Kotor, Montenegro, sits at the innermost corner of the Bay of Kotor, a drowned river valley that guidebooks like to call Europe's southernmost fjord, wrapped behind 4.5 km of Venetian wall. The town itself is free to walk. The two views that define it are both paid and both climb, and this guide exists to tell you which one to take, on which day, at which hour.
Here is visit Kotor in four lines. The walled town costs nothing to walk, and the ticketed parts are the fortress walls at €15 ($17.12) at the gate and the cable car at €25 ($28.53) return, both of them climbs. Two nights cover the town on foot, one bay morning by boat and one mountain half-day by gondola or road. The ships decide the middle of the day: about 523 cruise calls are scheduled for 2026 and the terminal sits a hundred metres from the Sea Gate, so midday on a two-ship day the lanes belong to the shore parties and the walls belong to whoever came at seven. A Kotor trip splits three ways that never mix: the town on foot, the bay by boat, the mountain by cable or road.
Key takeaways
Every question a first-timer has belongs to one of these six doors, and each door has its own page.
The full inventory of the town and its immediate surroundings, from the walls to the cats. It ranks what matters and skips what does not.
The bay cannot be walked and the mountain should not be driven by a nervous first-timer. Booked days solve both. We list what actually sells and what the reviews say.
Guidebooks call the bay a fjord once and then move on. In practice it is a drowned river valley with a boat schedule. Swimming, kayaking and the far shore all live here.
The mountain above the town is only the nearest of Montenegro's big days. Beyond it sit the old royal capital, the coast's resort towns and the canyon country of the north.
The Boka table is cured ham, mountain cheese, honey brandy and fish from the bay. The old town is dense with tavernas, and the quality gap between them is wide.
Residence tax, buses without published fares, an airport twelve kilometres away and a gondola that closes for wind. None of it is hard, all of it changes plans.
A first trip splits into six places. Each card says what it is, what it costs and when to go.
Kotor's old town has been on the UNESCO World Heritage list since 1979, inscribed the same year as the April earthquake that damaged it. Entry is free and the whole quarter is a few lanes wide, best taken slowly before ten or after the last ship leaves. Squares, churches and the Venetian layers are explained stop by stop in the guide.
The fortifications run about 4.5 km with sections up to 20 m high, and the climb to San Giovanni fortress is about 1,350 stone steps rising roughly 280 m above the roofs. Count 45-60 minutes up and about 30 down. Entrances are staffed 07:00-20:00 in the main season, and the whole system was separately inscribed by UNESCO in 2017 as part of the Venetian Works of Defence.
Perast is the bay's baroque town, 12 km from Kotor along the coast road, and the postcard island sits a short boat ride off its quay. Water taxis run about €5 ($5.71) return with up to €10 ($11.41) reported, and the church-museum charges €3-5 ($3.42-5.71) in cash. It needs no tour at all, which is the point.
The cave sits on the far side of the bay's entrance, past a former Yugoslav submarine tunnel and the Mamula fortress. Since the 2026 season rule change boats no longer enter the cave, and you swim in from the mouth when the skipper says the swell allows it. The cave itself charges no entry fee, so the whole cost is the boat.
The old Kotor-Njeguši road throws 25 hairpins at the mountainside, and the walking track above it, the Ladder of Kotor, zigzags about 70 times to the Krstac pass at about 940 m. Njeguši village at the top is the home of the bay's pršut and cheese. The cable car crosses the same wall of rock in 11 minutes.
Kotor has no sandy beach of its own. The town swims off stone and slabs at the foot of the walls, and the sandy beaches people mean when they say beach sit in Tivat and Budva municipality. That is not a complaint, just a fact to plan around: build the swim into a bay day rather than expecting to walk to sand.
Five stops, one loop, no backtracking. Start at the water gate and finish above the roofs.
The Morska vrata is the town's water gate, the opening the Venetians cut through the fortifications so ships' people could walk straight in from the sea. It matters to you for a blunt reason: the cruise terminal sits about 100 m away, and passengers walk two to five minutes from gangway to gate, so this is the door nearly everyone arrives through. The tourist info point stands just inside, English is widely spoken, and the entrance funnels you straight toward Arms Square.
