The city of Bar (Montenegro) is a port city with comfortable hotels, architectural sights of the old town, coastal cafes and small restaurants with seafood dishes, and inexpensive shopping. These are beautiful mountains and woodlands in the surrounding area, wonderful seascapes.
Montenegrin Bar was first mentioned in chronicles from the VI century, but historians and archaeologists estimate the age of settlements on the territory of the Old Bar at more than 2000 years.
One of the sunniest cities in Europe is located in the south of Montenegro, on the Adriatic coast. Most days of the year (about 270) the sun shines here. Its name sounds different in the languages of its nearest neighbors. In Italy – Antivari, as opposed to the Italian Bari, which is located on the other side; on Albanian maps it is designated as Tivari, and the Greeks call the Bar Thivárion.
Nowadays, the city of Bar is the largest port in the country and a fairly popular resort in Montenegro.
According to the latest data, about 15 thousand residents live permanently in the Bar (an area of 67 square kilometers). By our standards, this is quite a bit. But in a small Balkan country, its favorable geographical position and the intersection of three transport streams: rail, road and sea routes made the city an important economic, business and tourist center. It is noteworthy that the Montenegrins in the Bar — less than half of the total population-44%. The second largest ethnic group is Serbs (25%), the third and fourth are Albanians and Bosniaks.
Due to the proximity of the border with Italy, it is the easiest place to buy branded Italian goods: clothing and shoes, cosmetics and jewelry. And the prices for them in comparison with other Adriatic resorts are not so tourist.
How to get
Tivat (65 km) and Podgorica (52 km) are the nearest airports. The bus ride takes just over an hour.
Transfer to the resort of Bar is expensive. For independent trips around Montenegro, you can find suitable options on Bla-bla car or rent a car.
The bus station is 2 km from the center. Buses run hourly from the bus station along the Jadranska magistrala (Adriatic Way) highway to other large resorts along the coast. On the serpentine of the old highway, you can enjoy stunning views of the coast and the Skadar Lake is clearly visible.
Sozina Tunnel
Podgorica can also be reached by road through the two-lane Sozina tunnel, cut out of the mountain range. The road through the tunnel shortened the journey by 22 km. The travel time has also decreased, as the speed of traffic in the tunnel is set at 80 km / h, and in some sections at the exit from it at 100 km / h.
Sozina is the longest tunnel (4,189 m) and the only toll tunnel in the country. There is forced ventilation, lighting and illumination, there is the possibility of emergency communication.
Rates: from 1 to 5 euros, depending on the type of vehicle, its overall and lifting characteristics. On the north side of the entrance there is a payment station with 6 gates. There is a system of discounts, including the purchase of season tickets. There are many different ways to pay for travel.
By train
The Bar’s center is 500 m from the train station. From here you can go to Belgrade and Podgorica.
Trains depart from Podgorica Train Station 11 times a day from 5 am to 10: 17 pm. Travel time is 55-58 minutes. The cost of travel in the first class is 3.6 euros, in the second — 2.4.
Prices and schedules are subject to change. Check the information on the website of the Railways of Montenegro — http://zcg-prevoz.me.
By bus from Tivat Airport
To get to the Bar from Tivat Airport, you first need to walk to the nearest bus stop and “catch” the bus on the side of the road. It will be more comfortable to take a taxi to the city’s bus station (cost 5-7 euros) and then take a bus from Tivat to Bar. The cost of travel is 6 euros per person. Transport runs on this route from 7:55 am to 17:45 pm 5 times a day.
You can check the schedule and prices for tickets, as well as purchase them on the website https://busticket4.me.
By water
In the seaport there is a yacht pier, there are a lot of yachts, boats, speedboats and small pleasure boats. Reviews and illustrated stories on tourist portals and websites are full of photos with the masts of first-class yachts from the barsky pier.
Ferries depart from the passenger terminal for the Italian city of Bari (one-way journey time is 9 hours). Such an excursion is quite expensive, costs 200-300 euros, but is always available to tourists with a Schengen visa. Sometimes the visa regime between the two countries is relaxed, and tourists can go to the other side even without a visa.
City attractions
The city consists of two parts: Old Bar (Montenegro) – 4 km from the sea, on a hill at the foot of the mountain and Bar resort – in the new, coastal part.
Old Bar
This part of the city is compared to a historical and architectural museum right in the open air. Curious tourists interested in history, architecture and archeology can wander along it for a long time.
At the end of the XIX century, the Bar was almost destroyed, and many historical monuments (and there are more than two hundred of them) are now accessible to tourists only in the form of various degrees of ruins: the old city gate, the picturesque ruins of the Cathedral and churches of the XI century, and right next to them – cottages of modern construction. All this is peacefully adjacent.
The most prominent attraction of the Old Bar is the fortress. It is in a somewhat ruined state, but it is still worth visiting, if only because of the picturesque views that open from it. The ticket price is 2 euros. there is a parking lot nearby.
King Nikola’s Palace
The main attraction of the Old Bar is the Palace of King Nikola. In the park near the port there are two beautiful palace buildings with gardens – botanic and winter. Near the chapel.
Permanent and traveling exhibitions are often held in the halls of the palace, and the main premises contain an exposition of the local museum of local lore.
St. John’s Church
A large Orthodox church is located almost at the entrance to the city from the side of Budva. It impresses with its grandeur outside and decoration inside. The height of the church is 41 m. The walls inside are painted with high quality and richly painted frescoes. It is noteworthy that the mural depicts members of the Romanov family.
