Herceg Novi

What to see and do

• Kanli Kula (Bloody Tower), the Ottoman fortress at the top of the Old Town and a notorious prison during Ottoman rule (1482-1687). In 1960 it became a summer stage with 1,000 seats, rebuilt again after the 1979 earthquake. Ticket €4 (€3 each in groups of 10 or more); open daily 09:00-19:00.
• Forte Mare, the sea fortress below the Old Town and the oldest of the three, tied to the town's founding in 1382; an open-air cinema since 1952. Same ticket and hours as Kanli Kula.
• Španjola on Bajer hill (170 m) above the town: built by the Spanish in 1538 after Andrea Doria's fleet arrived, retaken and rebuilt by the Ottomans under Barbarossa in 1539-1548. It is the least accessible of the three, a separate climb above the town outside the ticketed pair in the Old Town.
• The Clock Tower (1667, 16 m), the main town gate under the Ottomans and the symbol on the coat of arms; inside hangs a bell donated by Catherine II of Russia in 1753, next to a relief of the founder from 1982.
• The King Tvrtko I monument, 5.6 m and 1.2 tonnes, by Dragan Dimitrijević, unveiled on 28 October 2013 for the town's 631st anniversary.
• The Herceg Novi City Museum (Mirko Komnenović), founded in 1949 and opened on 28 October 1953 in the house the mayor left to the town; the ground-floor door still carries the names of Russian soldiers, carved with bayonets in 1807.
• Ivo Andrić's house in the cultural centre, the Njegoš school by the Church of the Holy Saviour in Topla (consecrated 1713), and the island fortress of Mamula at the mouth of the bay.
• Boat tours along the Boka call at Mamula, the former submarine base, the Blue Cave and Žanjice.
• Paragliding from Dizdarica (900 m) above the town.

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Old town

The Old Town climbs from Forte Mare on the shore to Kanli Kula at the top; the town's own slogan for it is "100,001 steps". The passage through the Clock Tower is the main entrance, with a "black" Madonna carved from burnt olive wood inside it. The upper square is named after Herceg Stjepan Vukčić Kosača, who built the first walls of Forte Mare in the first half of the 15th century. The two fortresses charge entry; the alleys, squares and steps between them are free, and Kanli Kula and Forte Mare are a few minutes apart on foot.

Beaches

The bathing season runs from May to October, when the water is tested. The beaches with their own pages here:

• In town: Blatna plaža (Mud Beach) at Igalo, about 3 km from the centre, where the sea mud next to the Igalo physiotherapy institute is used free of charge for self-treatment; Rafaelo at Topla, sand and pebble with cafés behind it.
• At the mouth of the bay: Njivice, 4 km from Herceg Novi, several beaches with shallow water for children, a naturist section and rocks towards Igalo; the Hotel Iberostar bathing area there held the municipality's only Blue Flag in 2026.
• On Luštica, by road or by boat: Žanjice, pebble backed by olive groves, with a landing for small boats; Mirišta, sand and concrete between Žanjic cove and Mirište cape; Dobreč, a pebble cove reached only from the sea.

History in brief

Tvrtko I founded the town in May 1382 in the bay of Topla as a salt-trading rival to Dubrovnik and named it Sveti Stefan; it was also known as Novi and Castel Nuovo. Ottoman rule lasted about two centuries, to 1687, broken by the Spanish interlude of 1538-39. Venice held the town until 1797, then Austria (to 1806), Russia (to 1807), France (to 1814) and Austria again. After the First World War the Boka joined the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes, proclaimed in 1918; the local date for the step is 1923. The 10th Herceg Novi brigade liberated the town on 28 October 1944, now the municipal day.

Getting there and around

Road distances from the town centre, with free-flow driving times that leave out traffic and the ferry crossing and its queue. The Tivat, Kotor and Budva figures use the Kamenari-Lepetane car ferry; the road round the bay is longer.

• Dubrovnik Airport is under 40 km away, with the border crossing on the way.
• No railway.
• Parking in town is zoned: purple €1.50 an hour (1 h maximum), red €1 an hour (day ticket €8), blue €0.80 (day €6), yellow €0.60 (day €4). In July and August charging runs daily 07:00-24:00. SMS payment works only from Montenegrin numbers.
• Orjen Nature Park is about 20 minutes by car from the turn off the Adriatic Highway, on the Herceg Novi-Trebinje road, or under two hours on foot on the marked trail from the centre.

When to visit

Herceg Novi counts more than 250 sunny days a year. The sea season is May to October; the coastal hiking season runs from mid-April to the end of October, and Orjen is a place for full-moon walks. Winter belongs to the festivals:

• Mimosa Festival (Praznik mimoze), founded in 1969, from mid-February to early March, about two weeks of programme (13-28 February in 2026).
• Herceg Novi Winter Salon (art), first held on 15 January 1967.
• HAPS theatre festival in April, since 1996.
• Choose Vision techno events at Forte Mare in June.
• Days of Music (classical), since 2004, and the Operosa opera festival.

Nearby

• Orjen: 1,895 m in the official survey (1,894 m for Veliki kabao in the park's own figures), the highest point of the coastal Dinarides and a nature park since 2018, with more than 250 km of marked trails in the hinterland. The trail to Veliki kabao, built for Crown Prince Rudolf, is the oldest purpose-built hiking trail in Montenegro.
• Kotor, the UNESCO walled town at the far end of the bay, 30 km.
• Tivat, 20 km, with the airport and Porto Montenegro, across the bay.
• Portonovi, the marina and resort at Kumbor, about 6 km east of the town.
• Perast, 29 km, and Our Lady of the Rocks, on the way to Kotor.

Questions

Which airport for Herceg Novi?

Tivat is 23.5 km and about 39 minutes with the Kamenari-Lepetane ferry, longer round the bay. Dubrovnik is under 40 km but means a border crossing in both directions.

Can you see all three fortresses in a day?

Kanli Kula and Forte Mare are a few minutes apart inside the Old Town, both €4 and open 09:00-19:00 in season. Španjola is a separate climb to Bajer hill (170 m).

Where are the sandy beaches?

Rafaelo (sand and pebble), Mirišta (sand and concrete) and the mud beach at Igalo have sand; Žanjice and Dobreč are pebble. Njivice is the shallow one for children.