Budva in One Day: the Old Town, the Ballerina Statue, and Mogren Beaches

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If in the previous article we were only getting to the Montenegrin coast and moving from Bar to Budva, now the most interesting part begins.
Our starting point is Budva’s Old Town…

We are on the Adriatic coast, in Budva’s Old Town, which is made up of stone buildings. Mostly two-story houses, together they resemble one large fortress. Narrow stone-paved streets run between them, though greenery appears here and there. Thanks to this, the Old Town feels quite cozy, I’d say.

There are plenty of great spots here for taking photos.
Adding to all this beauty is the Montenegrin flag — mostly bright red — which you can spot in different places, for example flying high above the entire Old Town from a spire.

Everything feels very harmonious and charming: the architecture, palm trees, wall lamps, streetlights, and of course, the view of the sea.

Nearby there is a small rocky islet where a seagull was sitting. The color of the water is simply stunning — transparent, turquoise, deep blue — in short, just an absolutely gorgeous color of water!

Here we found ourselves near the small Church of St. Mary, built in the 9th century — an absolutely delightful building with round windows, arches, and other shapes.
The roof is tiled, as are most buildings not only in the Old Town but across the Balkans in general.

The tiled roof looks amazing, both in color and shape.
The church was closed during our walk, but according to some reviews I found online, the interior is quite simple, and the space is sometimes used for exhibitions and classical music concerts.
And literally right next to this church is the sea and a panoramic view of the Mediterranean — or more precisely, its Adriatic part. Little boats sail by, adding an extra sense of coziness to the place.

A summer café in the Old Town fits perfectly into the setting. If you want to sit for a bit in the shade, with birdsong, the wonderful scent of the sea, and a view of magnificent historic architecture — this is the place.

There are also huge cacti here, as tall as a person or even taller, planted in raised flowerbeds. They blend very harmoniously with the surrounding architecture.

A big advantage of coming here early is that you can take photos without other tourists around — the pictures will feature only you and the Old Town.

Here and there you see balconies with beautiful chairs and small tables, decorated with bright red flowers in very neat pots. Everything looks incredibly stylish and warm. It feels like you want to spend at least a few dozen minutes in every corner, just to enjoy and absorb all this beauty.

Some windows and doors are made with special old-style hinges that actually hold the doors and shutters in place.
The windows have shutters — wooden panels on the outside that are closed at night. This looks truly fantastic and very much in the spirit of classic European architecture.

There are also souvenir shops here. Not that there are tons of them, but you can definitely find some along these streets. Everywhere you’ll see different souvenirs.
You can also find items with the word “Montenegro,” which is the English name for Crna Gora.

From the Old Town there is also an exit directly to the beach — put on your swimsuit and you can dive straight into the sea.

The Old Town itself literally juts out into the sea in places, decorating this part of the town and serving as its historical center.

During our stay there were no big waves at all — complete calm for all the days. We were lucky.
The color of the water was one of the best I’ve ever seen in my life, I’d say.

From time to time your gaze rests on the mountains if you look away from the sea, and on the clouds that drift and linger, sometimes wrapping around parts of the mountains and creating incredible views you could admire endlessly.

Next, we headed toward the famous statue located in Budva. It stands on a rock — a large rocky outcrop right by the sea — on the way to the equally famous Mogren Beach.

Since there’s no information plaque nearby, your imagination runs wild: is it a female swimmer, a ballerina lifting her leg and raising her left arm toward the sky, or maybe a gymnast?
In any case, it looks very striking and perfectly placed. You absolutely have to take a photo here — which we did. Later we found out that the statue symbolizes a girl who waited in vain for her beloved sailor to return from a voyage.
From this angle, the photos turn out especially well, with a view of the large rocky island I mentioned earlier and the Old Town. So no matter what, it’s a masterpiece on any camera. Whatever you shoot here will be a stunning photo — you’ll be happy with the result for sure.
Right nearby there are jet skis, boats with canopies where you can ride in the shade, and something like small sightseeing boats.

And then, if you look straight at the sea, we head to the right from the Old Town. There is a narrow rocky path made for vacationers, running along the cliffs, and another luxurious beach awaits there.

