Prčanj

Prcanj is a long, quiet waterfront village on the Bay of Kotor, best known for the Church of the Birth of the Virgin Mary — an unusually large neoclassical church that took more than a century to build. It was a wealthy seafaring settlement, and captains' houses still line the shore.

About 5 km along the bay, roughly ten minutes by car and a little longer by the frequent local bus. The waterfront road is also walkable and popular with cyclists, though it is narrow in places and shared with traffic.

Prcanj has concrete bathing platforms and small pebble strips along the waterfront rather than a big sandy beach. The water is calm and clean, and the setting — mountains rising straight out of the bay — is the main reason people swim here.

The Church of the Birth of the Virgin Mary, locally Bogorodicin hram, is a monumental neoclassical church begun in the 18th century and finished in the early 20th. Its scale reflects the wealth Prcanj's sea captains brought home, and a broad stone stairway climbs to it from the waterfront.

It suits travellers who want the bay without Kotor's crowds and cruise-ship days. Prcanj is residential and calm, with a handful of restaurants and apartments along the water, and Kotor's old town is close enough for evenings out.

Walk the waterfront promenade between the captains' houses, visit the great church and the older Church of St Nicholas, swim from the bathing platforms, take a boat across the bay, and drive or hike up towards Vrmac for views over the whole inlet.