Destination: SVETI STEFAN, Serbia-Montenegro

Dazzling Montenegro

A breathtaking Balkan diamond in the rough

By DUSAN STOJANOVIC -- Associated Press

Playing cards at the beach -- Eileen Kovchok, AP photo

Montenegrins like to call their tiny republic the jewel of the Adriatic. Visitors are often stunned by its beauty, but say the diamond needs polishing.

Much of Montenegro's allure comes from its shining mix of colours: Aquamarine waters, green pine-forested mountains, blazing blue skies and white pebble beaches.

The sights of this small Balkan republic at the southern corner of the Adriatic Sea are best when seen from a plane landing at the seaside airport of Tivat.

But once on the ground, visitors can be put off by narrow, bumpy and winding roads lined with garbage dumps. Most hotels are old and decayed after years of neglect, and many private houses dotting the spectacular landscape are cement gray and unfinished.

Even so, tourism is growing in Montenegro after a decade of Balkan wars in the 1990s slowed the stream of visitors to a trickle.

Although most tourists still come from neighbouring Serbia, the much-bigger republic that with Montenegro forms a union, the dazzling scenery draws visitors from Germany, the Czech Republic and Slovakia. Many are drawn by the stony peaks -- still covered in snow as late as May -- that abruptly give way to the sparkling blue Adriatic.

Sveti Stefan, a tiny peninsula whose sun-bleached limestone homes were turned from a fishing village to a luxury hotel in the 1960s, is a summer mecca for the rich and famous.

Its 15th-century stone walls, narrow streets and tiny church destroyed by an earthquake in 1979 were carefully reconstructed. Today, red tile roofs shimmer in the sun with oleander, bougainvillea and palms providing green and shade.

Next door is Budva, Montenegro's most popular beach resort, featuring a quaint, stonewalled Old Town with its warren of lanes lined with shops and restaurants buzzing with activity.

NARROW STREETS in Budva.

With its intact city walls, narrow streets and seaside locale, Budva can seem like a vest-pocket version of Dubrovnik, the renowned Croatian resort on the border.

Just north of Budva's Old Town, a sidewalk leads along the rocky shore to Mogren Beach -- the nicest in the area -- where families and young people bask in the sun or take a dip in the amazingly clear sea.

South of the Old Town, vendors hawk everything from soft drinks to religious icons. Open-air discos and playgrounds pulse with music and lights until the wee hours, often drawing protests from tourists staying in waterfront hotels.

Some of Montenegro's best restaurants -- serving an hors d'oeuvre of traditional extra-dry ham and goat cheese dipped in olive oil -- are located in Budva and in neighbouring Rafailovici and Bigovo.

"The tourist season this year started earlier than expected, promising a good tourist harvest. More and more foreigners are discovering the delights of Montenegro," said Nikola Lazarevic, owner of the Grispolis restaurant in the picturesque village of Bigovo.

Grispolis is perched on a deep sea bay nestled between pristine hills covered with ancient olive trees. Lazarevic serves delicious grilled fish, coupled with famous Montenegrin Vranac red wine.

Recently, foreign guests have gradually started to return, in part attracted by bargain-basement prices: A double room in a private home can go for $15 per night, about half the price of a similar room in a beach town in neighbouring Croatia. In Sveti Stefan, the average room with breakfast and dinner costs up to $160 per person.

According to official statistics, Montenegro last year had an increase in visitors of 30% over 2001.

Before the Balkan wars, Montenegro booked more than 11 million overnight stays, and 35% were foreigners. Last year, only 20% of the guests were foreigners. Still, that was three times more than in 2000 -- a figure that makes clear the tiny republic is back on the map.

Bottom Line

GETTING THERE: Podgorica, the jumping-off point for the Montenegrin coastline, is connected by air, road and rail to Belgrade, Serbia and Montenegro's capital. The scenic, 10-hour train trip costs $10 (all prices in U.S. funds) from Belgrade, but trains are drab, and sleepers are highly recommended. Cars can be loaded on the trains leaving Belgrade late evenings, arriving in Bar, on the Montenegrin coast, early morning.

Montenegro Airlines, a tiny company flying four well-maintained Fokker-100 jets, has destinations from several European capitals, including Paris, Rome, Budapest, Istanbul and Ljubljana. It flies mostly to Montenegro's capital of Podgorica, but also to the Adriatic Sea airport of Tivat.

JAT Airways, the national airline, flies to Belgrade from most European capitals, and has several flights a day from Belgrade to Podgorica and Tivat. Some foreigners will need visas if transiting through Belgrade.

LODGING: A week in a hotel with one meal a day can be as little as $150 through Montenegrin tourist agencies, including the foreigner-friendly Montenegro Tourist. Private owners offer a double room for as little as $15 a night. Locals offering private rooms cluster around every arriving boat or bus.

DINING: The Adriatic staple of a pizza and a pint of beer runs about $5. A full dinner of local delicacies such as octopus salad and stuffed squid will cost around $30, including a local wine. Cevapcici, small spiced sausages, is the favourite fast food -- keeping in mind that in this laid-back region, "fast" means at least 15 minutes.

LANGUAGE: Recreational linguists enjoy the Montenegrin mix of Italian, German and vowel-disdaining Slavic words. The less-adventurous are comforted by the wide knowledge of English in any town big enough to have a hotel, and by Montenegrins' patience as foreigners struggle with the language.

SIDE TRIPS: Buses for the Croatian resort of Dubrovnik leave Budva daily. Day-long boat excursions -- including a disco-music-blasting trip around Sveti Stefan and other beaches -- cost about $10. A day trip to Mount Lovcen via Njegusi, home of the best dried ham and goat cheese dipped in olive oil in the Balkans, is a must. The Montenegro Tourist agency provides day trips to a wide array of sights.

SPECIAL CONCERNS: Visitors with physical limitations should ensure in advance that their accommodations are not on one of the steep narrow streets that are inaccessible to motor vehicles. Note: conventional boat trips are boarded by a narrow, swaying ladder.

IMAGE: Montenegro is trying to shed its image as a lawless state where cars and other property stolen from Western Europe ended up. "Come to Montenegro -- Your Car is Already There!" used to be a tongue-in-cheek tourist slogan aimed at Westerners. No one's laughing anymore.

MORE INFO: www.visit-montenegro.cg.yu.