On our departure from Amman, Jordan, Dan and I had two airport lounge options though our Priority Pass: Royal Jordanian’s Crown Lounge or the unaffiliated Petra Lounge. After googling some other reviews, we started with the Crown Lounge and it was so nice that we never left to check out the Petra Lounge! The Crown Lounge was quite luxurious – definitely an upgrade from many Priority Pass lounges!
Luxurious sofas welcome guests.
Dan and I attended our friends Pryor’s and Bryan’s wedding earlier this month in Richmond, Virginia and, since my parents live in Virginia and I had not seen them alllll of quarantine, we met them for two fun-filled days of wine tasting in Charlottesville, Virginia before the wedding! While Dan and I have wine tasted all over the world, from Mendoza, to Stellenbosh, to Bordeaux, we had not spent a lot of time in Central Virginia, so we were pumped to try some VA wines, especially since I am from Central Viriginia!
Appropriate signage at Pollak Vineyards.
Dan & I are big wine fans, and we love trying wine in less popular wine destinations. For example, we’ve done wine tours in South Africa, Montenegro, and Mendoza, to name a few. We spent a long weekend in Belgrade, Serbia last fall and upon researching for our trip, learned that Serbia has a wine country! Yes, Serbia has a wine country (actually multiple ones!) that is quite good, complete with its own indigenous grapes! As such, we promptly booked a wine tour.
Sparking wine tasting at Aleksandrović Vineyards!
Our tour, which we did with Private Serbia Tours, took us around the Šumadija wine region in central Serbia to three different wineries. It was actually supposed to have been four wineries, but one was unexpectedly closed due to a sewage issue… Our tour started early in the morning with a pick up at our hotel in Belgrade. We were the only two on the tour, so after the pick up, we drove about an hour outside of Belgrade to visit the first winery. The drive was on a modern highway, and our guide told us that we were only a six hour drive from Thessoloniki. Had I know that, I would have tried to squeeze in some Greece on this trip! Once we got off the highway, the countryside was quite different than Belgrade. Few modern cards; lots of tractors and horse drawn contraptions.
The Serbian countryside.
We reached Despotika Winery, our first stop on this tour, about an hour or so after our pickup! Despotika is a young and hip winery, making grapes with both traditional (i.e. French) grapes and indigenous Serbian grapes. Despotika’s theme is – “We’re still not the oldest, biggest and most famous, but we decided to be the best.” Love it, and also love that Despotika lived up to this theme! In addition to being the best, Despotika is designed to be really cool, and the owners have put a lot of work into this place. Lots of art and cool architecture. This would be a fabulous place for a wedding!
Welcome to Despotika (that’s Despotika in Serbian Cyrillic on the flags).
One of the cool art installations on the property.
Despotika’s vineyards.
Our tour of Despotika began with a walk through the property, which included sightings of grapes being harvested and the extensive wine cellar, and ended with a tasting – and by tasting I mean nearly a full glass – of seven wines. Yes, seven wines. The tasting was a mix between white and reds and well known grapes and local varieties. The entirety of the tour took about 1.5 hours, and Despotika ended up being our favorite stop on the tour! I think Despotika had the coolest grounds and the best wine (true to its slogan!).
Barrel room.
Despotika also has a really interesting wine museum with lots of Serbian wine artifacts that we visited as part of the tour and a decent gift shop. Very interesting. Pro tip – buy Despotika wine at the vineyard. Prices at the vineyard were wayyy better than at the airport.
A really cool glass grape piece from Despotika’s museum. Would love this for my house!
After drinking a lot of good wine at Despotika, our guide drove us to the capital of the Šumadija region, Topola, for a visit to the well-known King’s Winery. The King’s Winery is part Serbian wine museum and part small winery. The King’s Winery started years ago when the Serbian Royal Family grew grapes on the surrounding hills and produced Trijumf (the name is currently in use by winery Aleksandrović) wine. Production stopped due to the conflicts in the area in the late 1900s, but picked back up in the early 2000s. Today, the King’s Winery produces a limited amount of wine each year, which you can purchase on the property.
The King’s Winery.
At the King’s Winery, we did a self-tour of the historic wine cellar, which has wine making equipment from the early 1900s and an amazing wine cellar housing some really old bottles. The visiting was quite interesting, and shed some light on historic Serbian wine production.
Some of those really old bottles in the Kings Winery.
After our self-guided walk-through the cellar, we tried two tiny tastings of the King Winery’s wine. These wines were not nearly as good as Despotika. But I guess good wine is not really the point of the Royal Winery…
Tiny tasting of red at the King’s Winery.
