Ulcinj

What to see and do

• The Old Town and Balšić Tower on the rock above the harbour, one of the oldest urban ensembles on the Adriatic, with about 25 centuries of life inside the walls. The citadel on the highest plateau is attributed to the last Balšićs; the tower, with later Ottoman additions, is now a gallery, and the town museum is inside the walls.
• The Clock Tower, built in 1754 from donations of the townspeople and placed so that it could be seen or heard from every part of town; a keeper called the muvekit looked after its accuracy.
• Slave Square in front of the Church-Mosque, where captives were held for ransom from the mid-17th century, and the Cervantes monument: the writer's captivity in Ulcinj (captured 1575, freed 1580) is a legend rather than a record, and in 2018 the town ran a competition for a Cervantes and Dulcinea sculpture.
• The Freedom Monument.
• Ulcinj Salina, the former salt works built in the 1930s, where production stopped in 2013: a nature park declared by the municipality in June 2019 and Ramsar site no. 2399 since 10 September 2019, 14.9 km² in the delta of the Bojana with 252 recorded bird species. It is the place for birdwatching outside the beach season.
• The Bojana (Buna), the outflow of Lake Skadar to the sea, 40 km long with 30 km in Montenegro as the border river with Albania; Ada Bojana sits at its mouth. Šasko jezero (3.6 km²) lies in the same lowland, with the ruins of the old town of Šas above it.

Old town

Finds point to about 2,500 years of settlement, among them a gem from the 5th century BC. Pliny the Elder called the town Colchinium, later Olcinium; in 168 BC it surrendered to Rome without a fight and became a town of Roman citizens. The Balšić family ruled Ulcinj from 1360 to 1421 and had their capital here at the end of the 14th and the beginning of the 15th century; about 150 years of Venetian rule followed. The Ottomans took the town in 1571, just before Lepanto, and held it until 1878/80; it was annexed to Montenegro in 1880. In 2017 Ulcinj was nominated for the World Heritage list together with the Venetian Works of Defence but not inscribed, because the Venetian layer was judged insufficiently preserved; the Old Town has been on Montenegro's tentative list since 2018.

Beaches

The bathing season runs from May to October. Eleven bathing areas on Velika plaža held the Blue Flag in 2026 (Toni Gril, Miami, Evropa, Saranda, White Beach, Hills, MCM Beach, Cabo Beach, Havana, Barbossa, Copacabana); the flag belongs to those concessions, not to the whole 13 km.

• Mala plaža, the 360 m town beach directly below the Old Town: very fine sand on the shore and the seabed, shallow far out, with restaurants behind it and a small harbour at the Old Town end.
• Velika plaža, 13 km of fine sand from the town to the mouth of the Bojana, the kitesurfing and windsurfing beach; the pet-friendly area is Mojito beach in the centre. Bathing areas with their own pages: Tropicana, the first private beach in Montenegro (Blue Flag 2003-2012); Safari, built in eco style with a kitesurf school (flagged to 2018); MCM at the 3rd km of the road to Ada Bojana, flagged in 2026, with a playground and parking.
• Ada Bojana, about 3 km of sand on the island at the river mouth, known as a naturist beach and, with its steady wind, as a kite and windsurf spot; the shoreline shifts from year to year, and the island is known for its fish restaurants.
• Ženska plaža (Women's Beach), a rocky cove with a cave between Hotel Albatros and the former Hotel Galeb, reserved for women from May to October by long custom; by tradition, women hoping to conceive bathe nude there at dawn.
• Valdanos, a pebble bay (stones of 1-20 cm) four nautical miles north-west of town, reached by the main road from Ulcinj; its published length ranges from 376 m to 800 m.

Families and non-swimmers do best on Mala plaža and the shallow town end of Velika plaža; wind sports gather towards Ada Bojana.

History in brief

The town's story runs from the Illyrian Ardiaei and Roman Olcinium through Byzantine, Balšić, Venetian and Ottoman rule to Montenegro in 1880. From 1571 Ulcinj was a pirate base, and the slave market worked from the mid-17th century; the Cervantes legend belongs to that Ottoman period. Salt production at the Salina, the town's 20th-century industry, ended in 2013, before the site became a protected wetland.

Getting there and around

• Podgorica Airport about 95 km; Tivat Airport about 84 km. Podgorica-Ulcinj is 95 km by road.
• No railway; the nearest station and the Italy ferry are in Bar.
• Border crossings to Albania at Sukobin, Božaj and Grnčar.
• Velika plaža and Ada Bojana are reached by the road from town towards Ada; the MCM area marks the 3rd km.

When to visit

The sea season is May to October, the same months the women's beach is in use. Summer brings a programme of town events published each year; the Salina draws birdwatchers in spring and autumn, outside the beach season.

Nearby

• Bar, the port, railway and ferry town up the coast; Veliki pijesak at Dobra Voda lies about 10 km from Bar on the Ulcinj road.
• Podgorica, 95 km.
• Lake Skadar, whose outflow the Bojana is; the lake and the Bojana delta form a wetland complex of about 1,000 km².
• Rumija (1,594 m) between the lake and the sea, above Bar.

Questions

Is all of Velika plaža Blue Flag?

No. Eleven concessions along it held the flag in 2026; the open stretches between them have none.

Which beach is in town?

Mala plaža, 360 m of fine sand directly below the Old Town, with the harbour at one end.

Is Ada Bojana a nudist beach?

It is known as a naturist beach, and the island also has a hotel bathing area with water sports, volleyball and a restaurant. Ženska plaža in town is a different case: women only, by custom, from May to October.