If a ship is in, expect the crowd to move in waves through this gate all morning. Our old town route starts here and shows you how to leave the crowd behind within two lanes: Kotor old town.
Trg od Oružja is the town's main square, named for the weapons stored in the arsenal that stood here when Kotor was a fortified naval town. The Clock Tower has watched it since the Venetian period, and the square still holds the tourist info point and the cafes where everyone orients themselves. It is the natural meeting point for guided walks, which is why both old-town tours in this guide start at the Sea Gate and end their routes nearby.
Come early or late, because on two-ship days the square carries the full midday load of shore parties. The square's buildings and their stories are unpacked in the old town guide: Kotor old town.
The cathedral is the town's reason for being on the UNESCO list alongside the bay itself, a Romanesque church built when Kotor was a mercantile rival on the Adriatic, and it has been patched and rebuilt through earthquakes, most recently the one in April 1979 that put the whole region on the World Heritage list that same year. Admission runs about €2.50 ($2.85) and doors open daily roughly 08:00-19:00 in season, so it fits anywhere in the day. The two squat towers you photograph from outside are half the story.
The interior, the treasury and what survived the earthquakes are covered in detail here: Cathedral of Saint Tryphon.
Kotor's wealth was never the land, it was the sea, and the museum in the Grgurina palace on Maritime Square tells that story through the ship-owning families who sent captains across every European coast. For a first-timer it explains why a town this small built 4.5 km of wall: the money was worth defending. Admission runs about €6 ($6.85), and an hour is enough.
It is also the best rainy-day ticket in town, which on the bay's wet winter months is worth knowing in advance. Collections, opening practicalities and what deserves your hour are in the museum guide: Maritime Museum Kotor.
The north entrance by the ticket office starts the climb to San Giovanni fortress: about 1,350 stone steps, roughly 280 m of rise, 45-60 minutes up and about 30 down for anyone with average legs. The gate price is €15 ($17.12) in the main season with about €8 ($9.13) reported in winter, children under 12 free, cash or card accepted, and no official website publishes the tariff, so treat the gate as the source of truth. Entrances are staffed 07:00-20:00 in the main season.
Start at seven in summer: the walls have no shade, and by the time the ships disgorge, the steps are a queue. Everything about entrances, timing and the alternative trail is here: Kotor fortress.
The two paid views and one free trail, compared. Costs are gate prices: the walls figure is what current climbing guides agree on, the cable car figures are official.
| Route | Cost | Time | What you get |
|---|---|---|---|
| The walls path to San Giovanni | €15 ($17.12) at the gate | 45-60 min up, about 30 down | The fortress view over the roofs and the whole inner bay, earned on 1,350 steps with no shade |
| The Kotor cable car to Krstac | €25 ($28.53) return, €14 ($15.98) one-way | 11 min each way | The ridge at about 940 m, the bay in one frame, and an Alpine Coaster, Falcon Fly and Aerobar at the top station |
| The Ladder of Kotor trail | Free | About 70 switchbacks to the pass | The serpentine from above, a walker's route to Krstac at about 940 m, no ticket and no barrier |
The gondola closes for wind or maintenance with little notice, so check before you plan a day around it: Kotor cable car. The walls and gate prices are unpacked in Kotor fortress. Gate prices read from the operators and current guides; the dollar glosses convert at €1 = $1.14. Figures current in Q3 2026.
Prices are in US dollars as listed on the platform, which bills in your own currency. Boat slots in the main season go days ahead, so book the water before the walls.
from $63.00
A three-hour speedboat loop out of Kotor: twenty minutes at Our Lady of the Rocks, inside a former Yugoslav submarine tunnel, past the Mamula fortress, then half an hour swimming at the Blue Cave. Boats no longer enter the cave, so you swim in from the mouth.
no toilet on board; island entry to Our Lady of the Rocks is not allowed in swimwear
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from $29.00
One day, the whole bay: the big-ship circuit that runs the full Boka loop past Perast, the strait, Herceg Novi and the Blue Cave when the sea allows. The cheapest per-hour way to see the fjord's full length.
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from $25.00
The deeper of the two old-town walks: an hour and a half at a slower pace for less money than the 70-minute tour, with twenty steps of climbing as the only effort.