We skipped buying a bottle the King’s Winery. I mean, we we were worried about running into serious luggage weight issues… Since our third stop, which was also our lunch stop, was closed, we ended up having an al fresco lunch in the town of Topola (name that I cannot pronounce in the pic below).
The restaurant where we lunched!
For lunch, I finally tried the national Jelen beer and Dan and I both ordered pasta. The meal was fine, but the al fresco seating was the real winner. The restaurant’s terrace was lovely! If you do eat here, the portions are enormous, definitely large enough to share.
The final winery that we visited on this tour was Aleksandrović Winery. Aleksandrović is one of the most well-branded Serbian wineries and one of the few that exports its wines outside of Serbia. Aleksandrović’s most famous wine is a line called Triump (i.e. Trijumf from the King’s Winery) and its all over Serbia.
Welcome to Aleksandrović!
At Aleksandrović, we watched a short video about the winery, took a tour of the barrel room, and then moved to the back deck for the wine tasting. Unlike Despotika, Aleksandrović requires patrons to purchase tastings by the wine, but its only a few dollars per taste (which is just smaller than a 1/2 glass). I think we tasted five wines for about $15 per person. The wine was good, but not as good as Despotika. The best things about Aleksandrović are its wine selection of wines and the gorgeous tasting setting. Of the three wineries that we visited, this would be the easiest to visit on your own.
One of the reds.
View from Aleksandrović’s tasting room.
Serbian Private Tours: We did the Royal Footprints Wine Tour for 219 Euro for both of us. The price included door to door transportation, all wine tastings, an English guide (also the driver), and a little gift at the end of the tour. For the entire day, I thought this was worth the price. That being said, it is expensive for Serbia.
Despotika Winery: 11423 Vlaski Do, Smederevska Palanka. T: +381 26 302 126
E: vinarija@vinarijadespotika.rs. You can do tastings on your own. I recommend calling or emailing in advance to set up a tour and tasting. Since its a young, working winery, I am not certain tours are offered daily.
King’s Winery: Zdužbina Kralja Petra I, Oplenac bb, 34310 Topola, Oplenac, Serbia. T:
+381 34 6811 280. You can just walk in for a tour and tasting, or to buy wine. Call to confirm hours, but it seems to be open daily in high season.
Aleksandrović Winery: Village of Vinca, Topola – Oplenac, 34310 Republic of Serbia. Individual visits: Dragana Srbljanin, curator, mob: +381 (0)62 262 277. Tamara Colic, curator, mob: +381 (0)62 262 186. Reservations recommended for individuals, mandatory for groups of ten and up. Open Monday – Saturday 8h – 19h, Sunday 10h – 18h. There is not a restaurant on premises.
Knezev Han: The restaurant where we ate lunch. Karadjordjeva 4, Topola Serbia. Right in the center of town. T: +381 34 812111. You probably do not need a reservation. Eat outside if you can.
Serbian wine is inexpensive, particularly for the general quality. If you are on a budget, save money and taste various Serbian wines in Belgrade. You can find Serbian wine in most restaurants in Belgrade.
Dan and I finally vacationed in Montenegro earlier this year! I had been dreaming of going to Montenegro for seriously like 10 years, and I was really excited to execute this trip! In planning, and in my last 10 years of Montenegro dreams, I mainly focused on the Adriatic coast: the Bay of Kotor, Budva, Petrovac, and Sveti Stefan. When actually planning our trip, however, I learned that Montenegro has much more to offer than its gorgeous coastline, including a really good wine industry. Yes, who knew?! The center of Montenegro’s wine industry is the tiny town of Virpazar, so we promptly booked a stay in Virpazar as part of our trip.
Virpazar on Lake Skadar.
I have wanted to visit the tiny Balkan country of Montenegro for years, and I finally went for a week for Dan and my 2nd wedding anniversary this past August! We spent 11 days in Montenegro and Belgrade, Serbia, with most of those days in Perast, Montenegro. Perast, and the Kotor Bay in general, were even more beautiful than I imagined, and I highly recommend them as an “off the beaten path” destination for travelers.
View from our room at Hotel Conte in Perast, Montenegro.
For those unfamiliar with Perast, which I am assuming is most people reading this blog (ha), Perast is a tiny, tiny town on the Kotor Bay in Montenegro. Perast is located about 30 minutes from Kotor, Montenegro and 1.5 hours from Dubrovnik, Croatia. Currently, Perast only has a population of around 400, but it has loads of history and a very Venetian feel, which makes sense, as Perast was part of the Venetian empire. Perast was also home to one of the best sailing schools in the world and historically educated some of the most well-regarded sailors. To date, Perast maintains the feel of a small fisherman’s village, but the look of a super swanky and expensive destination.
Sailing waters.