This is where I swam in the Adriatic Sea for the first time. The water temperature was 20.5°C. Before that, I had only swum in the Black Sea, and the Adriatic felt saltier, buoying me up much more strongly. Swimming in open water at that time was already quite comfortable, though it was still just the beginning of the beach season.

At some point, if you keep going, the path becomes extremely narrow: the sea on one side and sheer cliffs on the other. But the beach there is no longer central and feels even cooler. Essentially, there are two beaches: Mogren 1 and, accordingly, Mogren 2.

They are connected by a bridge, but it was either under reconstruction or being built at the time, and they promised it would be finished literally in the next few days. We started heading back, as we had reached the end of Mogren Beach and couldn’t go any further.
We decided to wait until the next day to return to Budva and reach that farthest beach, the viewpoint.
On the way back, we kept taking photos of Budva’s Old Town and that same statue of the dancing girl standing on a large rock by the water.

On the beach there are umbrellas that look like they’re made of straw or reeds, which, in my opinion, suit this place better than stretched fabric canopies — they look very charming.

Then we returned to the Old Town, passed through it once more, and headed back toward the hotel.

We came across a beautiful fountain resembling a peacock’s tail, with water seemingly flowing from each feather.

At one of the road junctions — more precisely, a roundabout in Budva — there was an installation with the inscription “#Budva” in large, colorful letters. There’s also the city name written inside a pedestrian tunnel.

It all looks quite pleasant and welcoming.
Next, we explored a tunnel passage covered with a bit of graffiti. To reach the cape, you had to walk through it.
It’s made of concrete, people walk through it, including parents with strollers. So it’s accessible, passable, and even has lighting. Here, just like in Serbia, you often see graffiti on building walls, fences, and other surfaces.
One inscription in the local language reads “volim te,” which translates as “I love you” — love in the city, just like that :)

After that comes a beach called Bečići.

We wanted to go there as well and followed an interactive map on our phone. But after exiting the tunnel, we discovered a complex of buildings that looked like a hotel — possibly a sanatorium or resort. Very nice, modern, and expensive-looking. You couldn’t just pass straight through it, so we had to go around.
About 15 minutes from the center of Budva later, we finally arrived at Bečići Beach. Here there is sand, sun loungers, large umbrella-style canopies — a fully equipped beach. The bay itself is quite lovely. On maps or local signs it’s labeled “Bečićka Plaža”

Since there was complete calm throughout our stay in Montenegro, the water — the sea surface, to be precise — looked almost like a mirror, with just a slight ripple. It looks absolutely amazing.

Next, we move along a path made of compacted gravel. Bushes line its sides, and it feels very scenic, almost natural, with great views of Bečići.

Then we head toward the cape. On the left, facing the sea, is Bečići; on the right remains Budva.

We then passed by the Church of St. Thomas.

Not far away there is a beautiful rock that resembles a ship with a hole straight through it, slightly tilted toward the sea, as if it had run aground and couldn’t fully sink. It’s an incredibly picturesque place — and Montenegro has countless spots like this.

The stones on the beach here are also of a wonderful color. Literally every detail of nature looks incredibly luxurious.

Then sunset arrived, and the colors of the sky began to play differently, giving the promenade a completely new, magical look.

Huge boulders lying right in the sea form small peninsulas or islands. Even tiny islets look wonderfully whimsical in this natural harmony.

Pedestrian tunnels carved directly into the mountains that come right down to the sea are a whole separate kind of attraction. You simply walk through them to get around, and it feels quite unusual.

The next article (link) will take us to Kotor, home to the famous Bay of Kotor, often compared to Norwegian fjords.
There we saw a massive multi-deck cruise liner that fits into the bay and even manages to turn around without disturbing other vessels. We saw this giant ship in person, took photos with it, walked around nearby, and were absolutely thrilled — but that’s already the next day’s story. For now, we were heading to the bus station, where we photographed the schedules showing how to get around, at what times, and how much it costs.

Budva is quite small, and in one day you can manage to explore almost all of it — which we did: the Old Town, Mogren Beach, and the neighboring resort village of Bečići.
See you in our other articles about Montenegro or other countries.