Durmitor, from Ostrog to the Tara Canyon

In northern Montenegro, the Durmitor massif strings together glacial lakes, high passes and some of the deepest canyons in Europe. This trip goes round it in five days from Podgorica, from Ostrog Monastery to the Tara bridge.

Montenegro

The Black Lake and its reflection below Međed, among the pines, near Žabljak.

Lakes, passes and canyons of northern Montenegro

North of Plužine, the road runs along Lake Piva, a turquoise reservoir, and through many tunnels cut straight into the rock, narrow and unlit. You turn back at the Mratinje Dam, 220 metres high.

From Plužine, a minor road crosses the Sedlo Pass, at 1,907 metres, often described as the highest road pass in the country. It then drops down through summer pastures and shepherds’ huts to Žabljak, at 1,456 metres, the hikers’ base. Close by, the Black Lake lies at the foot of Međed. Further on, the Ćurevac viewpoint looks over the Tara Canyon.

Next, you follow the Tara to the forest of Biogradska Gora, then go down the Morača Canyon on the old road. A viewpoint there looks out on the Mala Rijeka railway viaduct: when it opened, in 1973, it was the highest railway bridge in the world.

The upper monastery of Ostrog, built into the rock face.

The Orthodox monasteries

Ostrog Monastery is built into a cliff, above the Bjelopavlići plain. It was founded in the 17th century by Saint Basil of Ostrog, Metropolitan of Herzegovina, who died there in 1671. His relics lie in a small church cut into the rock. It is one of the great pilgrimages of the Serbian Orthodox Church. Catholics and Muslims come too. Some pilgrims walk up from the lower monastery, sometimes barefoot. Clothing must cover shoulders and legs.

Piva Monastery was built between 1573 and 1586. Threatened by the Mratinje Dam, the monastery was taken apart and rebuilt stone by stone at Goransko, from 1969 to 1982. More than a thousand fragments of frescoes were taken down and then put back.

Near Kolašin, Morača Monastery dates from 1252. Its oldest frescoes tell the life of the prophet Elijah.

Threatened by the Mratinje Dam, the monastery was taken apart and rebuilt stone by stone at Goransko, from 1969 to 1982.

Durmitor and the Tara Canyon

Durmitor is a limestone massif shaped by glaciers. It has 18 glacial lakes, known here as the “eyes of the mountain”. The highest peak, Bobotov Kuk, rises to 2,523 metres; the climb takes five to six hours there and back from the Sedlo Pass. A national park since 1952, Durmitor has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1980, together with the Tara Canyon.

The Tara Canyon is about 80 kilometres long and up to 1,300 metres deep. It is often described as the deepest in Europe. The Đurđevića Tara Bridge, completed in 1940, crosses it 172 metres above the water. In 1942, the Partisans blew up one of its arches with the help of the engineer Lazar Jauković, whom the Italians later shot on the bridge. Near Žabljak, the medieval tombstones of Bare Žugića have been on the UNESCO list since 2016.

Rijeka Crnojevića

Rijeka Crnojevića, Cetinje · 40 minutes from Podgorica

A village on a river that flows into Lake Skadar, with an arched bridge commissioned in 1853 by Prince Danilo. Close by, the Pavlova Strana viewpoint looks down on the river’s bend.

Practical notes

When to go: June to September. The Sedlo Pass is only open in summer, usually from June until the first snow.
Getting there: Podgorica has an airport. Check that your vehicle insurance covers Montenegro.
Access: The roads over the Sedlo Pass and through the Piva tunnels are narrow, single-track in places: not recommended for large motorhomes. At Ostrog, large motorhomes stop at the lower monastery.
Sleeping in a van: Campsites at Plužine, Žabljak and Kolašin. In the national parks, sleep only in the designated places.
Worth knowing: There is a fee to enter the Durmitor and Biogradska Gora parks. The A1 toll motorway bypasses the Morača Canyon.
Allow: Five days for the loop, one more for Bobotov Kuk or rafting on the Tara.

Lake Piva at the bottom of its wooded canyon.

What not to miss

1The Black LakeThe best-known lake in Durmitor, with a path that goes all the way round it.
2The Ćurevac viewpointAn hour’s walk there and back to see the Tara Canyon from above.
3The Đurđevića Tara BridgeFive arches over the river, and the starting point for rafting trips.
4The Piva tunnel roadRough-hewn tunnels above the lake, all the way to the Mratinje Dam.
5Biogradska GoraA forest given to Prince Nikola in 1878, with trees more than 500 years old.
6The Mala Rijeka viaductThe great bridge of the Belgrade–Bar railway, seen from the old road.

Durmitor in pictures

The Tara canyon between its black-pine slopes, under a summer sky.

The lake at Biogradska Gora, its rowing boats and its forest.

The twin peaks of Sedlena Greda above the summer pastures, near the Sedlo Pass.

The Tara canyon between its black-pine slopes, under a summer sky.

The Durmitor table

The food of the north is shepherds’ food. Kačamak is a porridge of maize and potato, served with kajmak, a thick cream, and cheese. Lamb is cooked under the sač, a bell-shaped lid covered with embers.

In the summer shepherds’ huts around Žabljak, you can buy kajmak and mountain cheeses. In Nikšić, the Trebjesa brewery makes Nikšićko, a lager you find all over the country.

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