Montenegro
4×4 Katun Roads

8 days | € 795,00 per person

If you are looking for a real off-the-grid Montenegrin Mountain experience, then embark upon our Katun Roads trip. Katuns are typical Montenegrin summer pastures where shepherds spend 4-5 months per year with their herds, living the Balkan life as it has been lived for centuries. The shepherds will provide you with a safe pitch, homemade food all the way and a chance to sample this ancient lifestyle from first hand. Occasional wild camping is included for an extra sense adventure.

By driving this itinerary you actively contribute to maintaining a disappearing culture. The pastoral livestock culture in Montenegro is on the decline, but tourism, even in small numbers, creates new chances for the shepherds and enables them to continue living their lives as they have done for generations. Vice versa, this provides you as a travellers with a unique chance to experience katun life.

day 1 - 2
1
Welcome in Montenegro
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Hotel Ziya - Podgorica
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Breakfast at the hotel
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Podgorica airport - hotel & hotel - 4x4 shop clock 30 min

Today you land at Podgorica airport where our regular taxi awaits you for a short ride into the city. Take some time for acclimatisation and look ahead to the adventure that awaits you. And enjoy some extra luxury at the start of your trip, because life is simple in the mountains with the shepherds. The hotel where we accommodate our guests is located next to the city park and a stone’s throw from the center, but still very quiet. Enjoy the capital -vibes and the wide range of restaurants.

day 2 -3
2
Into the wild
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Rikavacko lake wild camping
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Self catering
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4x4 stage Podgorica - Rikavacko lake
height +1800m -500m distance 55 km clock 3 hrs
Medium

After picking up the Lada, you will soon leave the capital, but not before you stock up on enough supplies at the local convenience store to prepare your own food on a gas flame tonight and tomorrow morning. Wilderness in Montenegro is really wilderness, and you will experience that as the road gets worse and you drive towards beautiful mountain lake where you camp the first evening. There are a few shepherd’s huts around the lake, but that is the only sign of life. No telephone reception, no artificial light, no electricity. This is wild camping Montenegro style. Your Montenegro 4×4 Adventure has begun! The route is relatively easy and is a nice prelude to what is yet to come. The descent to the lake contains a small technical passage with a lot of gravel.

day 3-4
3
Sinjajevina
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Katun Kuline
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Dinner, breakfast & packed lunch provided at the katun
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4x4 stage Rikavacko Lake - Katun Kuline
height +2100m -1750m distance 110 km clock 5-6 hrs
Challenging

The ride continues to Sinjajevina. The climb from the lake is one of the more difficult passages you will conquer on this trip. But soon the road becomes flat and the view is unparalleled. You can partly organize the route according to your wishes with an extra ride over a mountain pass and/or a visit to Lake Bukumirsko. You pass through some beautiful Katun settlements before you reach the asphalt again at Verusa. But after less than an hour you leave again. Just enough to grab a gas station and possibly a shop for some basic supplies.

Towards the end of the ride you climb again. The mountains of Sinjajevina are completely different, much rockier and more open than before. It is here where the country’s largest herds grazed for centuries. Welcome to Sinjajevina, the agricultural heart of Montenegro. The countless shepherd villages are a reminder of this. Many are, unfortunately,  hardly in use anymore. Katun Kuline does however. You will spend the night in the guest room. Or if you wish, pitch your Lada & sleep in the tent) and dine with the shepherd family.

day 4 - 5
4
The Bjelasica Highlands
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Senica katun
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Dinner, breakfast & packed lunch provided at the katun
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4x4 stage Kuline - Senica
height +1900m -1950m distance 75 km clock 4 hrs
Medium
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Jablanov vrh hike
height +400m -400m distance 8 km clock 3-4 hrs
Medium

After leaving Kuline, we immediately present you with a difficult choice. Are you climbing the Jablanov Vrh, or can you not wait to start that fantastic descent into the Lipovo Valley? The summit is the highest in Sinjajevina and fairly easily accessible from the route. The valley of Lipovo, into which you descend afterwards, is the next highlight. This beautiful and unspoilt valley would not have come up for the best landscape painter. Via Kolasin (refuel again) we go up again, to the third massif that you will conquer on this trip. Bjelasica is perhaps better known, because you can also ski here in winter. During the summer holidays it is quite popular among MTB riders and hikers. As soon as you have driven up to the base of the ski area, the asphalt ends again and the last 2-3 hours are wonderfully off-road above the tree line. Here too you pass a number of beautiful Katun villages and where the road ends, the last katun, that is where you sleep.

Katun Senica is run by two brothers who together create a party for every guest. The room you are in is unexpectedly neat for such a remote location.

day 5 -6
5
The Cakor pass
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Cakor katun camp
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Dinner, breakfast & packed lunch provided at the katun
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Hike Senica - Crna Glava
height +500m -500m distance 9 km clock 3 hrs
Medium
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4x4 stage Senica - Cakor
height -2100m -1100m distance 78 km clock 4-5 hrs
Challenging

After breakfast you can take a walk before leaving this beautiful place. Up and down to the mountain lake of Pesica or even around all the way over the highest peak of Bjelasica, “Crna Glava”. After departure, you return to the valley along the same route and then drive up the mountain that separates Montenegro from Kosovo. Just before the border lies Katun Cakor, the most rural of all the Katuns where you will stay. You unfold your roof tent here at an altitude of almost 2000m on a specially equipped camping field. The field is fenced to keep livestock out. The view westward combined with the height guarantees that you will enjoy an amazing sunset here.

