
• The Mogren Fortress on Spas hill above the second Mogren beach, built in 1860 as an Austrian barracks, one of three fortresses on the riviera with Đurđevac (15th century) and Kosmač (19th century). Damaged in 1979 and never restored.
• The Ballerina of Budva, a bronze dancer by Gradimir Aleksić on a rock between the Old Town and Mogren, on this spot since 1965.
• Sveti Nikola island (Školj), less than 1 km offshore, with three sandy beaches totalling 840 m; small boats cross from Budva and the nearby beaches.
• Paragliding from Brajići (731 m): tandem flights of about 10-15 minutes land on Bečići beach.
• Diving: clubs operate in Budva, Pržno, Sveti Stefan and Petrovac, and no diving permit is required. The seabed has gorgonian and coral colonies and posidonia meadows.
• Further along the riviera: the Sveti Stefan islet, the Praskvica and Podmaine monasteries and the Kosmač fortress.

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Old town

Medieval walls, a citadel, towers and gates enclose the Old Town, and Roman columns survive inside. The earthquake of 15 April 1979 badly damaged it; the restoration took the following decade. Budva was first recognised as a major archaeological site in 1938, and the Hellenistic and Roman necropolis was dug in 1957-1958 and again, on a large scale, after the earthquake. The Old Town is on neither the UNESCO World Heritage List nor Montenegro's tentative list, which names Cetinje, Stari Bar, Doclea, Biogradska gora and Ulcinj. Inside the walls are also the Modern Gallery and the Stefan Mitrov Ljubiša memorial house; cars stay outside.

Beaches

Budva had 18 of Montenegro's 36 Blue Flag bathing areas in 2026, more than any other municipality; the flag goes to a concession, not to a whole beach. Half of every public bathing area, measured by length, must stay free of loungers and umbrellas and be marked as such, so there is always room for your own towel; on the furnished half, one umbrella with two loungers needs at least 8 m². Hotel bathing areas may be furnished throughout. Loungers on leased areas are free after 17:00 only for citizens of Montenegro showing an ID card.

• In town: Mogren, two sandy beaches joined by a tunnel, 350 m, about 500 m on foot from the Old Town along a cliff path that is unsafe in a south wind and big waves; Ričardova glava, about 100 m of pebble under the walls in front of Hotel Avala; Slovenska plaža, the 1,600 m town beach from the harbour to Hotel Park, pebble with sand in places, with a pet-friendly area in the middle.
• Towards Kotor and Tivat: Jaz, two parts of about 800 m and 400 m, pebble with a sandy seabed, a campsite behind it and four Blue Flag areas in 2026, a few kilometres west of the town.
• Bečići to Sveti Stefan: Bečići, about 2,000 m of sand with four flagged areas and a promenade back to the Old Town; Kamenovo, 330 m of sand beside the main road; Pržno, 260 m in front of the old fishing village; Miločer (King's Beach), 280 m of fine sand in front of the former Karađorđević palace; Kraljičina plaža, 200 m, named for Queen Maria; Sveti Stefan, two beaches either side of the isthmus, 1,170 m in total, with pink and reddish stone; Drobni pijesak, 250 m in a cove about 1 km off the Sveti Stefan-Petrovac road, flagged in 2026.
• Petrovac: Petrovac, 600 m of reddish sand along the promenade, with the Katič and Sveta Nedjelja islets offshore; Lučice, about 220 m of fine sand 500 m south of Petrovac; Buljarica, 2,250 m, the longest on the riviera and second in Montenegro after Ulcinj's, sandy near Petrovac and mostly pebble further on, with three flagged areas and a marsh behind it that shelters rare birds; Perazića Do, just 40 m, below Reževići monastery.

Families with small children do best on the sandy, shallow beaches (Bečići, Lučice, Mogren); Slovenska plaža and Jaz have the most bars, cafés and sports courts, and Jaz is the venue for big concerts.

Getting around

• City buses leave from Mediteranska street, at the roundabout opposite café Perla. The Sveti Stefan line runs every 10 minutes from 06:00 to 22:00 and then less often until 01:30; the Petrovac line about hourly from 06:10 to 23:10; both run all year. The Jaz-Trsteno-Ploče line runs 08:00-19:15 and the aqua park line hourly 10:00-18:00. Operator: Mediteran Express, Trg sunca 2, +382 33 451 089.
• Taxi stands: Slovenska obala by the Zeta film building, the Mercur bus station, Slovenska plaža, the Bečići hotel complex and Petrovac bus station.
• A promenade links the Old Town, Slovenska plaža, the Zavala tunnel, Bečići and Kamenovo on foot.
• Tourist information: Mediteranska street, 08:00-21:00, +382 33 695 275; further points in the Old Town (+382 33 452 750), Pržno, Rafailovići, Bečići and Petrovac.

History in brief

Legend credits the founding to Cadmus of Thebes and links the name to the Greek word for ox. A necropolis was found in 1937; Saracens sacked the town in 841. Venice ruled from 1442 (some accounts give 1420) to 1797; an Ottoman attack came in 1571 and an earthquake in 1667. Austria took over in 1797, a short Russian-Montenegrin period followed in 1806-07, then the French (1807-13) and Austria again for over a century. The Cetinje-Budva road opened in 1931 and the first modern hotel, Avala, in 1939.

Getting there

Tivat is the airport for Budva; Podgorica is an hour and a half away and Dubrovnik about 65 km. Driving times are road times without traffic, from the town centre.

• No railway. The nearest stations are Sutomore (about 35 km), Bar (about 40 km) and Podgorica (about 65 km).
• Bus station: +382 33 456 000. The Adriatic Highway (E65) runs through the town between Herceg Novi and Ulcinj, and the M2 road climbs over Cetinje to Podgorica.

When to visit

The bathing season runs from May to October, when the bathing water is tested and the beaches have lifeguards. The calendar around it:

• International Budva Carnival, late April or early May.
• Grad teatar festival in the Old Town, held since 1987, July and August.
• Sea Dance electronic music festival, late August.
• Petrovac Jazz Festival, early September; Dan širuna (fish, wine and beer), October.
• Municipality Day around 22 November.

Nearby

• Kotor, the walled UNESCO town on the bay, 24 km.
• Tivat, the airport town, 23 km to the airport.
• Cetinje, 31 km up the M2 road, and from there Podgorica.
• Bar, 43 km, with the nearest railway station.
• Lovćen National Park, which lies in the municipalities of Budva and Cetinje; its Kraljevo počivalo viewpoint looks over Budva, Tivat and the Bay of Kotor.

Questions

Which beach is closest to the Old Town?

Ričardova glava is right under the walls, and Mogren is about 500 m along the coastal path, which is best avoided in a south wind. Slovenska plaža starts at the harbour on the other side.

Walls or Citadel?

Two tickets, two operators: the walls (€2, April to November, 10:00-20:00) belong to the museum institution, and the Citadel (€5, free for Budva residents) is run separately. The walls are the cheaper view; the Citadel is the one at the tip.

How often is the bus to Sveti Stefan?

Every 10 minutes from 06:00 to 22:00, then less often until 01:30, from Mediteranska street.

Is the beach free?

Yes, by rule: half of every public bathing area, by length, is kept free of loungers and umbrellas for people with their own towel. Loungers on the furnished half are rented; under the current rule they are free after 17:00 only for citizens of Montenegro with an ID card.