Is Herceg Novi, Montenegro worth visiting in winter?

After wrapping up two months in Budva, I came to Herceg Novi, Montenegro for the month of March, mainly to experience some different scenery and a slightly less touristy town. To get there, I took a 1.5 hour bus from Budva which wound around the entire Bay of Kotor. The views were incredible! (Pro tip: anyone traveling this route from Budva, try to get a window seat on the left side. You won’t be sorry!)

First impressions of Herceg Novi

Arriving in Herceg Novi, the first thing that stands out is how vertical the city is. While Budva is surrounded by mountains, most of the city proper is pretty flat. Herceg Novi is built right on the mountainside, so if you are on foot, everything pretty much aside from the promenade at the bottom requires some stair climbing. That said, if you are looking for a flatter place to stay in the area, the neighboring town of Igalo is just a short bus ride or 20 minute walk from central Herceg Novi, with arguably better supermarkets (more on that later), parks and plenty of eateries.

I knew about the stairs, having done some prior research, and I was actually looking forward to them to improve my cardiovascular fitness. I was sure I would be sprinting up and down those stairs by the end of the month. But Mother Nature intervened, and I can’t say I made much progress.

I don’t know if I was particularly lucky in Budva, where there was only significant rain on a handful of days, or if March was exceptionally wet for Herceg Novi. But it poured rain for what felt like nearly half of the month. Truth be told, there isn’t a whole lot to do in town when it’s off season and the weather is poor – there are no large shopping centers, no cinema, a few small museums that work only on a seasonal basis. One of Josef Tito’s many villas is in Igalo, but it is also seasonal and tours are by appointment only.  

There are, however, a handful of nice specialty coffee shops and cafes with indoor seating – so that is one option. Apart from that, I would say that this is a good place to buckle down and get some work done when the weather does not cooperate.

Best things to do in Herceg Novi in winter

When the sun is out, Herceg Novi is a very pleasant place to be. The promenade is a real jewel, and very different from Budva’s. While Budva’s promenade can feel a little run down, dirty, and in need of a facelift, Herceg Novi’s Pet Danica Walkway is extremely clean, with smooth pavement, framed by lush foliage, cacti, and flowers, and with plenty of terraces to stop and rest. The entire thing is around 6km long, stretching from Igalo in the west to the town of Meljine to the east. The only thing I would note is that during the off season, some parts were blocked off with construction equipment and workers doing renovations, so I never really got the chance to walk the entire length. Even so, there was plenty of space to exercise or stroll.

Aside from walking the promenade, you can also walk around the fortresses in town, but again, it’s unlikely that you will be able to enter during the off season. Forte Mare, the impressive symbol of Herceg Novi, overlooks the bay. Slightly to the north is Kanli Kula fortress, and finally, higher up in the hills is the abandoned Spanish Fortress, which according to Google is now closed for renovations until 2026. The main pedestrian thoroughfare of Herceg Novi was also under construction while I was there – do you see a theme? 

A couple other walks/hikes you can do are up to the Viewpoint Torion, giving you incredible views of the bay, a bit further up from the Spanish Fortress…and if you are really ambitious, there are hiking trails further to the north into the mountains. Another option which is a fairly flat and easy walk is on the way to Meljine, the Savina Monastery and forest. The forest is a lovely shaded area and very peaceful, and a short climb will reward you with incredible views like the one pictured. It’s about a 40 minute walk from the center of Herceg Novi. You could also utilize the local Blue Line bus service, which runs regularly from Igalo to Meljine, to go one or both ways.

Day trips from Herceg Novi

What about day trips? Herceg Novi is ideally situated for day trips. You can reach Perast, Kotor, or Tivat in less than one hour, and as I mentioned earlier – the views are just amazing. Slightly further afield, it’s possible to visit Budva as a day trip, though be aware that as of 2025 there is a lot of construction going on past the Tivat airport to widen the road, and it can cause delays. 

It’s also just a little over an hour away to visit Dubrovnik (barring any delays at the  Croatian border, though this is far less likely during the winter). Sadly I didn’t have any Schengen days available to make this trip – but it would be a great way to visit pricy Dubrovnik, while enjoying more affordable accommodation and meals in Herceg Novi.

These are just a few ideas which can be easily done by public bus, but if you have access to a vehicle, then there is plenty more to explore nearby in Montenegro and even into Bosnia and Croatia.

Food scene in Herceg Novi

In terms of food, it’s much more limited than in Budva. You won’t find many (if any) international options, unless you count pizza, pasta, and kebabs. That said, there are certainly several nice cafes by the promenade with the usual seafood and grilled meat dishes. Plenty of good options for desserts and coffee, even in winter, like the always bustling Peter’s Pies and the popular Kafeterija (a chain based in Serbia, I believe – there is also a Kafeterija in Tivat). There are also restaurants clustered around the main town square and pedestrian zone.

The supermarkets, too, offer a very limited range of goods. I even struggled to find basic items like bagged salad here, unlike in Budva. The best stocked supermarkets I found in the area were in Igalo (HDL, Aroma Market, and the iDEA Market near Igalo Park), but even there you can forget about anything more “exotic” than soy sauce. Now, I’m not saying that you can’t put together decent meals here – but be prepared to bring your own must-haves like spices, sauces, etc. especially if you are picky and like a bit of variety in your diet.

Herceg Novi vs. Budva – which is best in winter?

So after two months in Budva and one month in Herceg Novi, which did I prefer? Taking into account the fact that I was there in winter, and in terms of a place for daily living as opposed to vacation, it’s an easy choice for me: Budva. Yes, Herceg Novi is very picturesque, and feels more authentically Montenegrin. But if I could do it over again, I would try to visit it in May or September. It’s simply not that pleasant to be there when the weather is poor and everything is closed.

Budva is much more of a working town year round, with more options in places to eat and drink, better supermarkets, an international feel and still within a short distance to places like Kotor and Tivat for day trips. There’s also a much larger selection of modern apartments there. It’s certainly not perfect, and the lack of proper city planning – with all the traffic issues that brings – can be really annoying. In summer, I think it would be intolerable. However, I still think Budva is a decent affordable option if you want mild winter temperatures in southern Europe, somewhere not totally dead but still fairly quiet – especially if you need to be outside of the Schengen zone.

And of course, these are not the only two choices you have. Why not Kotor, you ask? For me, it’s better as a day trip destination. The old town is larger than Budva’s, but still fairly small and very touristy. There’s no long promenade to walk, although you do have some great hiking right from the town. Not much choice for grocery stores. Apartments in the off season were still a bit higher, with less options than Budva. And overall, it felt a little claustrophobic to me. I had also considered Tivat, but its main draw, Porto Montenegro, caters to the posh summer yacht crowd and the wannabes, which is decidedly not me. It’s pleasant to walk around and ogle the boats for an afternoon, for sure, but there’s not really an old town – overall it feels a bit like a generic “fancy” port that could be anywhere else. It’s also a bit dead in the winter.