Kotor Serpentine
A historic road that climbs Lovćen Mountain from the Bay of Kotor via 25 hairpin bends, offering views over the entire bay, before continuing to Njeguši village and the old capital of Cetinje.
The Kotor Serpentine (Regional Road R-1) is a mountain road built in the late 19th century during the Austro-Hungarian period. It starts from the UNESCO World Heritage old town of Kotor and climbs nearly a kilometre through 25 (some say 26) consecutive hairpin bends. It goes over the Lovćen mountain area, then passes the village of Njeguši and reaches Cetinje, the old capital of Montenegro. The total length is about 45 km. Along the way, every bend offers a wider panorama of the Bay of Kotor, and on clear days you can see Tivat and the bay's entrance in the distance. Near the top, Njeguši village is famous for smoked ham and cheese. A side road leads into Lovćen National Park, where you can climb 461 steps to the Njegoš Mausoleum and look out over the Montenegrin mountains and the Adriatic Sea. Cetinje still preserves its royal palace, monasteries and old embassy quarter. The one-way trip takes one to one and a half hours, so a round trip takes half a day to a full day. The road is very narrow, and many bends only allow one vehicle at a time. You often meet tour buses on the bends and need to be patient and reverse to let them pass. In summer, traffic is heavy in the afternoon, so it is best to set off early in the morning. Parking around the old town of Kotor is difficult.