The Bay of Kotor is the Mediterranean doing an impression of a Norwegian fjord: black mountains plunging into still, navigable water with a walled medieval town at the innermost bend. Climb the 1,350 steps of the fortress walls at dawn for the aerial view, swim from the pontoons at Dobrota and take a boat to the church island of Our Lady of the Rocks. June and September dodge both the heat and the cruise-ship rush.
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A walled Venetian town crammed between black mountains and a fjord-like bay, all cats, campaniles and squares the size of living rooms. Cruise passengers own the mornings, so structure your day in reverse: swim and nap early, then emerge at 6pm when the gates quieten. Climb the fortress path at dusk for the bay-turned-mercury view, and eat squid ink risotto in a square barely wider than your table.
Featured in Ten candlelit old towns made for slow evenings · Romantic