Rumija

Key facts

Peaks and the Bar mountains

Rumija is the highest of the mountains of the Bar municipality; its central massif rises from about 800 m to the 1,594 m summit. The others are Lisinj, 1,353 m, Sutorman and Sozina, 1,185 m each, Vrsuta, 1,183 m, and Velja Trojica, 1,132 m. The road from Virpazar to Bar crosses the ridge at the Sutorman pass, 790 m, which is also the highest point of the national Top Trail 5 cycling loop. A viewpoint named Sutorman, built in the shape of a threshing floor (guvno), looks over the lake and the mountains, and Vrsuta has a paragliding take-off at 1,133 m for south, south-east and south-west winds. On the sea side, the Tuđemili viewpoint above Bar frames the town, the sea and the peaks of Rumija, Lisinj and Sutorman, with free parking.

Hikes

The Bar tourist board's hiking map, "Hiking Between Two Magical Shores", covers the marked trails on both sides of the ridge, along the lake and along the coast, graded easy, medium and difficult. The summit routes and the shorter walks around Rumija:

Plan the summit day by length and grade: Dobri do is the shorter and harder approach, Gornja Briska the longer and gentler one. The slopes are also one of the areas where wild herbs are gathered. The general rules for marked trails are on the hiking page; the emergency number 112 covers mountain rescue.

The coastal transversal

Rumija is one end of the Coastal Mountain Transversal (Primorska planinarska transverzala), the marked long-distance route Orjen-Lovćen-Rumija that belongs to the national network of marked trails. Under the law on mountain trails a transversal is a set of trails joined into one whole, with control points that hold logbooks and stamps, looked after by clubs of the mountaineering association.

The lake side

Towards the lake the mountain drops to the shore of Lake Skadar, and the slopes above Murići form part of the border zone of Skadar Lake National Park. The park has no major summit of its own: Rumija is the ridge between its basin and the sea.

Getting there and season

Bar is the base: 56 km and about 1 h 5 min by car from Podgorica through the Sozina tunnel, 49 km (about 57 min) from Podgorica Airport and 31.5 km (about 41 min) from Ulcinj, free-flow driving times. Virpazar on the lake is reached from Bar over the Sutorman pass. The season for the coastal mountains is mid-April to the end of October, earlier and longer than for the high mountains of the north.

Nearby

On the sea side: Old Bar, the beaches of Bar, the Haj-Nehaj fortress above Sutomore and Ulcinj to the south. On the lake side: Virpazar and Skadar Lake National Park. Lovćen and Orjen are the other two mountains of the coastal transversal.

Questions

How high is Rumija?

1,594 m. The massif rises from about 800 m, and the other Bar mountains are lower: Lisinj 1,353 m, Sutorman and Sozina 1,185 m, Vrsuta 1,183 m and Velja Trojica 1,132 m.

Which trail goes to the top?

Two marked routes: Gornja Briska to Rumija, 5.1 km and medium, or Dobri do to Rumija, 4 km and difficult. Both are on the Bar tourist board's hiking map.

Is Rumija a national park?

No. Its slopes above Murići on the lake side are the border zone of Skadar Lake National Park, but the mountain itself has no park status.

When is the season?

Mid-April to the end of October, the season for the coastal mountains.