The people at katun Cakor like it when you lend a hand on the farm. There is always a job to do and Shepherdess Gordana invites you to roll up your sleeves.

day 6 - 7
6
Hridsko lake & the border triangle
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Bajrovic katun
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Dinner, breakfast & packed lunch provided at the katun
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4x4 stage Cakor - Visitor - Bajrovic
height +3100m -2900m distance 102 km clock 5 hrs
Medium
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Hike to summit Visitor
height +600m -600m distance 3 km clock 2 hrs
Medium
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Hike to border trianlgeTromedja
height +250m -250m distance 4 km clock 2 hrs
Easy

We descend via more common road and so we are back in the valley much faster than we were at the top. From the valley you can optionally go up and down to Visitor Katun, a remote and very authentic Katun from where you can climb the peak of the same name.

We climb back up again via the town of Plav. A very beautiful climb awaits you to the border triangle between Montenegro, Kosovo and Albania. A short walk to that point is also an option. And Lake Hridsko is also practically on the route. Highly recommended for a quick swim at almost 2000m altitude.

Ultimately you arrive in katun Bajrovic, where you will be warmly welcomed by Samel and his mother, who together run the katun here. Expect a festive farm-to-table dinner with a great view. Tonight is your last night in Katun. You sleep in your roof tent and can use the central sanitary facilities. Tomorrow you will sleep in lower terrain again.

PS: if you think this is a bit much, you will already pass your sleeping place on the way to the border triangle so you can also save that for tomorrow morning if you want to stay at altitude a little longer. or simply skip Visitor to make most of you hike & swim here.

day 7 - 8
7
The valleys of Prokletije
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Grbaja bivak
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4x4 stage Bajrovic - Ropojana - Grbaja
height +550m -1050m distance 50 km clock 1,5 hrs
Easy
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Hike over Taljanka
height +975m -975m distance 10 km clock 5,5 hrs
Medium

You descend back to Plav to reach your last accommodation via a a very accessible route. Just like the first night of your 4×4 adventure, you will also sleep in the wild on the last night. The valley of Grebaja is your destination for the evening. On the way there you can visit the valley of Ropojana with its 3 water miracles; two springs and a waterfall that disappears into the ground.

In the Grbaja valley you are surrounded by immense peaks and if you still have energy left, we strongly recommend that you climb one of them. The Talijanka is one of the most beautiful possible walks in Montenegro in our opinion. You can cook it yourself at the bivouac (but if you don’t feel like it, there is also a restaurant there).

And after a wonderful night under the stars, the adventure is over. Via the gorge of the Cijevna river you drive back to Podgorica in 2 hours, where we expect you at 11:00 at the latest (a little delay is no problem). If you get up on time, you can take a nice coffee break at the bar with swimming facilities on the river. The route passes through Albania for a short while, but the border posts here are never too crowded (but can still be slow due to the lack of computers).

Back in Podgorica you return the car. We hope you will arrive, like most of our guests, with a big smile on your face. We carefully check the car for any damage (we don’t mind some mud or a small scratch on the door). We are of course very curious to hear your stories! We wish you a wonderful continuation of your trip in Montenegro and/or a safe journey home. If you need an airport taxi we’d be happy to call one for you.

Rates 2024

Departure between 20/6 – 10/10 2024
3th & 4th person in same vehicle

 

€ 795,00 per person
€ 395,00 per person

Included

  • Transfer airport Podgorica – hotel in Podgorica
  • 1 night luxury hotel Podgorica, incl breakfast
  • Transfer hotel Podgorica – 4×4 shop
  • Rental of Lada Niva incl roof tent
  • Full Camping gear for cooking & sleeping
  • 2 nights wild camping (no meals incl)
  • 2 nights in rooftent at shepherds house, incl dinner, breakfast & packed lunch
  • 2 nights homestay, incl dinner, breakfast & packed lunch
  • Basic liability insurance
  • Digital roadbook
  • PDF’s of all stages, incl navigation support in app (download yourself)
  • Daily suggestions for nearby hikes, excursions & wild swimming spots
  • Tourist taxes
  • 24/7 support

Excluded

  • Fuel & road charges
  • Travel to/from Montenegro
  • Entrance fees national parks (+/- € 7,00 per person)
  • Drinks & other personal expenses
  • Personal insurances

Optionals

  • Extra night katun, incl dinner, breakfast & packed lunch | € 50,00 per person per night
  • Extra night wild camping |   € 0,00 per person per night
  • Extra day car rental  | € 120,00
  • Additional insurance limiting your liability to maximum of  € 500 |  € 10,00 per day
  • Parking your own vehicle at our 4×4 workshop | € 10,00 per night
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