Things to do
Unlike some of Montenegro’s sleepy seaside towns, Podgorica has a much richer cultural life year-round, with an explosion of new fashionable restaurants, boutiques, people-watching spots with cozy courtyards and creative cocktail menus, plus its up-and-coming cultural scene, museums and galleries.
Visit a Museum
The City Museum of Podgorica offers permanent archaeological, ethnographic, and contemporary collections consisting of sculptures, traditional attire, artifacts from Montenegro’s Royal Family, drawings & paintings from names such as Vojo Stanic, Petar Lubarda, and Dado Duric – an interesting place to learn more about Podgorica’s history and culture. Admission is free!
Gorica Park Forest is ideal for a Stroll
Situated within easy reach of the city center, Gorica Hill is a real green oasis popular with families, joggers, and cyclists throughout the year, but especially on hot summer days to escape Podgorica’s scorching summer heat. It is after this, that the 130-meter-tall forested hill Montenegro’s capital is actually named, whereas Podgorica translates to ‘the city under Gorica Hill’.
It is not surprising then that its oldest sacral building – the 11th-century Saint George’s Church – is also located right here. It is well worth visiting for its vibrant frescoes and beautiful ancient artwork. From there, a loop hike winds its way through the beautiful park forest, past a war memorial and a children’s adventure park with ropes, chain bridges, and more.
The rope park is the epitome of a fun day out with the kids, and there is also an adjacent cafe where parents can gather over a cup of coffee while their kids play. Architecture-wise, the Mausoleum to the Partisan Fighters bears resemblance to the Njegos Mausoleum in the Lovcen National Park. It is dedicated to those who died fighting as Yugoslav resistance fighters against the Nazi Occupation and is also the burying site for two revolutionaries and sixty-six national heroes.
Cool off in the Moraca
The crystal-clear waters of the Moraca provide a good opportunity for swimming and kayaking, and then relaxing with an ice-cold beer or cocktail in the stylish ‘Na Moracu‘ beach bar – the best spot in town for riverside sundowners. However, the Olympic-size swimming pool of the Moraca Sports Center presents itself as a viable (and warmer!) alternative to the chilly Moraca River.
Visit a Winery
Podgorica with its mild and sunny climate has more than 30 wineries (vinarija), and in recent years many of the local winegrowers have opened their doors to visitors for degustations and wine tasting tours. Zenta Vinarija Vucinic is a family-run winery renowned for quality reds made from endemic Vranac and Kratosija grapes.
Also located in the fertile Skadar Lake valley in the small hamlet of Beri and just a 15-minute drive from Podgorica, Vinarija Cetkovic works in harmony with its picturesque environment, producing admirable wines exclusively from grapes grown on its 1,5 hectares of vineyards. If you’ve dined out at Wine Bar Bucca (or Segredo), you’ll be familiar with their wines.
Alternatively, a visit to Plantaze’s Sipcanik wine cellar is always recommended. The huge state-owned winemaker with 2,300 hectares of vineyards was founded in the 1960s to revive and improve upon the traditional wines of Montenegro. Among others, they produce the highly aromatic Premijer Vranac and Vranac Reserve, which can be tasted and bought straight from their shop located in the former military’s airport underground facilities.
Explore Montenegro’s Brutalist Past
Brutalism and Social Modernism are styles of building designs that developed in the aftermath of World War II and were highly controversial for their monolithic, rigid concrete structures. Loved by some and hated by others, Podgorica boasts many (not always well-preserved) examples of this Mid-20th-century architectural style.
Svetlana Kana Radevic’s contribution to Socialist Brutalist architecture stands on its own. While her design of Podgorica’s main bus terminal, which was heavily influenced by Le Corbusier’s Palace of Assembly in India, is one of her often-forgotten works, the construction of the Monument to the Fallen Fighters at Barutana, and particularly her design of Hotel Podgorica, made her finally earn international recognition.
Located north of the Orthodox Temple of Christ’s Resurrection, another interesting Socialist Modernist town-planning project – or ‘the Wild West’ as it was referred to at the time of its construction – Blok 5 was completed in the early 1980s, consisting of five bulky residential towers and eight structures designed by Montenegrin architect Mileta Bojovic.
View one of Podgorica’s Archaeological Sites
The Illyrian city of Doclea (Montenegrin: Duklja) was founded more than 2,000 years ago. Its location on the banks of the Moraca River, surrounded by towering mountains, and its mild climate (perfect for wine-growing!) gave the ancient Illyrian stronghold its strategic importance and led to Duklja becoming a thriving trade hub between the Dalmatian Coast and Shkoder in Albania.
Not a very tourist site per se – the Duklja Ruins are situated just outside of the city center. It is possible to see the remains of a temple, the layout of what used to be a market square (Doclea used to count 30,000 inhabitants at its peak!), and the crumbling remnants of a typical Roman thermal bath. Our tip: If you like hiking, take the 10-kilometer-long ‘Gorica – Malo Brdo – Duklja – Trail’ starting at the entrance of Gorica Park Forest, in front of Saint George’s Church.
Fifteen kilometers northeast of Podgorica you’ll find another, still largely undiscovered, ancient Illyrian city from the 4th BC that goes by the name of Medun (also known as Meteon). Perched atop a small hill, overlooking its pristine surroundings, Medun Fortress with its relatively well-preserved town walls made of big stone blocks, is open to the public.
Discover Podgorica’s Picturesque Hinterlands
Think endless winding roads, emerald-green rivers, lush alpine meadows, enlivening hikes to craggy peaks, and picnics to sample the farm-fresh local produce – within one hour’s drive of Montenegro’s capital city, there is an almost endless supply of natural wonders. Montenegro’s version of the Niagara Waterfalls is an incredibly beautiful spectacle of nature.
The waterfalls are part of the Cijevna River, which originates in Albania’s part of the Accursed Mountains before becoming a tributary to the Moraca. When enough rain has fallen (the river sometimes dries out completely in the peak of summer), the craggy cliffs produce a picture-perfect waterfall and natural pond to be enjoyed by photographers, swimmers, and adjacent Restaurant Niagara’s guests over a snack or drink.
No less impressive is the Pavlova Strana Viewpoint, a horseshoe-shaped incised meander of a picturesque waterway that winds its way across Rijeka Crnojevica’s lush and biodiverse wetlands before ending in its mouth at Lake Skadar. A paradise for landscape photographers, this viewpoint has to be one of Montenegro’s prettiest and most magnificently placed locations.
Visiting during the winter season? With the opening of the Smokovac – Matesevo highway section in July 2022, hitting the slopes while being based in Podgorica is now easier than ever. The ski resorts of Kolasin with more than 45 kilometers of slopes are everything you need for a fun-filled weekend with friends or family.
