Best things to do in Durmitor National Park, Montenegro

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Durmitor National Park offers some of the most beautiful scenery in Montenegro. The rugged landscape consists of glistening glacial lakes, dramatic mountain ranges and Europe’s deepest gorge. This gem in northern Montenegro is an outdoor lover’s dream and is well worth the panoramic winding drive from the coast.

Durmitor National Park - good to know

Where to stay:
High end/luxury accommodation: – North Story luxury chalets with outdoor pool and free bicycle hire or Hotel Rezident, with contemporary rooms located on the main street

Mid range accommodation: Apartments Grbovic with chalet style rooms and a kitchenette

Budget accommodation: Apartments Lalovic simple rooms in central location

Best time to go: The best time to visit Durmitor National Park is during the summer months, when the snow and ice has melted and you can access the mountains for hiking and driving the scenic road.

Weather: The temperature is much lower in the mountains of Northern Montenegro. I visited in August and despite the temperature along the coast reaching 35-27 degrees celsius, the temperature in the park settled at a more manageable 18-20 degrees celsius.

Best things to do: Rent a car and drive the Durmitor Panoramic road. Go rafting on Tara River and explore some of the hiking trails.

Top tip: Even in the summer months, bring a jacket for the evening as it gets chilly!

Best things to do in Durmitor National Park

1. Drive the Durmitor ring road

Driving the Durmitor ring road is one of the most popular things to do in Durmitor National Park. You will need your own car to do this, so if you have arrived in Zabljak by bus, you will need to see if you can rent a car in Zabljak town.

I used Discover cars to pre order my car and picked it up when I landed at Tivat airport:
Book your car with Discover cars, here

The Durmitor ring is the full loop of the Panoramic road, however many people just complete the southern road, which is called the Seldo Mountain Pass. Having done the full ring myself, I would recommend only doing the Southern, Seldo pass section. I have written a whole blog post about driving the Durmitor ring road, which you can read to get tips and advice for making the most of the beautiful scenic drive.

Read my blog post on driving the Durmitor ring road, here.

2. Spend the afternoon at Black lake

If you are travelling as a family, or you just want a more laid back activity, then a trip to the Black Lake is perfect.

This small lake is surrounded by mountains and pine forests, and is rather beautiful. Activities at the Black Lake include hiking the 5km loop of the lake, swimming and boating in and on the lake. Enjoying the views in the café or restaurant, or perhaps relaxing by the shoreline with a picnic. There’s also a small children’s lay area.

I have written a separate blog post with everything you need to know about visiting the Black Lake, so make sure you check it out to help you plan your trip.

Read my post on Visiting the Black Lake, here.

4. Go rafting or canyoning on the Tara River

One of the most popular things to do in Durmitor National Park is to go rafting and canyoning on the Tara River.

The Tara River Canyon is the deepest canyon in Europe and also one of the longest, as 94-miles long. You can raft 18km of winding rapids through the gorge, taking in the dramatic scenery around you. There are many rafting and canyoning tours that you can join, including full and half day tours.

Book your full day rafting tour, here.

5. Ride the Savin Kuk ski lift

A popular activity you can do whilst staying in Zabljak is to ride the Savin Kuk Ski lift. This is a traditional ski lodge, rather than an enclosed cable car so if you have a ferry of heights, it may not be for you (we skipped this activity!)

However, it was recommended to us by our apartment host and she mentioned that there are beautiful landscape views at the top. Tickets cost €12 for a return trip. Make sure that you check the time of the last return journey. If you miss it, you will have to walk back down.

6. Visit Piva Lake

Piva Lake is located just outside of Durmitor National Park, but it can be reached by taking a short detour from Trsa, at the end of the Seldo Mountain Pass (or halfway round the Durmitor ring road).

I would highly recommend taking a detour to the lake, it really is beautiful! From above it has a similar deep blue to that of Lake Brienz, near Interlaken in Switzerland.

The main town on Piva Lake is Plustine. Once you arrive in Pustine, there are numerous places to park. I would recommend parking at one of the viewpoints so that you can enjoy the view from above before reaching the shoreline. We had a drink in a local café overlooking the lake and parked here for free. (Google maps location).

