May 21, 2025 – Exploring Budva Old Town, Montenegro
Our last day in Budva Old Town was a slow one. We started with coffee on the deck, watching the morning light creep across the old town’s terracotta roofs, before wandering back into the maze of narrow lanes and alleyways one final time.
Budva’s old town itself is ancient, settled more than 2,500 years ago. Its stone walls encircling the peninsula were built by the Venetians in the 15th century to protect against Ottoman raids and pirate attacks. The walls were rebuilt after devastating earthquakes in 1667 and again in 1979. Climbing them today offers sweeping views across the Budva Riviera. We spent a good hour up there, snapping photos and watching the yachts drift in and out of the marina.
For lunch, we found our way to La Mia Pasta, a tiny spot tucked near the Gvozdena (Iron) Gate of Budva’s Old Town. The menu is small and the portions are generous. You can watch the chef handcraft the pasta right in front of you, tossing it with cheese from a giant wheel of Parmesan. We ordered the carbonara loaded with crispy bacon. Is there anything better? Probably not. The ingredients are excellent quality and the atmosphere is cozy and unpretentious. It’s open daily from 10AM to 10PM, and with over 1,300 reviews averaging 4.3 stars, it’s clearly a local favorite.
Dinner took us up to Restoran Vista Vidikovac, perched above the Old Town on Jadranski put. The food was delicious and the views across the bay toward Sveti Stefan were exceptional. After we ate, they let us wander the grounds to take it all in from different angles.
But the best moment came later. Back at our condo, the three of us gathered on the deck with one last glass of wine, watching the sky deepen into twilight. And then, without warning, the sky exploded. Fireworks burst over the bay in a cascade of gold and red. We had completely forgotten it was May 21, Montenegro’s Independence Day.
The date marks the 2006 referendum when Montenegrins voted to restore their independence from Serbia. The vote was a nail-biter. 55.5% of voters chose independence, just over the EU-set threshold of 55%. More than 86% of eligible voters turned out. The margin was so narrow that opposition parties demanded a recount, but the result held. On June 3, 2006, Montenegro’s parliament formally declared independence, finally dissolving the last remaining union of the former Yugoslavia.
For Montenegro, independence was about reclaiming an identity that had been submerged for nearly 90 years. The country had last enjoyed independence from 1878 to 1918, before being absorbed into the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes, and later Yugoslavia. Under Prime Minister Milo Djukanović, who had distanced Montenegro from Serbia since 1997, the push for independence grew stronger. The 2006 vote was the culmination of that long journey back to statehood.
We hadn’t planned it. We just happened to be in the right place at the right time, glasses raised, watching a nation celebrate its freedom from our own little deck above the Adriatic. A perfect ending to our time in Montenegro.
