We were immediately captivated by Dusanka’s instructions which might have come from a John Le Carre novel: once you cross the border, you will be met at a petrol station by a man called Milutin who also speaks Russian; follow him to a little village called Podi… Turned out there was a practical reason for this - house numbers or even road names are sometimes in short supply in parts of Montenegro – one of its many charms. We quickly found the best approach was to relax and go with the flow. The address-less villa turned out to be very clean which is always a good sign. Upstairs, the quirkiness of having a separate entrance wasn’t an issue & the air conditioning meant the 5 of us had few problems sleeping at night on the comfortable beds, despite the weather most days being a welcome 32 degrees. Downstairs, the electric fan was needed in the kitchen, which has a large dining table, though it was also nice to eat at the table outside (the road noise didn't bother us). Similarly there are lounge areas upstairs and downstairs, the latter having a TV (with some English language channels) and a DVD player.
Outside there is a nice balcony (good for enjoying the fantastic view, star gazing or watching distant lightning displays, as we found) and of course the pool, which the children loved, and was very welcome after reading on the sun loungers for a while. There is both sun and shade in the garden as a result of the amazing range of fruit trees. The pool is diligently tended by the aforementioned Milutin who is lovely, and very helpful, though most of our conversations were inevitably in sign language.
Kotor bay is so large it has almost no tide once you’re away from the mouth, with the consequence that the absence of waves makes swimming easy but beaches stony (swim socks recommended). While there is swimming at Herceg Novi, we preferred Morinje and Risan. We also enjoyed day trips to the little alleyways of Kotor, over the mountains towards Niksik (go for the astonishing landscape rather than the city), over the border to beautiful Dubrovnik in Croatia, and to the charming Trebinje in Eastern Herzegovina. (A point to note: if you are there in the height of summer, it is advisable to leave early for day trips for reasons of heat, ease of parking, and - especially if crossing borders -shorter waiting times. otherwise be ready for long delays). We highly recommend both Montenegro & the villa. Thank you, Dusanka!
