Lovćen National Park holds the highest mausoleum in the world, built for a 19th-century poet-prince whose remains were fought over by two governments – and the same day trip that reaches it also passes through Montenegro's former royal capital and a fishing village turned celebrity hideaway.
A mausoleum on the world's highest peak
At 1,660 metres on Lovćen's Jezerski Vrh summit stands the Njegoš Mausoleum, built for Petar II Petrović-Njegoš, who ruled Montenegro as prince-bishop from 1830 until 1851 and is credited with the single biggest contribution to shaping it into an independent state. His remains were moved more times than most: buried first at Cetinje Monastery in 1851, transferred to a chapel he'd built on Lovćen in 1855, then moved back to Cetinje in 1916 after occupying Austro-Hungarian authorities decided to put their own monument to Emperor Franz Joseph on the same peak instead. It wasn't until 1974 that his remains returned to Lovćen for good, inside a new secular mausoleum designed by sculptor Ivan Meštrović under Yugoslavia's communist government – the highest burial site of its kind anywhere in the world. On the way up, most tours stop in Njeguši, Njegoš's birthplace, now better known for the smoked prosciutto and hard cheese produced there.
From royal capital to celebrity island
Down from the mountain, Cetinje was Montenegro's royal capital for centuries, home to the old royal court and a cluster of historic monasteries, quieter today than the coastal towns that draw most visitors. The route typically continues to the coast and Sveti Stefan – a fortified fishing village built on its own small island in 1442, its houses lived in by local families for five centuries until they were evicted in the 1950s and the whole island was converted into a resort, opened in 1960. Through the 1970s it hosted celebrities including Sophia Loren, Marilyn Monroe and Kirk Douglas; today it's run by Aman Resorts, reopened in 2010 after a full renovation.
Booking
The full-day tour from Kotor runs about 12 hours with a live guide, covering Njeguši, Lovćen National Park and the mausoleum, Cetinje, the Crnojević River and Sveti Stefan. It's a well-reviewed, frequently sold-out option, so book a day or two ahead. Prefer a shorter outing on the water instead? The Bay of Kotor boat tour covers the Blue Cave, Our Lady of the Rocks and a hidden submarine base in about a third of the time.
Good to know
Frequently asked questions
Njeguši village, Lovćen National Park and its mausoleum, the former royal capital Cetinje, the Crnojević River, and the island resort of Sveti Stefan – covering both the mountains above the Bay of Kotor and the coast beyond it.
Image: Ingo Mehling via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0)