Budva

Budva is a city in Montenegro.

Direction Cetinje, Podgorica
Walk out of the city on the main road in direction south. After maybe 10 minutes, the mountain road to Cetinje and Podgorica starts. There is a bus station which makes a perfect hitchhiking spot, and you'll be very likely to meet other hitchhikers there.

Direction Albania
Even though the way via Ulcinj might be the shortest, you should definitely consider going via Cetinje and Podgorica. You won't make it in one lift, but getting to Podgorica is pretty easy and from there you can hitch the main road between Montenegro and Albania.

Public Transport
Budva's bus station is a 5-7 euro taxi ride, or a 20 minute walk, to "Stari Grad" or the old stone walled city. There is no inter-city bus from the bus station to Stari Grad. It's pretty well connected to major cities in Montenegro, Bosnia, Croatia, Macedonia and Serbia. No online schedule, though and the times and frequencies vary widely from season to season.

Places to Visit
Budva's "Stari Grad" or old town is worth a gander, but if you're short on time, head for Kotor instead. It's far more "alternative lifestyle" friendly.

Budva's Stari Grad is heavily reconstructed, has very narrow stone paved walkways (nice in the off-season, but almost completely un-navigable amidst the throngs of tourists in the summer), and is filled with overpriced shops hawking the latest designer fashions appealing primarily to Russian and Eastern European tastes.

Budva has some pebbly beaches (not a lot of sand here) with clear water. However, many of them packed shoulder to shoulder with tourists during the summer months and backed by outdoor bars with pounding dance music. Approximately 1/2 of the beach front are filled with pay-per-use chairs and umbrellas that - as of summer 2009 - will run you about 10 euro for 2 chairs and an umbrella. Otherwise you can cast your towel onto the pebbles on the "free" areas.

Some great and free beaches are at the north end of the town, behind the old city. Not easy to find and thus much less crowded.

Places to Avoid
Most of it. Outside of Stari Grad, Budva is mostly a mix of hastily unattractively constructed apartments and tourist accommodations.

Accommodation and Sleep
You'll find plentiful rooms (Sobe) outside the wall of Stari Grad ranging from 10 euro per person per night in the off-season to as much as 30 euro per person per night in the summer. Hotels can be 200 euro and up during high season.

The Hippo Hostel in IV Proleterska is a pretty cool backpackers hostel for EUR 12 per night.

Sleeping on the beach might get you into trouble with the police. isin: Montenegro

Budva Budva