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from $73.00
The day that links Kotor's three mountain stories: the cable car up Mount Lovćen's flank, the serpentine's hairpins past Njeguši, and Cetinje's royal past. Shoulders and knees covered for the holy stops.
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from $92.00
Built around the cruise timetable: four hours that fit between gangway and gangway, covering the bay's two postcard stops without risking the 15:00 all-aboard.
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from $163.05
The most expensive three hours on this site and the only one that feeds you dinner. Run by the operator Rick Steves sends people to; the route reads as a tasting menu of the bay's kitchen, from cured ham to honey brandy.
Check AvailabilityPrices, ratings and details are the platform's own. Dollar figures are the listed prices. The platform bills in your account's currency.
The honest answer is two, with three as the comfortable version. Here is what each stay actually fits.
| Stay | What fits | Who it suits |
|---|---|---|
| One night | The walled town at dawn or dusk, the old town loop, and either the walls or the cable car, never both. See Kotor in 1 day. | Cruise passengers with a pre or post night, and road-trippers passing between Dubrovnik and Budva |
| Two nights | Day one the town and one climb, day two the bay by boat or a Perast half-day. The template is Kotor in 2 days. | Most first-time visitors, and anyone flying into Tivat for a long weekend |
| Three or more | Add the mountain: the cable car, Njeguši, Lovćen, or a long day from the day trips list. The plan is Kotor in 3 days. | Travellers using Kotor as a base for the whole bay, and anyone who wants a swim day with no alarms |
Ships shape all three versions: line the walls climb up against the call schedule on the cruise port page.
The Boka table is small, specific and easy to eat your way through in three days.
The bay's kitchen comes down the mountain and off the water. Pršut, the smoked and air-dried ham cured in the villages above the bay, leads the table, followed by mountain cheese and honey, and honey brandy poured as the welcome. Fish and seafood arrive from the bay itself, and the slow-cooked meat dishes of the interior sit behind them.
This is exactly the route the Kotor food tour walks: three hours through the old town's tavernas and family shops tasting pršut, cheese, pasticada, wine and honey brandy with a local guide. It runs as a private group, lasts three hours and costs US$163.05 as listed.
The old town is dense with tavernas and the quality gap between them is real, so the shortlist matters more here than in most towns of this size. Our independent picks, with what to order and what to skip, live on two pages: the full where to eat in Kotor guide and the tighter best restaurants in Kotor list. One practical warning from the costs page: the old town's most photogenic squares carry the highest prices per plate, and the better cooking is usually one lane back.
On a two-ship day the old town's lunch service belongs to the shore parties between roughly the midday arrivals and early afternoon, and the lanes around Arms Square are at their fullest. The cure is simple: eat early, eat late, or walk one street off the square. The call schedule that lets you predict this is explained on the cruise port page, and the month-by-month rhythm of arrivals sits in the dates section below.
Three fixed facts about 2026 reshape any plan. Build around them rather than against them.
About 523 cruise calls from roughly 85 ships are scheduled at Kotor for 2026, and the port describes itself as the third cruise destination in the Adriatic after Venice and Dubrovnik. About 41 of those calls fall in September alone, which makes it the month most likely to put two ships in the bay at once. The pier sits about 100 m from the old town walls, so shore parties arrive in minutes, not in an hour.
The practical rule: on two-ship days, take the walls at seven and the town after four, and give the middle of the day to the water, where you are on a boat anyway. The call pattern and how to use it are on the cruise port page. The port’s own desk is portofkotor.com.
The gondola runs 09:00-20:00, but from 10:30 on Tuesdays, with the last ride up at 19:30 and the last down at 20:00. The ride itself takes 11 minutes to the Krstac ridge. If Tuesday is your mountain day, flip it: take the walls in the cool of the morning and ride up after lunch, or book the Lovćen cable car, Njeguši and Cetinje day tour, which runs the whole circuit by minivan and gondola in seven and a half hours.
One more warning that applies every day of the week: the gondola closes for wind or maintenance with little notice, so do not make it the single load-bearing wall of your trip.
