Things To Do in Petrovac

The little shops along Petrovac’s seafront come up with the goods in terms of beach essentials. For a wider range of options, you can go to nearby Budva, where the old town is filled with stylish boutiques, perfumeries and jewellers. And along the promenade there’s a summer bazaar that sells hand-painted wood carvings and watercolour prints of the local landscape.

Caffe Bar Castello is on the ground floor of the Venetian fortress, and its open bar and terrace faces the town beach. The resident cocktail master is kept busy with a long cocktail list, and there’s a good selection of wines and beers too. Castello is also Petrovac’s top night spot – later in the night, live DJs play chilled acid jazz, with a bit of disco and techno thrown in.

Petrovac’s esplanade is lined with cafés, fast food stands, ice-cream parlours and all-day restaurants. You’ll get a great choice of fish and seafood, from fried shrimps to grilled squid and black cuttlefish risotto. It’s often served up with blitva – a sort of chard bubble and squeak. And just so you know, they deal in generous portions here.

Along Petrovac’s seafront you’ll find laid-back beach bars with large terraces to have a relaxed drink outside – it’s a friendly rather than wild atmosphere. If you want to dance, you couldn’t find a much more interesting venue that Castello, a nightclub in the town’s fortress. Or you could go into Budva – it’s Montenegro’s party capital, where clubs play everything from hard house and techno to live music, Euro-pop and karaoke.

Restaurant Giardino is perched on a cliff overlooking Budva in the distance, so it’s one of those places that’s good for an early dinner watching the sunset. As for the food, along with lots of homely fare, they do the Montenegran speciality of lamb that’s been slow-cooked under a bell. You can ask for one of the tables on the terrace and watch the rabbits jumping around in the garden.

Every summer, Budva’s old town becomes a stage for an eclectic mix of theatre, classical music, painting and literature. You can watch actors perform along the cobbled streets, pop into the churches for orchestral performances, listen to wordsmiths in Poets Square and check out new exhibitions at the town’s art galleries.

From Petrovac’s town beach, climb the path by the fortress, and follow it for 10 minutes, when it disappears into a tunnel. It’s a bit dark in places, so you’ll need a torch, but you’ll come out at Perazica Do, a beautiful little village with a wide rocky beach. It’s a little hidden-away gem but it still has a few umbrellas and sunloungers, as well as a friendly-beach bar.