Tivat, a tiny town in Porto Montenegro, was the wildcard of our vacation in the Balkans. I couldn’t find much information about Tivat or Porto Montenegro online, but it looked scenic and it was a convenient stop between Budva and Dubrovnik. Tivat has a history of being a shipyard for warships and it was the main base for the Austro-Hungarian Navy, but recently a Canadian investor has helped to transform Tivat into a luxurious marina. It is often compared to Monaco.
We arrived in Tivat at the end of May, and the town was pretty dead. I think we got there just before the season picked up. Another factor is that Tivat is still being built. Luxury hotels and condos are rapidly being built. In a few years, it probably will be the Monaco of the Balkans, it just isn’t there just yet. Tivat is very different from the other cities that we visited in Montenegro, it is much more modern, while Kotor and Budva are both ancient walled cities. In Tivat we could just relax - we didn't feel like we needed to go to a list of historical sites. It was a nice break.
We stayed at the Regent Porto Montenegro, a new five-star hotel. I didn't want to leave!
We adored our nautically inspired room that had two floors and a big balcony overlooking the marina. It was the perfect place to relax, which is just what we wanted to do after 5 very busy days of exploring Dubrovnik, Kotor, and Budva.
The hotel had an outdoor pool (for some reason I took a photo of pool chairs instead of the pool), and a full spa.
We love a hotel with a happy hour, so we made a point to have a round of drinks at the Library Bar at the hotel to kick off our evening. Tivat’s restaurants are beautiful - the hotel's restaurants were no exception. I loved the cozy feel of the Library Bar, while the main restaurant had white walls with classic architectural details and chairs with bright red cushions.
We left the hotel for dinner and walked to a nearby Italian restaurant called Al Posto Giusto an Italian. I had the most incredible pillowy gnocchi with a creamy gorgonzola sauce. After a couple weeks of Serbian and Bosnian food, it was nice to mix things up a little! After dinner, we went to The Clubhouse, a bright colorful bar, for a couple rounds of beers before calling it a night.
Since the summer tourist season hadn’t quite kicked off yet, some of the restaurants weren’t even open yet, but it was clear that Tivat has some of the best restaurants we encountered on our trip, along with plenty of bars for bar hopping.
Have you been to Tivat or Porto Montenegro? I would love to hear your thoughts!