The rules changed in the 2026 season: boats no longer enter the Blue Cave. You swim in from the mouth when the skipper says the swell allows it, and when it does not, the boat circles and you see the cave from outside. There is no separate cave entry fee, the cost is the boat. The Blue Cave speedboat tour that runs the standard three-hour loop from Park Slobode states the change plainly and provides raincoats, because it runs rain or shine.
Full operator detail and the swimming conditions sit on the Blue Cave page.
Four things, all predictable, all avoidable with a clock and a water bottle.
July and August average daily highs of 29.6C and 29.7C, and the walls path has no shade for its full 1,350 steps. People start it at eleven with a small bottle and regret it by step four hundred. Start at 07:00 when the entrances open, carry more water than seems reasonable, and take the descent seriously, because the worn stone is slicker going down than up.
The month-by-month temperatures are charted in Kotor month by month, and the walls entrance times are on the fortress page.
With about 523 calls in 2026 and a terminal a hundred metres from the Sea Gate, the crowd is not an event, it is the weather. Midday on a two-ship day, the Sea Gate funnel, Arms Square and the lower lanes run at capacity, and the queue at the walls ticket office matches them. The fix is sequencing: walls or cable car before the crowds, town after them, water in between.
The schedules and the two-ship logic are on the cruise port page.
The listed tour price is rarely the whole price. The Great Montenegro tour lists at US$106.91 and adds about US$16.08 of mandatory park and mausoleum entrances paid in cash, with breakfast, lunch and the cable car extra on top. The Kotor shore excursion lists an optional Our Lady of the Rocks boat at €10 ($11.41) cash. In town, the island church-museum wants €3-5 ($3.42-5.71) in cash and the water taxi is cash again. The full ledger of what costs what is on the costs page.
The island church-museum enforces a dress code: no swimwear, shoulders covered. Visitors arrive straight off speedboats in beach kit and are turned around at the door, which burns both the taxi fare and the half hour you budgeted. Throw a t-shirt in the dry bag, or accept the panoramic pass of the island instead of the landing.
The rules and the boat options are on the Our Lady of the Rocks page, and the bay's swimming alternatives are on Kotor beaches.
ERA5 reanalysis 1995-2024 for the town, computed for this guide. The shape is simple: a warm dry peak with the most ships, a soft shoulder either side, and a wet cool half from October through April.
Average daily highs from the ERA5 reanalysis 1995-2024 for Kotor, computed for this guide. Season commentary and packing advice: best time to visit Kotor and Kotor weather.
Average highs and lows from the ERA5 normals, with rain figures that are our sums from the same daily series. July is the driest month, November the wettest, December close behind.
| Month | Average high | Average low | Rain |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 10.9C (51.6F) | 4.1C (39.4F) | 237 mm |
| February | 11.9C (53.4F) | 4.6C (40.3F) | 240 mm |
| March | 14.4C (57.9F) | 6.5C (43.7F) | 201 mm |
| April | 17.9C (64.2F) | 9.3C (48.7F) | 174 mm |
| May | 22.5C (72.5F) | 13.0C (55.4F) | 152 mm |
| June | 26.8C (80.2F) | 16.8C (62.2F) | 96 mm |
| July | 29.6C (85.3F) | 19.4C (66.9F) | 62 mm |
| August | 29.7C (85.5F) | 19.4C (66.9F) | 84 mm |
| September | 24.9C (76.8F) | 16.6C (61.9F) | 207 mm |
| October | 20.9C (69.6F) | 13.6C (56.5F) | 229 mm |
| November | 16.3C (61.3F) | 9.9C (49.8F) | 354 mm |
| December | 12.3C (54.1F) | 5.7C (42.3F) | 313 mm |
Highs and lows are ERA5 reanalysis 1995-2024 for Kotor, computed for this guide. Rain totals are our sums over the month from the same daily series. What the numbers mean for packing and plans: Kotor weather.
Kotor divides by terrain: the town you walk, the bay you ride, the mountain you are carried up.
Inside the walls nothing needs wheels, and the whole old town loop plus the climb fits in a morning. The cruise terminal's hundred metres from the Sea Gate means even arriving passengers walk in. Cobblestones are polished and slick when wet, so shoes with grip beat sandals on rainy days.