While today Perast is mostly a tourist town, its well worth a visit. Perast has only one main road, running right along the Bay, with most businesses being located right on this road. The entirety of the town can be walked in 20 minutes, but you should spend at least few hours soaking in the city. Its charming and you will want to stay longer. If visiting from neighboring Kotor, plan to spend a half-day, including lunch at Restaurant Conte.
Perast’s main street on a summer evening.
Perast has many hotels, plenty for all the tourists in town, yet does not feel overly touristy or crowded. Since there are many options in choosing a Perast hotel, I would look for the following characteristics: 1. Is there air conditioning (since Perast’s buildings are old, some do not have this amenity) 2. Is there a pool? A pool is useful in the hot summer, especially since there is no proper beach in Perast. 3. Location of the hotel and your room. As buildings in Perast are old, many hotels have rooms in multiple buildings, and hardly any hotels have elevators. Confirm you are staying on the ground level if you have trouble with stairs. That being said, many hotels have golf carts to transport visitors around town (just call the front desk) and will have a strong local insist on carrying your luggage to your room (don’t forget to tip!).
Stairs to our room in Hotel Conte.
We stayed at the lovely Hotel Conte, which we absolutely adored!! Hotel Conte’s main building is located next to Restaurant Conte in the center of town, but its guest rooms are spread out in several buildings . Our room was located high in the town over looking the Kotor Bay – what a treat!
More views from our room.
Hotel Conte offered American-style air conditioning and a pool just outside of our room. Hotel Conte also had golf carts to drive guests around town and the staff insisted on carrying our luggage to and from our room, so the stairs were not a problem. If you do have mobility issues however, be sure to ask for a ground level room.
The gorgeous pool out side our room.
In terms of other hotels, most seemed locally owned and quite charming. The only chain we saw was an Iberostar outpost, which also had a golf cart driving guests around. One downside of staying on the Kotor Bay, no loyalty chains here.
Said golf carts for transporting hotel guests around town.
If you talk to a Kotor Bay local, they will tell you that Perast has some of the best food on the Bay, and recommend a meal in one of Perast’s many waterfront restaurants. At least that’s what several locals told us! And they weren’t wrong; Perast has a string of waterfront restaurants right on the Bay, which make for particularly romantic sunset dinners. Our favorite was Restaurant Conte, where we ate twice! Reservations for more popular restaurants are recommended for sunset, especially on the weekends during high season. However, since there are so many restaurants, you should be able to find a table on most days even for dinner during high season. Most restaurants feature a similar menu of seafood, pasta, and pizza, showcasing Italy’s influence on Perast.
Anniversary dinner at Restaurant Conte.
Restaurant Conte. We stayed at Hotel Conte, which is attached to Restaurant Conte, and dined here twice. Conte’s speciality is seafood, and more than one person told us that this is the best seafood restaurant in town. Both of our meals and service were excellent. Make a reservation if you want to sit on the water like us; Conte books up.
Squid ink risotto. A speciality of the general area.
Konoba Skolji. Just off the water, Konoba Skolji specializes in Balkan meats, as well as seafood. Meat is cooked in an outdoor grill, which definitely catches the eye. We choose this restaurant based on several reviews I read online. Unfortunately, neither of us loved our meals at Konoba Skolji. We found them to be fine, but nothing to write home about. That being said, Konoba Skolji is good alternative if you don’t want seafood or pizza.
Octopus salad at Konoba Skolji.
Truffle Pasta at Konoba Skolji.
Bocalibre Pizza. A quick and casual pizza restaurant in a pretty courtyard. The dinner pizzas were just OK. The banana-Nutella dessert pizza, however, was out of this world. No reservations needed.
A BBQ Sauce based pizza at Bocalibre.
That banana and Nutella pie!
Pirate Bar. A simple beach bar serving hamburgers and a few fried things. We only had sunset drinks here, but the Pirate Bar would be useful for a quick lunch or for those traveling with children.
View from Pirate’s Bar.
Perast is best for relaxing, strolling the town’s sole road, sipping a cafe of an adult beverage, and popping into the few shops in town. One end of town to the other only takes about 15 minutes, but its a fun stroll and there are numerous shops and cafes for breaks. Be sure to try the Pomegranate wine from the little wine stand – a local sweet wine!
Tiny Perast.
The local pomegranate wine.
Walking through town.
In terms of actual sight-seeing, Perast’s St. Nikola Church houses an interesting bell tower that tourists can climb, as well as a small maritime museum.
Bell Tower of Perast’s St. Nikola Church.
Perast’s Museum.
