Cevo

Cevo sits on a high karst plateau at around 900 m in the Old Montenegro heartland, between Cetinje and Niksic. The roads that cross the plateau connect the two, and Cevo is roughly halfway.

It is the historic centre of the Cuce, one of the highland tribes of this region. The tribal society that formed on these plateaus supplied much of the manpower and the mythology of Montenegro's long resistance to Ottoman rule.

Bare grey limestone, sinkholes and shallow poljes, with thin soil gathered painstakingly into walled plots and almost no surface water — everything drains straight through the rock. Views run for tens of kilometres, to Lovcen one way and the mountains above Niksic the other.

Pastorally, and hard. Sheep and goats on the karst, stone houses with heavy slab roofs, and cisterns for rainwater because there are no wells. Cevo has been fought over and burned more than once, including in the Second World War, and the memorials record it plainly.

The drive and the silence. The plateau roads run for long stretches with no traffic at all, through country that looks lunar in summer light and stark under snow. Walking is open and unmarked, following shepherd tracks between dolines and abandoned katuns.

There is very little in the way of services, so sort out fuel, water and food first. May to October is the practical window; winters bring heavy snow and roads that can stay closed for days. It suits self-sufficient travellers with their own transport.