After enjoying the view, we walked down to the shoreline. There is also parking here, though it is limited and gets busy. (Google maps location). At the shoreline, you can take a short boat trip on the lake hire paddle boards and kayaks, swim in the lake, or enjoy a drink at the beach bar. It is a really beautiful spot.

Before you leave Plustine, you may want to have a go on the zip line that crosses the lake. The zip line is located as you arrive into Plustine, by the petrol station.

7. Go Hiking

Hiking is one of the most popular activities to do in Durmitor National park and there are numerous hiking routes to choose from. Be aware, however, that many of the hiking trails are quite challenging, due to the mountainous terrain. Some of which should only be tackled if you are an experienced hiker and used to mountain conditions. Make sure that you read up on the route beforehand and take the appropriate clothing and equipment with you.

The most well known hikes are the ‘Prutas Peak’ hike and the ‘Bobotov Kuk Peak’. Both of these hikes are considered challenging, with steep inclines and some scrambling and exposed sections. The last part of the hike to Bobotov Kuk peak is Via-Ferrata with cables and ropes, so you will need to be confident with that also.

Make sure that you check weather conditions before you start, as there can be snow on the higher peaks as late as June in some areas. I would also recommend that you have a good map and are a competent map reader as the trail markers can be a bit sporadic.

If you are looking for an easier hike, or something which is family friendly, then the Black Lake loop is a great option. Another good option is the Suva Lokva – Valovito Jezero trail. The trail starts at one of the first viewpoints along the Southern Durmitor ring road (google map location). From the viewpoint, you follow the trail down into the valley, where you will be surrounded by beautiful mountains. The circular route is about 6km, but you can easily just walk as far as you want and then turn back.

Tips for Hiking in Durmitor National Park

Trail markers are not always easy to see. They are red circles with white dots in the centre, sometimes you will also see a red arrow.
Hiking trails listed on signposts have coloured dots next to them to show the difficulty level. Blue = easy, Red = medium and Black = hard.
The weather can be changeable in the mountains, make sure that you pack layers and also suncream, even on a cloudy day as the UV will be high
There is nowhere to buy water or snacks, so make sure you stock up in Zabljak beforehand
If you are tackling the more challenging hikes, make sure that you have the correct equipment – good hiking shoes and hiking poles are a must.

How to get to Durmitor National Park

I would recommend renting a car from the larger towns by the coast so that you can do the scenic drive through the mountains and stop at various viewpoints on the way. I rented a car through Discover Cars from Tivat airport and the drive to Zabljak took just over 3 hours.

There are coaches that will take you from Kotor, Budva and Tivat to Zabljak but the journey is long and once you get to Zabljak you will be limited on what you do without your own car.

Rent your own car with Discover cars

How many days should you spend in Durmitor National Park?

This does depend on what activities you want to do. For example, if you want to tackle a few of the longer, more challenging hikes then you may wish to spend several days here.

We spent 3 days and 4 nights in Durmitor National Park and felt that was a good amount of time. This gave us enough time to do a short hike, drive the Durmitor ring road, visit Piva Lake, visit Tara River canyon bridge, and spend the afternoon at Black Lake.

I would recommend spending at least 2 days / 3 nights in Durmitor National Park, to really enjoy everything it has to offer.

Where to stay in Durmitor National Park?

The best place to stay in Durmitor National Park is in the town of Zabljak. This is the main town in the National Park and if you travelled from the coast of Montenegro by bus, this is where the bus will terminate.

The town of Zabljak has several cafes and restaurants, a couple of supermarkets, a petrol station and several tour companies offering various outdoor activities.

Whilst there are a few larger hotels, most of the accommodation is locally run small apartments (much like most of Montenegro). We stayed at Apartments Grbovic which was run by a lovely host and was very quiet and clean and very affordable.

When we visited in August 2025, there was a lot of construction taking place around the town so I imagine in a few more years, this area will be more developed and have more hotels, apartments and tourist centric facilities.