However, Perast’s main attraction is located on a small man-made island just off Perast’s coast in the Bay – St. George Island and Our Lady of the Rocks. Both are small man made islands in the Bay of Kotor that are best seen from Perast. Tourists cannot (well, are not supposed to) access St. George Island, as its a working monastery. However, tourists are welcome to visit Our Lady of the Rocks, which houses a gorgeous church with paintings by Tripo Kokolja, a Baroque artist from Perast, and a really interesting art museum.
Our Lady of the Rocks.
Legend has it that Our Lady of the Rocks Island started as a “pile of rocks” when some local fisherman saw a vision of the Virgin Mary. After that sighting, fisherman continued adding rocks to until the island formed. Entrance to the island is by small boat from Perast that leave almost constantly during the day in high season. The island is also home to decently clean public WCs. Entry is a few Euros, as is the boat shuttle. Plan to spend 30 minutes to an hour on the island.
From the front – gorgeous chapel.
The ceiling in Our Lady of the Rocks.
While Perast lacks a proper beach, the Pirate bar referenced above is a beach club and offers access to the Bay, as well as lounge chairs right on the water. If we had stayed longer, I would have spent a day here on the water.
Wholeheartedly agree with this sign.
Pirate Bar.
How long one stays in Perast is really a matter of personal opinion. Perast is one of those places where you take it slow, enjoy the views, and simply relax. We stayed 5 days, but you could certainly linger. I felt that 5 days gave us enough time to see Perast and the highlights of the Kotor Bay, without feeling rushed.
Pretty Perast.
If you are visiting as a day trip from a neighboring town, you can stay anywhere from a couple hours to a full day. The town can be walked in less than an hour, but it takes a while to get to the islands and you will certainly want to enjoy a seaside meal.
While public transportation is limited to the Blue Line bus route, tourists wanting to take excursions and willing to pay for a taxi will find Perast a good base. On our trip, we took a day trip to Dubrovnik (via private car), spent a 1/2 day in Kotor (via the Blue Line bus), and spent an afternoon in Herceg Novi (via taxi). We also did a 6 hour Bay tour from Kotor (again, via the Blue Line bus).
Day trip to Herceg Novi – at Savina Winery.
The one negative about taking excursions from Perast is that its expensive. Staying in Kotor will be easier (and less expensive) if you want to take many excursions around the area. There are lots of companies in Kotor offering day tours and excursions, as well as a more robust public transportation system.
The closest airport to Perast is the Tivat International Airport in Montenegro, which is about 25 minutes from Perast. Coordinate with your hotel to arrange for a taxi. Podgorica, Montenegro’s capital, has a larger international airport. Podgorica is about an hour drive from Perast. I prefer to fly into Tivat to save time, but I would fly into Podgorica if it was easier or much cheaper.
While not a member of the European Union, Montenegro uses the Euro and ATMs distribute Euros.
If you rent a car, which many people do and can be helpful in Montenegro (we did not), know that cars are not allowed in Perast during the summer season. Cars must park on either side of town. Some hotels claim to have private parking lots.
Once in Perast, the Blue Line local bus service runs between Perast and Kotor, where you can connect to other bus lines. The Blue Line picks up at Restaurant Conte and comes about once an hour. Check with your hotel for the current schedule (it picked up on the half-hour when we were there). We found the bus to be very punctual. Tickets were about 2 Euro per person, paid directly to the driver.
There are currently no ride-sharing apps (like Uber or Lyft) in the Kotor Bay. However, there are tons of taxi companies, which will drive you all over the Kotor Bay if you are willing to pay. Coordinate with your hotel to call a taxi and confirm the average cost. If a taxi picks you up since there are no cars in Perast, you meet the taxi driver just outside of town near the Pirate Bar.
Everyone in the tourist industry speaks English. English speakers will have no trouble getting around.
There is exactly 1 ATM (outside Hotel Conte) in Perast and no Pharmacies. Bring essentials or buy in neighboring Kotor (20 bus ride).
Perast is extremely safe.
In case you aren’t ready to jump on a plane just yet, here are some more of my favorite pics from Perast!
Cute little bike.
Perast is so pretty.
Old streets.
One more of Perast.
Hotel and Restaurant Conte: Obala Kapetana Marka Martinovića BB
85336 Perast, Crna Gora. Reservations recommended for restaurant, especially to sit right on the water. Hotel reservations via the linked website. Breakfast at the hotel is awesome – included with most rooms, 10 Euro per person otherwise and to the public.
Konoba Skolji: Open daily 11 – 23. Close to Bocalibre. Reservations not needed.
Bocalibre: Located near the Wisteria Cafe, to the left of Hotel Conte when facing the water. Open daily – 23h. Reservations not needed. Budget friendly.
Pirates Beach Bar: Located near the parking lot just outside town (5 – 10 minute walk from Hotel Conte). Open daily 8 – 21 during summer season only. Reservations not required.
