Golubovci

Golubovci is a suburban settlement south of Podgorica and the seat of Zeta municipality, which separated administratively from the capital in recent years. To travellers it is best known as the home of Podgorica Airport, Montenegro's main international gateway, whose runway lies on the flat farmland just outside the village. For a great many visitors this is where a Montenegrin holiday begins and ends. The setting is unlike most of the country. This is level alluvial ground on the Zeta plain between the Morača and the Cijevna, with mountains only in the distance, and it has been farmed intensively for a very long time. Vineyards, vegetable fields, orchards and greenhouses run right up to the edge of the residential streets. The villages here are low and modern rather than picturesque, built for working the land, and the plain around them is dotted with older hamlets and small churches. Position is the point. Podgorica's centre is about fifteen minutes north, with its riverside parks, the Ottoman quarter of Stara Varoš and the Cathedral of Christ's Resurrection. Skadar Lake National Park begins just to the south and west - the largest lake in southern Europe, best seen from a small boat among the waterlilies and pelicans, with Virpazar the usual starting point. The main road to Bar and the Sozina tunnel runs south from here, putting the coast around forty minutes away and Budva roughly an hour. Golubovci suits travellers on early flights, anyone collecting a hire car, and birdwatchers heading for the lake. It is functional rather than scenic, and the plain gets very hot in July and August, when Podgorica is among the warmest places in Europe; spring and autumn are far kinder. Its proximity to the airport makes it a practical first or last stop for travellers, and a quiet, inexpensive base for a couple of days spent on the water or in the capital.