The Bay of Kotor is usually described as a fjord and it is not one. A fjord is carved by a glacier; this is a ria, a river canyon that flooded when sea levels rose after the last ice age. The distinction matters because it explains the shape: steep limestone walls rising to over 1,700 metres directly out of deep water, a series of connected basins linked by narrow straits, and Venetian towns built on the few flat ledges.
It also explains the water. The bay is fed by underground springs and river outflow as well as the Adriatic, which makes it noticeably colder than the open sea and slightly brackish in places.
The four basins
The bay narrows and opens four times between the Adriatic and Kotor at the far end.
Herceg Novi and the outer bay is at the entrance, sunniest and closest to Dubrovnik, which is about an hour and a half away including the border.
Tivat, on the middle basin, has the airport and Porto Montenegro, a superyacht marina built on a former Yugoslav naval base, with the shops and restaurants that came with it.
Perast, on the narrows, is a single street of Venetian baroque palaces with two islands offshore, one of them artificial and built up over centuries by sailors dropping rocks.
Kotor, at the head, is the walled medieval town with fortifications climbing 260 metres up the cliff behind it.
Cruise ships come into Kotor in season and the old town fills between about ten and five, in the same pattern as Dubrovnik. The difference is that the bay is long enough to be elsewhere.
The eight below run from the entrance inward.
Herceg Novi and the outer bay
At the mouth, sunniest and closest to Dubrovnik.
One&Only Portonovi occupies a peninsula at Kumbor with a marina, a very large spa, several restaurants and a private beach. It is the most complete resort in Montenegro and the service is a level above anything else here.
One&Only Portonovi
Kumbor, outer bay · 5★ · $$$$
A marina peninsula with the country's largest spa
Check availabilityThe Chedi Lustica Bay sits on the Luštica peninsula outside the bay proper, with two beaches, a golf course and a marina in a purpose-built village. It faces the open Adriatic rather than the bay.
The Chedi Lustica Bay
Luštica peninsula · 5★ · $$$$
Two beaches and a marina facing the open Adriatic
Check availabilityTivat and the middle basin
The marina town, with the airport.
Regent Porto Montenegro occupies the centre of Porto Montenegro with rooms over the marina, a pool on the waterfront and the shops and restaurants outside the door.
Regent Porto Montenegro
Porto Montenegro, Tivat · 5★ · $$$$
Rooms over the superyacht marina with the shops outside
Check availabilityHyatt Regency Kotor Bay Resort sits at Dobrota on the bay with a large spa, a pool over the water and views across to the far shore.
Hyatt Regency Kotor Bay Resort
Dobrota · 5★ · $$$
Large spa and a pool over the bay water
Check availabilityPerast
The Venetian street on the narrows.
Heritage Grand Perast occupies a restored palace on the Perast waterfront with a small room count, a jetty and the two islands directly offshore.
Heritage Grand Perast
Perast waterfront · 4★ · $$$
A restored palace with the two islands offshore
Check availabilityKotor and Dobrota
The head of the bay, below the fortifications.
Palazzo Radomiri Heritage Boutique Hotel occupies an eighteenth-century captain's palace on the water at Dobrota, with stone rooms, a jetty and a swimming platform. It is the most atmospheric small hotel on the bay.
Palazzo Radomiri Heritage Boutique Hotel
Dobrota, near Kotor · 4★ · $$$
An eighteenth-century captain's palace with a swimming platform
Check availabilityHotel Forza Mare sits on the Dobrota shore with a small room count, a private beach and a good restaurant.
Boutique Hotel Hippocampus occupies a restored building inside Kotor's walls with a courtyard and a handful of rooms, which is the only way to be in the old town before the ships arrive.
Boutique Hotel Hippocampus
Inside Kotor's walls · 4★ · $$
The old town before the ships arrive
Check availabilityWhat we have left off
The apartment rentals along the bay road are excluded, and along the Dobrota and Prčanj shore they are a very large share of the accommodation and often have the best water access. They are apartments rather than hotels.
What to do
Climb the Kotor fortifications. About 1,350 steps up the cliff behind the town to the fortress of San Giovanni, and the view down over the bay is the reason people come. Start early; there is no shade.
Take a boat to Our Lady of the Rocks, the artificial island off Perast, built up over centuries by sailors dropping stones after safe voyages.
Drive the Kotor–Lovćen serpentine, twenty-five hairpins climbing out of the bay with the whole thing spread out below. It is one of the great mountain roads in Europe.
Go inland to Lovćen and Cetinje, the old royal capital, and further to Durmitor if you have the days.
Eat on the water: black risotto, buzara, and the smoked ham and cheese from Njeguši on the mountain road.
Practical notes
Tivat airport is on the bay itself and Podgorica is ninety minutes away. Dubrovnik is about ninety minutes including a border crossing that can be slow in season.
May, June and September are the best months. July and August are hot and busy. The bay's water is cold well into June because of the spring inflow.
The bay road is narrow and slow, and it is the only way round. Distances take longer than the map suggests.
Explore 4 & 5 Star Bay of Kotor Hotels
Questions people actually ask
Is it a fjord?
No. It is a flooded river canyon, which is why the walls are limestone rather than granite and why the shape is a chain of basins.
Kotor or Tivat?
Kotor for the medieval town and the climb, Tivat for the marina, the restaurants and the airport. Twenty minutes apart.
Do cruise ships spoil it?
They fill Kotor between ten and five in season. The bay is long enough that being elsewhere at those hours is easy.
How many nights?
Four. Three on the bay and a day inland to Lovćen.