Old olive tree
Montenegrins have such an interesting tradition: until a young man plants 10 olive trees, he cannot marry – he simply has no right, and he will not be allowed to do so.
Montenegrins honor and love this tree, give it glory and honors. Every year in November, after the harvest, the Bar celebrates the Masleniad and hosts the children’s creative festival “Meetings under the Old Olive Tree”. All this happens not under a fictional and speculative, but under a real olive tree at a venerable age of about 2000 years. This fact is confirmed by scientific research.
The most amazing thing is that the tree still bears fruit. It is on the UNESCO list of world-famous landmarks. The olive tree is also protected by the State of Montenegro.
Rybnyak Monastery
One of the most significant Orthodox shrines in Montenegro and its landmark is located near the Bar (20 minutes by car), in a wonderful secluded corner in the middle of the forest and mountains.
In the monastery church of St. Basil, services are held on certain days. Clothing when visiting the monastery must comply with the canons. Women are not allowed to enter monastery buildings in shorts, short skirts, breeches, or trousers.
Mount Voluica
From the topmost point, you can enjoy wonderful views of the sea and the ruins of the old town. Photos that can be taken from here by both beginners and professional photographers must be of excellent quality. A 600-meter tunnel passes through Voluica. Previously, there were military shooting ranges here, now there are private plantations.
It was from the top of Voluica (256 m) from the city of Bar in Montenegro to the Italian Bari on the other side that engineer G. Marconi transmitted the first wireless telegraph signal across the sea.
If you want to climb the mountain, you can take a taxi to the Milena Bridge, and follow the right bank of the river to reach the path leading to the top in 10 minutes.
Market
You need to go to the barsky market even just out of curiosity, especially if you bought a tour and eat at the hotel. You will remember juicy and bright colors, smells of spices from shopping malls, mountains of vegetables and fruits, colorful guys-merchants, loudly calling to see their goods.
The season, like everywhere else, begins with juicy garden strawberries, followed by beautiful tomatoes and cucumbers, carrots, purple shiny eggplants and different varieties and types of zucchini. The list will continue with a slide of fragrant and ripe peaches and apricots, red and yellow sweet apples, ripe amber melons and striped watermelons, kiwis and pomegranates-although this is not an oriental bazaar, but the eyes will certainly run away. And all this is grown without a trace of any chemistry!
You will not have time to try everything, but after looking at the photos taken at the market, you will admire all this splendor more than once.
Beaches
Royal Beach
As well as on the Royal beach in the Crimea (New World), to visit the city of Bar in Montenegro and not to visit the Royal Beach on the Bar Riviera will be an omission. You can immediately consider your program of visiting the sights of Montenegro unfulfilled.
The beach is located near the village of Chan in a secluded bay and is surrounded by steep cliffs. The coastline on this prestigious beach is wide (coarse sand and clean small pebbles), the water is clear, and the views are wonderful.
You can get here by sea, by Taxi-boat (10 euros) from the pier in the Bar.
The name of the beach is due to the Montenegrin Queen Milena, who swam here, sailing on a boat with the guards from the Palace, when she rested there. The guards were swimming on a nearby beach, in a small bay also protected by high rocks.
The best beaches of the Barskaya Riviera Zhemchuzhny, Val Maslina and Krasny are located in places where river and sea streams connect.
City Beach
It has a length of 750 meters and is located near the Palace of King Nikola. There are the most visitors here, the shore is large pebbles, there are also cobblestones. Pay attention to this if you are going on vacation with small children.. All the other beaches of Bar are mostly pebbly, there are sand and pebbles, but there are significantly fewer people on the beaches than in Budva and Kotor. Water everywhere is clean at any time of the day and in any weather, but with garbage collection utilities do not always cope perfectly.
Weather and climate of the resort
The climate of the resort of Bar (Montenegro) is Mediterranean, summers are hot and long, and winters are both warm and short. But compared to some other places along the coast, it’s not so hot, and the humidity is slightly higher.
From May to October, the daytime temperature stays above 20 ° C. The hottest months in Bar are July and August: the air temperature is 27 ⁰C, and the water in the Adriatic Sea warms up to 23-25 ⁰C.
Fresh air and the smell of the sea – this is what will always accompany you in the Bar. Citrus trees grow everywhere in the surrounding area – there are heat-loving oranges and tangerines in every yard.
The sun shines here 270, and sometimes more days a year. The unique location of the Bar is to blame: between the Adriatic Sea and Lake Skadar, in the very south of Montenegro. In addition, the city is successfully closed from the winds from the continent by the rather high Rumia mountain range. And since the winds here are infrequent and not strong, the bathing season on the beaches of Bar begins in May and lasts for two-thirds of autumn, until the very end of October. It is noticeably longer than in other places along the Montenegrin coast.
Bar is a city in two dimensions. Visit it and immerse yourself in a long, centuries-old history. But at the same time you will see a new and quite comfortable seaside town. A kaleidoscope of winding streets of the Old Bar and sun-drenched squares, streets and boulevards of the new park city will remain in your memory. Guests and tourists will take with them both memories and a whole series of photos for memory – with wonderful seascapes and sights of the surrounding area.
And although the city of Bar (Montenegro) is still far from the level of luxury and from the gloss of the best European resorts, but its future is excellent. Every year, the resort’s infrastructure develops, and life boils here even after the season is over.