Exploring Kotor's Old Town

We caught the 7:35 am bus into Kotor, hopping off near the waterfront. We were looking for what people call the Promenade. Initially, all we found was the tourist boat marina and cruise ship dock. We ended up walking to another supermarket to see if they had different offerings. They had peanut butter, which we decided to get, and another muesli—but the muesli was super expensive, so it stayed on the shelf.

We entered the Kotor Old Town (lower town) walls through the Southern Gurdić Bastion gate. We soon found steps leading up onto the walls. They’re free to access here, unlike Dubrovnik. They probably aren’t as fancy or as long, but it was still very interesting to walk along them, looking down into the Old Town streets. There were also good views of the Kotor Fortress (upper town) walls heading up the mountain behind the town. We walked the full half-circumference. The back half of the town butts up against the mountain.

We then wandered the inner streets, meandering our way through them. Very few people were about, though the numbers were increasing by the time we left. We noticed a few familiar places from our recce the other day. We came to a very nice-looking café square and decided to stop and have a drink. I had an Americano and Sarah had a Coke Zero. The café had a fan that misted water to blow cooler air on the patrons. €5.50 for our drinks seemed pretty reasonable.

In a few places we came across alleyways with grocery supplies that had been delivered earlier left for customers to pick up. Obviously not a lot of fortuitous crime here. 

We continued our walk and saw lots of tourist shops and eventually a few tourists and tour groups following flags. It reinforced my desire not to follow someone with a flag. Mr T “chop chop” from Siem Reap was an exception—he didn’t have a flag. 😉

There has been a town in this location since the 3rd or 2nd century BC. Kotor is considered to have been founded by the Romans sometime between 168 BC and 476 AD. The Old Town certainly has a medieval feel to it. As for the age and history of the walls, I’ll hand that over to my new friend ChatGPT:

“The mighty walls of Kotor are more than just a dramatic backdrop to this beautiful bay—they’re a living timeline. Originally built in the 9th century during Byzantine times, the fortifications were expanded over centuries, most notably by the Venetians between the 15th and 18th centuries. Stretching 4.5 km and rising steeply up to the San Giovanni Fortress, the walls once defended the city from invaders coming by land or sea. Today, they stand as a UNESCO World Heritage site and offer breathtaking views for those willing to make the climb.”

We exited the inner town from the front gate. By our counting, there are just three gates—confirmed by Google! Kotor is nicknamed the “City of Cats,” and we did see plenty of them and a few cat-themed shops. Someone I know would be in her element here! 🥰

We next had a quick walk through the city fruit and vege market just outside the main gate. Then we went in search of the promenade again. We believe we found it. As you head out of the Kotor township towards Dobrota, there is Kotor Public Beach and a footpath/promenade running beside a less busy road. The beach is not as clean or pleasant as our beach in Orahovac. If you want to rent a sun lounger and umbrella on the beach, it will cost you €30 per couple!

Next stop was the supermarket to restock a few supplies for our next two dinners and lunches. We were trying to time things right to get our chilled meat, milk, and yoghurt and catch the 20-past-the-hour bus. We got the shopping done and were waiting on the main road at 10 past. Almost perfect timing—or so we thought. We ended up waiting 50 minutes for the bus, which was running very late. The traffic on a workday is a bit mental here, and there’s only one main road. 

The bus finally arrived and it was packed. Fortunately, we’ve learned through experience not to be too polite when it comes to the art of queuing for buses. Behave like a typical Kiwi and you’ll probably be left standing on the side of the road waiting another hour for the next bus! If in doubt, pretend you’re French. “Pardon” to any French reading this, but you know you don’t do queues in France! 😂

While waiting for the bus, I realised I had lost my sunglasses. 😡 I was sure I put them in my pocket, but now they’re gone! Grrrrr. I’ll need to pop back to Bangkok for another $5 pair of fake Ray-Bans. That’s the second thing I’ve lost on this holiday, having had my CamelBak drink bottle go AWOL somewhere in Croatia. Still, at least it wasn’t my wallet or my phone.

We arrived back at the apartment around 12:30 pm and felt we’d had a great morning out. Lunch was very nice with our new supermarket supplies, plus a fresh loaf of bread from the local store.

The afternoon was spent catching up on blog writing, napping (for some), and reading.

We also had a trip-planning session to try and figure out our next moves—not our immediate next moves, but the ones after that and leading into August. We now have draft ideas for Plan A and Plan B, with a bit more research required.

We cooked a really nice dinner tonight: pork steaks, gnocchi with a tomato and BASIL sauce, and a lettuce salad with tomato and beetroot. The accompanying beer tonight was an Amstel. Just half a can each! 😉

The Norwegian weather gods have promised us heavy rain and a thunderstorm tomorrow. ⛈️ ⚡ I'll be impressed if they are correct. The temperatures are also meant to drop a few degrees.

We both agreed this has been a great day! More to come...