Montenegro
4×4 Katun Roads

After picking up the Lada, you will soon leave the capital, but not before you stock up on enough supplies at the local convenience store to prepare your own food on a gas flame tonight and tomorrow morning. Wilderness in Montenegro is really wilderness, and you will experience that as the road gets worse and you drive towards beautiful mountain lake where you camp the first evening. There are a few shepherd’s huts around the lake, but that is the only sign of life. No telephone reception, no artificial light, no electricity. This is wild camping Montenegro style. Your Montenegro 4×4 Adventure has begun! The route is relatively easy and is a nice prelude to what is yet to come. The descent to the lake contains a small technical passage with a lot of gravel.

The ride continues to Sinjajevina. The climb from the lake is one of the more difficult passages you will conquer on this trip. But soon the road becomes flat and the view is unparalleled. You can partly organize the route according to your wishes with an extra ride over a mountain pass and/or a visit to Lake Bukumirsko. You pass through some beautiful Katun settlements before you reach the asphalt again at Verusa. But after less than an hour you leave again. Just enough to grab a gas station and possibly a shop for some basic supplies.

Towards the end of the ride you climb again. The mountains of Sinjajevina are completely different, much rockier and more open than before. It is here where the country’s largest herds grazed for centuries. Welcome to Sinjajevina, the agricultural heart of Montenegro. The countless shepherd villages are a reminder of this. Many are, unfortunately,  hardly in use anymore. Katun Kuline does however. You will spend the night in the guest room. Or if you wish, pitch your Lada & sleep in the tent) and dine with the shepherd family.

After leaving Kuline, we immediately present you with a difficult choice. Are you climbing the Jablanov Vrh, or can you not wait to start that fantastic descent into the Lipovo Valley? The summit is the highest in Sinjajevina and fairly easily accessible from the route. The valley of Lipovo, into which you descend afterwards, is the next highlight. This beautiful and unspoilt valley would not have come up for the best landscape painter. Via Kolasin (refuel again) we go up again, to the third massif that you will conquer on this trip. Bjelasica is perhaps better known, because you can also ski here in winter. During the summer holidays it is quite popular among MTB riders and hikers. As soon as you have driven up to the base of the ski area, the asphalt ends again and the last 2-3 hours are wonderfully off-road above the tree line. Here too you pass a number of beautiful Katun villages and where the road ends, the last katun, that is where you sleep.

Katun Senica is run by two brothers who together create a party for every guest. The room you are in is unexpectedly neat for such a remote location.

After breakfast you can take a walk before leaving this beautiful place. Up and down to the mountain lake of Pesica or even around all the way over the highest peak of Bjelasica, “Crna Glava”. After departure, you return to the valley along the same route and then drive up the mountain that separates Montenegro from Kosovo. Just before the border lies Katun Cakor, the most rural of all the Katuns where you will stay. You unfold your roof tent here at an altitude of almost 2000m on a specially equipped camping field. The field is fenced to keep livestock out. The view westward combined with the height guarantees that you will enjoy an amazing sunset here.

The people at katun Cakor like it when you lend a hand on the farm. There is always a job to do and Shepherdess Gordana invites you to roll up your sleeves.

We descend via more common road and so we are back in the valley much faster than we were at the top. From the valley you can optionally go up and down to Visitor Katun, a remote and very authentic Katun from where you can climb the peak of the same name.

We climb back up again via the town of Plav. A very beautiful climb awaits you to the border triangle between Montenegro, Kosovo and Albania. A short walk to that point is also an option. And Lake Hridsko is also practically on the route. Highly recommended for a quick swim at almost 2000m altitude.

Ultimately you arrive in katun Bajrovic, where you will be warmly welcomed by Samel and his mother, who together run the katun here. Expect a festive farm-to-table dinner with a great view. Tonight is your last night in Katun. You sleep in your roof tent and can use the central sanitary facilities. Tomorrow you will sleep in lower terrain again.

PS: if you think this is a bit much, you will already pass your sleeping place on the way to the border triangle so you can also save that for tomorrow morning if you want to stay at altitude a little longer. or simply skip Visitor to make most of you hike & swim here.

You descend back to Plav to reach your last accommodation via a a very accessible route. Just like the first night of your 4×4 adventure, you will also sleep in the wild on the last night. The valley of Grebaja is your destination for the evening. On the way there you can visit the valley of Ropojana with its 3 water miracles; two springs and a waterfall that disappears into the ground.

In the Grbaja valley you are surrounded by immense peaks and if you still have energy left, we strongly recommend that you climb one of them. The Talijanka is one of the most beautiful possible walks in Montenegro in our opinion. You can cook it yourself at the bivouac (but if you don’t feel like it, there is also a restaurant there).

And after a wonderful night under the stars, the adventure is over. Via the gorge of the Cijevna river you drive back to Podgorica in 2 hours, where we expect you at 11:00 at the latest (a little delay is no problem). If you get up on time, you can take a nice coffee break at the bar with swimming facilities on the river. The route passes through Albania for a short while, but the border posts here are never too crowded (but can still be slow due to the lack of computers).

Back in Podgorica you return the car. We hope you will arrive, like most of our guests, with a big smile on your face. We carefully check the car for any damage (we don’t mind some mud or a small scratch on the door). We are of course very curious to hear your stories! We wish you a wonderful continuation of your trip in Montenegro and/or a safe journey home. If you need an airport taxi we’d be happy to call one for you.