Cycling Montenegro: Durmitor National Park

This is the fourth of five parts detailing a four week cycling tour around Albania, Montenegro & Bosnia in May and June 2023. Here are links to Part One, Part Two, Part Three and Part Five.

I was very excited about this part of the tour, as I would enter the high mountains of Montenegro. As usual, my route avoided the main roads as I headed north from Nikšić over the Krnovo Pass towards Žabljak. From there I cycled through the impressive Durmitor National Park, before crossing the border into Bosnia and the town of Foča.





Having spent a couple of days resting in Nikšić, I was fresh and raring to get going on a 92km ride with nearly 2,000m of elevation gain. This would take me from Nikšić to Žabljak - the main tourist center in the Durmitor National Park, situated at an altitude of just under 1,500m.

I left Nikšić on the Vuka Karadzic, which wasn't very busy, and soon turned off on to quiet back roads that I would take over the Krnovo Pass. It is also possible to go to Žabljak using the M18 and P5, but these are much busier with fast moving traffic and at least one significant tunnel. I highly recommend the route I followed over Krnovo Pass to Šavnik, which was well paved and had nice gentle gradients.

Much of the climb was in trees, but there were some great views towards the top of the pass, as the high mountains began to loom large. From the Krnovo Pass it was mostly downhill to Šavnik. I had to join the main P5 for this section. As usual in Montenegro, cars passed at speed and quite closely, so it was a little uncomfortable but the road wasn't really that busy.




Šavnik was by far the largest town I encountered between Nikšić and Žabljak and has a few accommodation options, cafes and restaurants. I took the opportunity here to leave the P5 and instead followed very quiet back roads through the villages of Slatina and Donja Bukovica. This was a narrow road with a very good surface and only has slightly more elevation gain than the P5 - for cycling it was a much more enjoyable alternative to the main road.

As I got closer to Žabljak the scenery began to look increasingly mountainous and remote. Horses and cattle appeared on the road, and the landscape became signficantly wilder. I took a slight detour to visit a Medieval Slavic cemetry that was mildly interesting, but not something I would strongly recommend. Then I rejoined the P5 for the final few kilometres into Žabljak.

Durmitor National Park

Žabljak is the most significant town in the Durmitor National Park, but it didn't feel overly touristy when I arrived on a Friday afternoon. There is a lot of accommodation here, as well as restaurants and supermarkets, so you can get anything you need, and it would be a nice base to spend a few days hiking or mountain biking around the National Park.

The National Park itself is a UNESCO listed World Heritage Site thanks to its dramatic glacial lakes and valleys. It is home to an impressive variety of wildlife including brown bears, wolves, golden eagles and peregrine falcons. As far as cycling goes, there are limited paved roads in the park, but there are quite a few gravel trails and singletracks which would be great fun for mountain biking. There is also excellent mountain biking to be found further west around Kolašin - somewhere I would like to visit on a future trip.

I was a bit short of time on this tour, so only spent one night in Žabljak, but next time I visit I will stay longer and do more off-road riding, hiking and maybe also some rafting along the Tara River.



From Žabljak I took the main paved road running through the National Park - the P14. I was surprised how quiet this was on a Saturday morning, only encountering a few cars along the route, all of which were driving cautiously.

The views are absolutely fantastic on this road, which climbs gently up to 1900m elevation. It then continues high above the Piva River Valley, as high mountains gradually give way to meadows and more open countryside.

After around 40km, I took a right turn to leave the P14 and instead continue on a quiet road in the mountains. The P14 at this point descends down to the Piva River and joins the M18 road. This is a busier route and also has quite a few tunnels, but from what I saw of it, it would also be fine for riding and also very scenic.

The higher route that I took was rolling and relatively easy riding. It became increasingly remote, before a steep descent took me down to the Tara River and the border crossing with Bosnia.






The border crossing into Bosnia was situated on a charming wooden bridge above the Tara River. As with all the border crossings I experienced in the Balkans, it was quick and completely trouble free (this is on a bicycle.. I have done some border crossings nearby in Bosnia before in a car that were signficantly longer and more complicated). On the bridge you could see rafts heading along the Tara River - an activity that is popular in this region.

Once in Bosnia, I continued on the M18 for 25km to the town of Foča. This was a rolling route which was pretty straight forward. The road surface was broken in places and there were considerably more cars than I had experienced on the back roads in Montenegro, but it was OK for cycling, if not quite as scenic as I had expected. I also got chased by a few dogs here, but they seemed to be playing rather than genuinely aggressive. Incidentally, dogs were much less of an issue than I had expected they would be on this trip - with incidents very few and far between.



Foča was another pleasant town. It suffered extensive damage during the Yugoslav Wars and, since then, has been inhabited almost exclusively by Bosnian Serbs. It has a picturesque bell tower and a restored mosque (sponsored by Turkey), but it's best known as an adventure sports center.

You can do hiking routes and some horse riding, but the main activity is water sports. I saw many rafts on the fast flowing Tara River, as well as a few kayaks, all of which looked like a lot of fun!

Next time I return to Foča, I will definitely look to do some activities off the bike. I found people here to be similar to Montenegrins. They didn't openly smile that much, as I have often found in Slavic countries, but people were still very friendly and hospitable. Just as in Montenegro and Albania, English was fairly widely spoken in restaurants, although knowing a few words of Serbian was helpful.

I really like Bosnia as a country, and think it's a fantastic place for cycle touring, so I was looking forward to the final part of my tour, where I would ride through the south of the country towards Dubrovnik...





Part 1 - Podgorica - Krujë

Part 2 - Krujë - Shiroka

Part 3 - Lake Shkodra & Cetinje

Part 5 - Foča - Dubrovnik

Albania, Montenegro & Bosnia Tour Overview

Cycle Touring Guides