In Defense of Podgorica

Now, if you’ve read any travel blogs at all, (traitor) plenty of people seem to believe that Podgorica is basically Dante’s fifth circle of hell, a place so devoid of personality, you may as well spend your holiday inside a vacuum. Though, to be honest I think they’re being unfair, as, for a city of 150,000 people, it’s got a surprisingly lot of things going for it.

Let’s get something out of the way first through, it hasn’t got a beautiful, well preserved historic center, old cathedrals, or a street lined with so many bars, you’ll be throwing up before you reach the end. You have to remember this is a city of just 150,000 people, in a country that is barely 10 years old.

So, what exactly is there to see in Podgorica? Well, to be fair, not very much, there’s a beautiful river, a couple of old buildings, a nice little park, and err — a few nice cafes. Okay, that’s about it, hardly the Paris of the east then — but bear with me. The art of Podgorica is not to spend most of your time there, it’s to use it as a base to explore the rest of this beautiful mountainous and spectacular country, either by hiring a car or by Montenegro’s excellent bus and rail system.

Traveling by bus in Montenegro is a surprisingly easy affair, buses run regularly to all the main tourist hot spots. From the spectacular Kotor to medieval Budva and chilled out Totor. Buses run regularly, usually every half an hour with a few gaps in between, and are as cheap as chips and pretty much always on time. Actually, you’ve got to be careful there, the buses are so on time, they sometimes leave early. My bus back from Kotor left a whole ten minutes early!

Though I would recommend you only spend a day in Podgorica itself, it’s rather spread out for a Yugoslav city, and there’s plenty of ancient communist-era tower blocks to keep your USSR friend happy. Yes, it doesn’t have the buzz of cities like Berlin and Barcelona, but it makes up for that in tranquility and calm, one of the most amazing things about the city was how everyone seemed to know each other.

Neighbours seemed to just bump into one another in the streets, there’s little to no crime and for all those travel bloggers who say the old town has no personality, look at these bars…

The key I find to enjoying cities like Podgorica is to adjust my expectations, a small city by western or even eastern standards. It may be short of sights, but it sure as hell makes up for it with its friendly locals, relative safety, and some surprisingly good cuisine, try the omelets, they cost no more than 3 euros and are enormous, I was full for three days after having one!

As long you don’t make Podgorica your destination of choice, by that I mean, don’t just visit Podgorica but add it on to Kotor, Budva, and Bar, and take it slow, don’t expect the world, it may just surprise you. Though, if you’re into urban exploring, Podgorica should be your number one destination, as there are so many derelict buildings to explore, from tumbling tower blocks, to a crumbling ex-Yugoslav army base. Even if you’re not an urban explorer I urge you to give it a go, just watch your step…

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