The mountains are refreshing, the lakes are romantic, and the cities are rich in fascinating artistic and historical heritage, but the place where we all really want to go on summer vacation is the seaside. Krašići in Boka Kotorska is a place that fits perfectly into this idea of a perfect vacation.
A village on the Luštica shore
Krašići stretches along the northern coast of the Luštica peninsula, in the Krtole area of Tivat municipality, facing the town of Tivat across the water. Located only 12 km from the Tivat airport, in a small bay of the same name, Krašići is a popular summer destination and resort for domestic and international visitors. They are all looking for their own La dolce vita vacation.
For most of its history this was a village of fishermen, sailors and olive growers, and the shape of it still shows that: stone houses set back among olive trees and figs, small jetties, a shore path that connects one cove to the next. Building has been steady over the past two decades, but the place has stayed low rise and residential rather than turning into a resort strip, which is exactly why people come back to the same rented terrace year after year.
The view across Tivat Bay
The view from Krašići is unique thanks to the Tivat Bay, which is the largest of the bays within the Boka Kotorska. It offers the most beautiful view of the Krtole archipelago with three islands. Sveti Marko is the wooded one, long abandoned by the holiday village that once occupied it. Gospa od Milosti, Our Lady of Mercy, carries a small church and monastery complex whose origins go back to the Middle Ages. The third, Prevlaka, also called the Island of Flowers, is joined to the mainland by a narrow neck of land and holds the ruins of a Benedictine monastery.
Behind them the bay closes in: Tivat and the masts of Porto Montenegro on the far shore, the ridge of Vrmac above, and on a clear evening the bare grey shoulder of Lovćen further inland. Sunsets here run long because the water is wide and the hills are low on the western side.
Slow days and the warm water
The sea water in this bay is always warmer than in other places for swimming. Tivat Bay is shallow, sheltered from the open Adriatic by the whole length of Luštica and by the narrows at Verige, so it heats up early in the season and holds that warmth into October. Swimming from a concrete platform in late September, when the coast outside the bay has already turned, is one of the real pleasures of the place.
The atmosphere of Krašići is distilled on the beaches, beach bars and restaurant terraces. Beyond that, the day is what you make it: a rented boat or kayak, an hour of shade, mussels and fish for lunch. Boats from the Krtole coast run out around Luštica to the outer shore, where Žanjice and Mirište face the open sea and the Blue Cave and the fortress island of Mamula are the standard half-day circuit.
Getting there and getting around
Tivat airport is twelve kilometres away by road, around Tivat and out along the Radovići road onto the peninsula, and Podgorica airport is roughly ninety. Kotor is about half an hour by car, Herceg Novi rather less if you use the Lepetane to Kamenari ferry across the narrows instead of driving the full loop of the bay. A car makes life easier here, since the village is spread out and the shops and restaurants are not all in one place. Our Tivat guide covers the wider municipality, and the Montenegro airport guide explains the transfer options.
When to come
July and August are hot, humid and full, with the whole bay busy and traffic slow on the coastal roads. June and September are the better bet: warm sea, working kitchens, room to park. In May and October the water is still swimmable and the peninsula is green rather than burnt, which is the season for walking the old paths above the village. Winter is quiet to the point of empty, but the bay in low cloud has its own case to make.
