Bay of Kotor (Boka)
Tivat
You land here, so use Tivat as the polished Porto Montenegro marina base for the Bay of Kotor rather than the trip itself, and push out along the bay each day.
Best length
1-2 nights (or a beach week)
Airport
Tivat (TIV), ~3km from town
Airport to centre
Taxi ~5-10 min, about €8-12; Porto Montenegro is walkable-close
Best base
Porto Montenegro for polish; Donja Lastva or Seljanovo for value
In short
Tivat at a glance
Tivat is the airport town for the Bay of Kotor and the most polished base on it: stay around Porto Montenegro or in the quieter bay just outside, use it for one or two nights and easy boat days rather than your whole week, and remember the actual bay highlights (Kotor, Perast, Lovcen) are a 15-40 minute drive away. It is the comfortable, resort-feel end of Boka, not the most characterful one.
The short version
- You will almost certainly land here anyway: Tivat (TIV) is the Bay of Kotor's airport, so it is the natural first or last night of a Boka trip.
- Porto Montenegro is the draw and the trap — it is a glossy superyacht marina with the country's priciest restaurants, so eat one street back.
- Use Tivat as a launchpad for boat trips to the Blue Grotto and the Lustica beaches, not as somewhere to spend three days walking around.
- Kotor is 15 minutes and Perast 25 minutes away, so basing in Tivat and day-tripping the bay works perfectly well if you want airport-side comfort.
- One or two nights is the right length unless you are after a marina-and-beach holiday rather than a Bay of Kotor sightseeing trip.
Tivat is the town nearly every Bay of Kotor trip passes through, because its airport is the one UK budget flights actually land at — and that single fact shapes how to use it. The Porto Montenegro marina has turned a former naval base into the glossiest spot on the bay, all superyachts and designer boardwalk, which is photogenic and genuinely convenient for a first or last night, but it has also given Tivat a reputation for being pricey that is mostly earned within fifty metres of the quay. The trick is to enjoy the marina without paying marina rates for everything: eat a street back in the old town, and you are spending Montenegrin prices in a town that looks like Monaco.
The mistake first-timers make is treating Tivat as the destination rather than the doorstep. The bay’s real set-pieces — Kotor’s walls, Perast and Our Lady of the Rocks, the Lovcen viewpoints — are a fifteen-to-forty-minute drive away, so one or two nights here, paired with a Blue Grotto boat trip or a Lustica beach day, is usually plenty. Below, the structured planning — where to stay, what to book, how to get in from the airport, and a realistic budget in pounds — picks up from here.
Plan your Tivat trip
Keep a first trip focused: book the big timed sights, then leave room for neighbourhoods and food.
Top things to do in Tivat
Plavi Horizonti beach (Lustica)
Plavi Horizonti is a sheltered, pine-backed sandy bay about 12km south of Tivat on the Lustica peninsula. The water is shallow and calm, making it the best swimming beach within easy reach of the town and far gentler than Budva's busier strips. The beach is free; sunbed hire runs roughly €5–10 and there are a couple of seasonal cafes.
Porto Montenegro & the Naval Heritage Collection
Porto Montenegro is the reclaimed superyacht marina that gives Tivat its reason to exist for most visitors: a polished boardwalk, designer shops and waterside bars. Tucked among it is the Naval Heritage Collection, a small but genuinely good museum where the highlight is boarding two Yugoslav-era submarines. The marina is free to wander; the museum costs around €5.
Where to stay first
The areas that make a first visit easier — not an exhaustive directory.
Porto Montenegro
£££ premiumThe reclaimed marina district: glossy hotels, boardwalk restaurants and superyachts. Convenient for late or early flights and a resort feel, but it is the most expensive base in the bay and the least Montenegrin in character.
Best for: Resort comfort, airport convenience, couples
Tivat old town & seafront
££ mid-rangeThe compact town centre around Pine Embankment (Belani) and the seafront promenade: cheaper than the marina, walkable, with everyday restaurants and a small-town feel rather than a resort one.
Best for: Value within walking distance of the marina
Donja Lastva & Seljanovo
£ valueThe quieter waterfront villages either side of the centre, a flat 10-15 minute walk or short drive from Porto Montenegro. Apartments and guesthouses here are noticeably better value than the marina for the same bay views.
Best for: Self-catering, families, value
Lustica peninsula
££ mid-rangeThe headland south of town, reached by the Verige/road route or the Kamenari ferry: beach hamlets and the bigger resort developments around Lustica Bay. Quiet and beach-led, but you will want a car for everything.
Best for: Beach-first stays, drivers
Airport to city centre
| Option | Time | Cost | Book ahead? |
|---|---|---|---|
| Taxi to Tivat town / Porto Montenegro | ~5-10 min | about €8-12 | Shortest hop of any Montenegro airport |
| Pre-booked transfer to Kotor | ~20 min | about €20-30 | Best with luggage or for groups |
| Taxi to Kotor | ~15-20 min | about €15-25 | Agree the fare before you set off |
| Local bus toward Kotor / Budva | ~30 min to Kotor | about €2-3 | Cheap but infrequent; no buses very late |
When to go
Sweet spot: June and September are the sweet spot: warm, swimmable sea, long days and the bay at its best without July and August's heat, prices and the cruise crush that floods nearby Kotor. May and October are quieter and cheaper but the sea is cooler and some boat-trip operators wind down.
July and August are peak: hot, busy and pricey, with Porto Montenegro at its most expensive and the Lustica beaches at their fullest. Spring and autumn are far better value and more comfortable for the bay's hill walks. Winter is very quiet — direct UK flights mostly stop and the marina restaurants thin out, so it is an arrival-and-onward town rather than a destination out of season.
What it costs
UK return flights to Tivat are often £80-£250 on easyJet, Wizz Air and Jet2 in the April-October season, dipping under £80 on quiet midweek dates and topping £250+ in the July-August peak. Out of season there are few or no direct flights, so you connect via Belgrade, Vienna or Istanbul, which costs more and adds 4-6 hours.
Daily budget per person
Porto Montenegro's boardwalk is where Tivat gets its reputation for being expensive — main courses there run 30-50% above the same dish a street back in the old town or in Donja Lastva. Base your budget on town prices, not marina ones.
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Where to stay
Tours & tickets
Airport transfers
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