Kolasin – quick travel guide

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Fast-growing tiny mountain town famous for summer nature and winter ski getaways.

One of Montenegro’s best kept secrets. Small, cozy, friendly but vibrant and with many nature things to do. Highly recommended to have a car or else you’ll use expensive to get anywhere. Having locals to hangout would also be helpful since they’ll know many things well.

A weekend is a enough time but I stayed here 2 weeks and loved every second of it.

Where to stay:

  • Main square – being closest to main square is the most ideal and most convenient. Especially for getting around to food or carrying groceries home. Would also be much more comfortable to get home quickly when it’s super hot or snowy. Many accommodations around here of all sizes, probably very easy if you just need a room.
  • Uphill (towards church & past) – also closer to busier part of town and on the way to resorts, it seems. These accommodations tend to be more expensive.
  • Downhill (towards river) – probably the least desirable area (mainly cuz of difference from the center, but it’s still ok to stay here. I would say these accommodations are cheaper and bigger. Also more quiet and peaceful. But generally, Kolasin is very quiet and peaceful. All accommodations even just 1 or 2 blocks from city center feel like countryside living.

Hostels & Hotels:

  • We stayed in a house we found on Booking.

Neighborhoods, walking areas, public squares:

  • Main square – is the place to be!
    • The actual main square seems to always have stuff going on. Live music and whatever events, very vibrant and busy in the summer.
    • You may also go towards the little river stream near the main square and walk along it as well.
    • You may also go towards the church.

Activities to do:

  • Nature stuff:
    • This is the main reason to come to Kolasin. The enjoy the beautiful nature nearby. Sure, you can enjoy some mountain views from the city but it’s really worth it to get out.
    • Kolasin 1600 Ski Center – there are many ways to go about this ski resort. You can take the ski-lift up to the mountain, and then hike down to the lake (it’s not too hard) and spend some hours there. Or you can take a ride all the way to the viewpoint. Of course I recommend you bring some swimwear and picnic stuff, and then hang out by the lake. Watch out for leeches when you jump into the water.
    • Biogradska Gora – big national park with a lake. The big beautiful lake is just a few minutes walk from the parking lot. You also have options to pay for a rowboat. If you want to hangout by the lake, you can walk around the entire lake to decide where you want to stay (sun vs shade, ppl vs no-ppl, proximity to the little island). Our group enjoyed most being on the left side of the lake close within swimming distance to the little island. There’s also a restaurant on the left side of the lake.
    • Tara Lake – if you’re feeling lazy but still want to be in nature, you can get to various points of the nearby Tara Lake within 5-20mins of walking. Of course, you can jump into the Tara Lake easily from most places but the best area for me is by the little beach.
      • Instructions to get to this little beach are hard to explain but I’ll try. Walk north on Breza street past Partizan Cemetery, when the road starts to turn left you will instead cut northeast through the woods towards the river. Once you get to the water, you will enter the water walking to your right then cross on the other side when you see rocks. Then on the other side, you will see deep water and big rocks (to jump from) and most likely also other people hanging out. It’s like rocky beach.
    • Komovi mountain – beautiful mountain range. Can do quick view but it’s better to do an all-day hike to make the most of your journey getting here.
  • Skiing – most people come here in the winter for the ski resort.

Restaurants & Cafes:

  • Konoba Nisavic – this is probably THE restaurant to go in Kolasin. Nice restaurant, nice food, and most importantly nice outdoor seating. Just about everybody wants to sit outdoors all the time in the summer. You may want to go slightly earlier than 7pm if you want to guarantee outdoor seating.
  • Restoran VODENICA – nice restaurant as well by the small river. People usually go here when Konoba Nisavic is full. Hahaha.
  • Gorstak Pub – good lunchtime option. Good food, service, modern indoor & outdoor seating, WIFI for working. And accepts card! This whole area around here has many similar outdoor restaurant/cafes.
  • Napoleon Cafe – nice cute cafe with cool renaissance decor inside. Good for breakfast/lunch. And outdoor seating. Many other similar outdoor cafes/bars around here.
  • La Parisienne – popular bakery with nice breakfast and lunch options. Outdoor seating as well.
  • Slavija Restaurant – good enough food, very cheap price. Indoor seating only, sorry. I only go here as last resort. Or when all restaurants are full and you just want to eat quick and get out.
  • Pizzeria Kapri – good pizza to takeaway.

In general, the dinner restaurants are very slow in Kolasin. Slow-paced culture. Dinner might take an hour to come out, don’t be surprised!

Bars, clubs, and nightlife:

  • There many bars everywhere. Just follow the noise. Most restaurants and cafes in the day become bars at night.
  • Balkan Caffe – popular bar playing dance music. Dance inside or chat outside.
  • Caffe Bar SFRJ – another good spot.

Miscellaneous tips:

  • Quick travel tips for Montenegro.
  • Pronounced “Koh-loh-shin”.
  • Transportation
    • Podgorica to Kolasin:
      • This journey can be a real pain in the butt if you’re not careful.
      • Trains – are often late anywhere from 30 mins to 2 hrs. Last train runs around 20:40.
        • There are 2 train stations in Podgorica. One is by the city center and has a ticket office. The other is 15 mins walk by the airport called “aerodrom station”. The one by the airport looks like a tiny abandoned building in the middle of nowhere. No ticket office but don’t worry, you can buy a ticket on the train itself…DO NOT LET A TAXI DRIVER LIE TO YOU that you have to go to the center.
        • Regardless, I’d probably still recommend you to get to the central station so that you’re near convenience store to buy food and water and have other people around so you don’t feel like you’re waiting alone in the middle of nowhere with no idea when the train will come.
      • Buses – would be much faster and more reliable IMO, but the latest one runs around 18:00. So my best tip is to arrive in Podgorica at least by the afternoon. https://busticket4.me is the site for bus tickets. Bus station is by the city center and also called aerodrom station and it’s also by the central train station (confusing, I know).
      • Taxi – should cost around 50-55 euro. The random guys at airport will try to charge you 80-90euro, ignore them and call a taxi company. You can always ask nearby people to share a ride. There’s a good chance, they’re also going to Kolasin. A local who’s already driving that direction might be happy to accept 30 euro.
    • Getting around – you can easily walk all over the place around town. The tricky part is getting to the nature destinations. You can taxi there, or go as part of a tour that picks you up. Or you can simply bring/rent your own car (most ideal). I’m not aware of public buses that take you to those destinations.
  • Tap water – most delicious of my life. I actually miss the tap water!

Itinerary:

  • DAY 1 – enjoy the town, maybe jump in the Tara Lake. Eat dinner at Konoba.
  • DAY 2 – go to Ski Center 1600, hike down to the lake. Eat dinner at Vodenica.
  • DAY 3 – go to Biogradska Gora national park, hang out by the water.
  • DAY 4 – Komovi mountains, all day hiking and hangout.

Nearby towns:

Unfiltered notes:

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