Čoban's Lodge Goleš

Čoban's Lodge Goleš is a mountain cabin set at 1,600 metres above sea level in the hills above Kolašin, in Montenegro's northern region. It forms part of a small eco-shepherd's settlement of five traditional cabins, so you stay in your own private cabin while sharing the atmosphere of a working highland hamlet. The layout suits a couple or two friends travelling together: one bedroom with a single bed arrangement for two guests, plus one bathroom. Marked hiking trails lead from the settlement toward Biogradsko Lake, making this a practical base for walkers exploring the Bjelasica range. Meals are prepared on site in the Montenegrin mountain tradition — roasted lamb, homemade pastries, and naturally produced dairy and berry products from the surrounding pastures. Kolašin itself is the nearest town for shops and services. Rates start from 158 EUR per night.

About the area

At 1,600 metres the character of the country changes completely. Goleš is a katun, one of the seasonal shepherds' settlements scattered across the highlands above Kolašin, where families still move up with their livestock for the summer grazing and move down again before the snow. The nearest village, Trebaljevo, is about 12 kilometres away and Kolašin roughly 18, up a track that climbs through beech and spruce past the Donji Lumer viewpoint, with its outlook over Biogradsko jezero and the whole basin around it. Sheep bells, dogs and birds are the ambient sound; there is no other.

Marked trails leave the katun in three directions, toward Biogradsko jezero, Vranjak and Crna Glava, opening the high country of Bjelasica with its glacial lakes, summer pastures and long open ridges. Biogradska Gora below is one of the last areas of primeval forest left in Europe, protected since 1878, with trees several centuries old around a still, dark lake. The food up here comes from the same few hundred metres of hillside, cheese and kajmak, lamb cooked in milk, kačamak and cicvara, blueberry juice and honey. Nights are cold enough for a blanket in August, and the stars are extraordinary.