#kotorcats

Kotor is one of the most well-preserved medieval towns near the Adriatic sea and is an Unesco Heritage site. We visited in December and the weather was perfect. The drive there from Herceg-Novi is stunning with the beautiful waters and dramatic mountains. There also loads of street cats around looking for a bit of love and maybe even a treat. We loved everything about this town!

Cathedral of Saint Tryphon

Upon our arrival, we were greeted by many cats. It was just like Croatia, with many colonies around. Inside the town, we even noticed a shop with these little kitty figurines. They sure love their cats in Kotor.

There is a non-profit from Seattle called Kotor Kitties that helps homeless street cats in Montenegro live healthier lives and reduce the populations by spay and neuter surgery. We were intrigued to find that someone from our part of the world was so interested in helping the cats of Montenegro. We have already donated to them.

Kotor is a walled city nestled alongside St. John’s Hill. The walls are 15 meters wide and 20 meters high. I know the bay next to Kotor as one of the most beautiful in the world. This fjord reminded me of Norway with beautiful reflections.

There are three main entrances to the city walls and we entered from the North side. The streets are somewhat of a maze and even locals can get lost in it. Luckily you can easily see the Cathedral to use as an anchor point. This was originally done as a protective measure, making it difficult to invade.

The narrow streets inside the walls are fascinating to discover. This alleyway got more narrow as you walked into it.

Kotor is a special place with its street cats, fortress, castle, and city walls. There is plenty to do here for a day.

During the off-season there are no cruise ships, making this a magnificent time to visit Kotor. We loved this place and will definitely go back next time we are in the area.

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Kotor was one of our favorite places during our visit to Montenegro. It is a charming little walled city with a Fortress and Castle just above it. We visited in December and had this place mostly to ourselves. The climb up to San Giovanni Castle was amazing with such mind-blowing views from the top. It also is a unique trek with zig-zagging pathways all the way up the hillside. The trip is well worth the 1,350 steps to the top. And somehow we also didn’t have to pay the entry fee.

As we approached the gate, we saw that there was an €8 ($9 USD) entry fee. However, the gate was not manned and was wide open.  Apparently, during the off-season they do not charge for entry. We also know there are ways to avoid the entry fee even during the high-season with a bit of creativity. Score!

We traveled back in time to the year 532 when an emperor had the fort built. Since then it has been through many earthquakes and even bombed by British Naval armies during World War II. It is part of the fortifications of Kotor with many gates, bastions cisterns, a castle, and other various buildings and structures.

There is a lot to explore here and even plenty of street cats here that are looking for a bit of love. They have some of the best views of the cities as they look down on their human servants below.

We thoroughly enjoyed the inside of the building ruins. There weren’t many access points to go inside, but when we did it was incredible.

This has to be one of the best panoramas we’ve seen in Europe with steep mountains looking down at the harbor below. It felt kind of like Norway, but much warmer.

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