Great Montenegro Tour Facts
1) This agency is opposite the hostel (which I think they own) so the majority of people on the trip were from the hostel.
2) These travellers are extremly cost concious as they are on a tight budget.
3) The Great Montenegreo Tour is priced at €35 per person and clearly states what is and what isn't included in the price.
4) The additional costs are as follows:
Breakfast: €5 (sandwich and drink)
Entry to national park and Monastery €5
Lunch €7 (drinks are extra)
Boat ride €7 (I am not sure of exact cost, I will explain below why)
Great Montenegro Tour Review
There were approx 14 people on the tour, all cramed into a small coach with little to no aircon and a microphone that didn't work very well. It was lucky that the people on the bus were all nice people as you spend a lot of time in the tiny mini bus with them. Our guide was Slavko.
We drove to and past the national park, and lots of fine looking eateries to get to the breakfast point. A small out of the way place with toilets full of spiders. This place is an opportunity to sample the ham and cheese (which is very nice) but we drove past 10 other places that offered the same food.
We ordered cheese and ham sandwiches. There was one man trying to serve everybody, it took a long while for everybody to get served. The slices of bread for the sandwiches were cut at least 1 inch thick with no oil or butter provided and small portions of cheese and ham. Hmmm I could have lived without this experience in my life.
We stayed here for absolutley ages for no apparent reason. It was 10:45 when we finally left this was the time we were supposed to be at the national park. Since leaving Kotor at 8:30 to 10:45 we had ate breakfast and stopped for a few photograghs.
By the time we got to Cetinje walking tour we were 90 minutes behind schedule. The walking tour included going to the out of the way supermarket to enable our guide to buy nappies.
On the way to the river Crnojevica we were given our food choices, chicken, fish, ham, veggie option. The food at the restaurant is very nice. You get a salad, soup and a main (soup is not vegetarian) drinks are extra. People on the bus were asking about the price, I can tell they were not keen on spending €7 on their lunch but I think they felt pressurised into it.
I could have forgiven everything else on the tour (lack of time keeping, the unnessessary breakfast jaunt, the nappies, unenthustic delivery of tour, constant phone calls and smoke breaks) if I had been able to go on the boat trip, the entire reason I went on the trip!
No, it transpired that it was an all or nothing boat trip. If we did not all go on the boat trip, none of us were going on the boat trip. To add insult to injury he stopped where the boats trips were and got out, so we could see how lovely it would be.
My complaint is that people should have been given the choice to either eat in the restaurant or go on a boat trip. The brochure says the boat trip is optional, it was not an option for me! I would have gone on the boat trip if given a choice. It was clear that after paying €7 for their lunch, plus all other costs, the majority of people did not want to pay more money for a boat trip. Also the cost was never disclosed, I think it was €7 each as I saw a sign that said this.
So now my trip is ruined, I will never get to sail a boat on the river crnojevica.
I get to see ugly commercial Budva 60 minutes later than advertised. It is obvious our guide hates Budva. We finally get to the beach at 18:45 when the sun has set. I went for a walk around the area of Jaz Beach. It looked really run down, the toilet was really smelly and horrible (spiders again), changing facilities were poor but the bar had excellent wifi. 30 minutes later (we were supposed to have 90 minutes at the beach) we are back on the coach and back to Kotor for 19:45.
I reported my tour disappointment, so this review should not come as a shock. They said that they would investigate what happened with the boat trip. The other poor review, on this website, the guy from Washington, had exactly the same experience as me although it sounds like he got to go on the boat.
I know Montenegron culture is to ignore timetables (Lonely Planets words not mine) but when you are depriving someone of an experience they have been looking forward to, it is not acceptable.
My advice, Montenegro is a beutiful country, hire a car and go and see the country yourself.