The full walking route with the squares in order is in the old town guide, and the printable overview is on the Kotor map.
The coast road links Kotor to Perast, 12 km away, and on around the bay, with local buses and taxis covering it, and water taxis running from the Perast quay to Our Lady of the Rocks for about €5 ($5.71) return. No official source in our facts files prints a Kotor bus or taxi fare, so we print none: fares are small, cash-friendly and confirmed at the window. The routes, the Kamenari-Lepetane ferry shortcut and the practicalities are all worked out on getting around Kotor.
The cable car is the honest transport solution for the wall of rock behind the town: 11 minutes from the Dub station to the Krstac ridge at about 940 m, for €25 ($28.53) return or €14 ($15.98) one-way, running 09:00-20:00 and from 10:30 on Tuesdays. At the top, the Alpine Coaster costs €12 ($13.69) on its 1,056 m track, the Falcon Fly €15 ($17.12) and the Aerobar €15 ($17.12) for adults. The old road with its 25 hairpins is the driving alternative, best taken in a small car with brakes you trust.
Tickets, wind closures and the top station are covered in the cable car guide.
For Njeguši, Cetinje and the national park beyond, a rental car beats the tours on flexibility and roughly matches them on cost for two people. The serpentine is narrow but paved and busy in season, drive it early, and note that the gondola gives you the option of riding one way and being met. Booking ahead matters in July and August when the small fleets empty out.
Availability, parking inside the walls and insurance notes are on Kotor car rental.
The fixed prices first. Some are official, some are gate prices, and the difference is stated because nobody publishes a tariff for the walls or the national park. The cable car fares are the operator’s own, at kotorcablecar.me.
The town itself is free to walk, and the ticketed parts of a Kotor day are few: the walls, the cable car, two museums, and the boats. Montenegro uses the euro unilaterally and is not a eurozone member, so euros are the only money you need, with cards taken almost everywhere except boats and small island vendors. The residence tax is €1 ($1.14) per person per night, with children under 12 exempt and ages 12 to 18 at half rate: your accommodation registers you, and private-stay guests register at the tourist organisation office within 24 hours.
The full budget, with food and sleep added, is on Kotor costs.
| Ticket | Price | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| City walls to San Giovanni | €15 ($17.12) | Gate price in the main season, about €8 ($9.13) reported in winter, under 12 free, cash or card at the gate |
| Kotor cable car, return | €25 ($28.53) | Official price, child 2-12 €7 ($7.99), one-way €14 ($15.98) |
| Alpine Coaster at the top station | €12 ($13.69) | Official price, 1,056 m track |
| Maritime Museum | About €6 ($6.85) | Grgurina palace, Maritime Square |
| Cathedral of St Tryphon | About €2.50 ($2.85) | Open daily roughly 08:00-19:00 in season |
| Lovćen National Park entry | €3 ($3.42) | Gate reports, no official tariff page reachable |
| Njegoš Mausoleum | €8 ($9.13) | Gate reports, child or student €4 ($4.56), under 7 free, 461 steps up |
| Our Lady of the Rocks boat | About €5 ($5.71) return | Water taxi from the Perast quay, up to €10 ($11.41) reported, cash |
| Residence tax | €1 ($1.14) a night | Per person, under 12 exempt, registered by your accommodation |
Gate and official prices read from the official cable car page and current gate-price guides. The walls and Lovćen figures are gate prices, no official tariff page publishes them. Dollar glosses at €1 = $1.14.
Three ready-made plans, one per stay length, each sequenced around the ships and the heat.
The single-day plan makes the hard choice early: walls or cable car, not both. It sequences the town at the quiet ends of the day and leaves the middle to the water. Built for cruise passengers and passers-through who have one shot at the town.
The standard first visit. Day one belongs to the town and one paid view, day two to the bay by boat or the Perast half-day by bus and water taxi. This is the plan most readers should follow.
The third day goes vertical: the gondola to Krstac, the Njeguši road, or a full-day trip from the mountain and canyon list. It turns a town visit into a Montenegro trip.
