Bioče

Bioce is a village in the Podgorica municipality, strung along the road and railway a little north of the capital, at the point where the Moraca valley narrows into a proper canyon.

Downstream the river runs through the open Zeta plain; here the limestone walls close in and rise steeply on both sides, and the water below turns the deep green the Moraca keeps for most of the year. The village occupies the last of the flat ground before that transition.

The railway bridge just above the village, carrying the Belgrade–Bar line across the gorge. For decades it was the highest railway bridge in the world, and it is still an extraordinary piece of engineering to see from the road below.

Because it is the natural place to pause before committing to the canyon. The main road north from Podgorica to Kolasin, Mojkovac and the Serbian border runs through Bioce, and a string of roadside cafes and grill restaurants has grown up to serve exactly that habit.

Side roads climb out of the canyon toward the villages of Kuci, a wild and thinly populated highland region of stone hamlets and grazing land. The Moraca is fished, the canyon walls above the village are familiar to climbers, and further north the same road reaches the Moraca monastery.

Any season works for a stop. Spring, when snowmelt raises the river, is the most impressive time in the gorge.