Perast and Herceg Novi

Rounding out our tour of Adriatic Old Towns are Perast and Herceg Novi.

We hopped off the bus at Perast just 14 kms from Kotor and wandered around the town with our backpacks on. A few tourists, a few fishermen, several churches, wooden doors with floral carvings, and view of the two island churches under cloudy skies gives Perast a rating of 5.

Then on to Herceg Novi, another 30 kms or so around the Bay, where we scored a sea view room. The Old Town is compact and just about deserted when its raining. We liked the fact that Herceg Novi has a natural transition of the Old Town to the surrounding New Town; unlike Budva which goes directly from Old Town to resort. Plus the Church has matching palm trees (see photo) and the old train station is just outside the Old Town. Rating: 6

Perast with two islands.


Perast Fisherman




Doors with floral patterns.




Fire Station -  Perast.


Old Town Herceg Novi Church: day and night with palm trees!




Gate and Clock Tower.


Just outside the Herceg Novi Old Town.


The Old Railway Station.


And the view from our room.

Another Great Hike In Kotor

Another day, another great hike in Kotor; this time across the bay with views across to Kotor, not down.

The weather for yesterday's hike was sunny -  today cloudy with periods of sun.

At times the light and water made magic with Sun-Ling first mistaking the sea for clouds then the sun for the moon.

View of Kotor from across the bay.







A bit of a scramble across a collaspsed section of switchback.


Fellow walkers. The little ones stayed with us for 10 minutes.


Looking north over the Bay of Kotor.


Clouds or Sea?


Sun or Moon?


Kotor.


Ridge.


Ridge walks are a favorite.




Looking East towards the Adriatic with part of the runway at Tivat Airport visible at middle left.


A modern fortress.








Bonus Video.

Kotor

On a scale of 1 to 10, the Dubrovnik Old Town is a 9 (10 if there are no cruise ships), Budva a 3 and Kotor a 7. Stay tuned for Herceg Novi and Perast ratings. ;-)

The fact that Kotor is a harbor, not a beach resort makes it appealing to us.  A castle with churches and fortifications literally looms over the Old Town. The city wall is walkable. And we did two epic hikes starting right from our front door in the Old Town.

The Old Town. Our room was right below.


Old Town Church with the fortress behind.


More Old Town.


The waters of The Bay of Kotor are so clear that we could see fish from the city walls.






Old Town Gate.


And the Sea Gate.


Cathedral at night with fortress walls lit up behind.




View of city walls and fortress walls from the promenade.

Ladder Of Kotor - Best Hike Ever

Sun-Ling declared that today's hike up the mountain behind Kotor was our "best hike ever". We went from sea level to 950 meters (about 3100 feet) and back down in 8 hours mostly along the old road, with a castle, goats, rock scrambles, unexpected bridges, switchbacks, WWI trenches, great views of  Kotor Old Town, the Bay of Kotor, and the Adriatic. And more. The view from our turnaround point - the top is another 800 meters - cannot be adequately captured in words or photos.

In chronological order:

View from Castle to Old Town.




The Portal.




Switchbacks.














Gazing at the Bay of Kotor.


Scramble.


At 950 meters and still looking up.


View from our turn-around point.


Descending through a pine forest.