When the town and the bay are done, these are the days that justify a third night. Prices in US dollars as listed on the platform, which bills in your own currency.
from $106.91
The most complete one-day tour in the country: coast, old royal capital, mountain mausoleum and the river bend that ends on every postcard. Count the €16 cash for park entrances on top of the listed price before you compare it with anything.
$122.99 plus $16.08 mandatory extras
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from $111.00
The one-day answer to 'but when do I see the mountains?'. Thirteen hours, three headline sights, and the country's whole vertical range between breakfast and dinner. Bring a layer: Durmitor sits a climate zone above the coast.
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from $113.00
The alternative to the beach day: Montenegro's postcard route by land and water, with the Rijeka Crnojevića boat ride that the bus tours skip. Small group, eight hours, back before dinner.
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from $156.06
The farthest day on this site and the one that leaves the Mediterranean world behind: Tara's turquoise rapids inside a canyon deeper than the Grand Canyon's floor-to-rim figure. Bring the passport, the route brushes the Bosnian border.
Check AvailabilityPrices, ratings and details are the platform's own. Dollar figures are the listed prices. The platform bills in your account's currency.
Where you sleep decides your mornings more than any itinerary does.
Sleeping inside the walls buys you the town at seven in the morning and eleven at night, when the day visitors are gone and the lanes belong to residents. It costs you luggage-on-cobbles logistics, thin parking, and the liveliest nightlife noise in town. For a first visit of one or two nights it is the right answer despite all of it.
The trade-offs by street and season are set out on where to stay in Kotor and the room-level picks are in Kotor hotels.
The shore road north of town lines the bay with stone houses and swimming steps, close enough to walk into the old town and far enough to escape its noise. This is where apartments with a terrace over the water cluster, and it suits travellers staying three nights or more who want morning swims with the walls in view. The walk in takes minutes and beats parking a car by the gate.
Options and the stretch-by-stretch breakdown are in Kotor apartments.
Tivat sits across the airport side of the bay and trades Kotor's stone for marina polish, modern blocks and easier parking. It suits travellers with a car, early flights from Tivat airport, or families who want flat promenades rather than stairs. The trade is that every Kotor evening becomes a drive or a boat decision.
The pros and cons, and when the drive is worth it, are on where to stay in Kotor, with budget options in Kotor hostels.
Two nights cover the walled town on foot, one bay morning by boat and one climb, which is the core of any first visit. A third night adds the mountain, the gondola and the villages above the bay, and turns the trip from a town visit into a bay-wide one. The plans for each length are Kotor in 1 day, Kotor in 2 days and Kotor in 3 days.
Inside the walls for atmosphere and early-morning lanes, the Dobrota waterfront for water and quiet, Tivat for parking and marina polish. Each base changes your mornings, so pick the base before the bed. The full comparison is at where to stay in Kotor.
The walls need no booking because none exists: you buy at the gate, €15 ($17.12) in the main season, entrances staffed 07:00-20:00. The cable car sells online tickets that skip the line, which matters in August, and the gondola closes for wind or maintenance with little notice, so keep the day flexible either way. Both climbs are compared in three ways up.
The fixed costs are modest: the town is free to walk, the priciest ticket is the cable car at €25 ($28.53) return, and the residence tax is €1 ($1.14) a night. Prices climb on the water, where a three-hour speedboat run lists at US$63, and in the old town's most photogenic squares. The full budget breakdown is on Kotor costs.
The euro, which Montenegro uses unilaterally without being a eurozone member, and notes circulate without local coins. Cards are taken almost everywhere in the old town, but boats, water taxis and small island vendors want cash. Rates, card notes and cash advice are on Kotor costs.
Three walk-throughs that show the town and the water before you commit to a climb. The first walks the lanes, the second climbs at dusk, the third rows out into the bay.
A slow 4K walk through the lanes and squares of the walled town, gates to fortress slope.
Video: Nature StrollsThe same streets after the day boats leave, with the walls lit up the mountain.
Video: Arwin ToursOld town lanes and the waterfront, with the bay crossings that the boat tours repeat.
Video: VV labVideos load from YouTube only when you press play.
The office, phone and email above belong to the city's own visitor service, published on the official tourism site and checked on 2026-09-23 — they are not this site's contact details. To reach us, use the contact page.
Kotor City Guide