Bar

Bar is Montenegro's main port and its ferry gateway to Italy, and the site of Stari Bar, a ruined medieval hill town beneath Mount Rumija. It also has one of the world's oldest cultivated olive trees and the Adriatic terminus of the scenic railway up to Belgrade.

Stari Bar is a fortified medieval town about 4 km inland from the modern city, largely ruined after a 19th-century gunpowder explosion. You can walk its lanes, aqueduct, churches and citadel, and the cobbled bazaar street below the gate has cafes and craft shops.

The Stara Maslina at Mirovica is reckoned to be over 2,000 years old, among the oldest olive trees in the world. It stands fenced and signposted a short drive from Stari Bar, and still bears fruit.

Yes. Bar is Montenegro's ferry port, with sailings to Bari and, seasonally, Ancona. The Bari crossing takes roughly 9 to 10 hours and usually runs overnight, carrying both foot passengers and cars.

Bar's town beaches are mostly pebble and fairly functional. The better swimming lies south towards Utjeha, Dobra Voda and Veliki Pijesak, or north at Sutomore and Canj, all within about 20 to 30 minutes by road.

Yes. Bar is the southern end of the Belgrade-Bar railway, one of Europe's most scenic lines, climbing through canyons and over the Mala Rijeka viaduct. Domestic trains also reach Podgorica in about an hour.