Two Girls Walk Into Bar. The Wrong Bar.

Budva was a great place to explore… for about two days. By the third day, I wanted to see something other than this faux-Russian beach city.  My Russian roommate, Liza, also felt a bit antsy, so we planned on a day trip to Ulcinj, a majority-Albanian city on the southern part of Montenegro’s coast. But when we missed the morning bus to Ulcinj, we decided to wing it and caught the next bus to Bar, another coastal city about which we knew very little.

Unplanned trips can be great. It can be wonderful to discover something unexpected, or it can be subpar; it all depends on expectations, instinct, and a bit of luck.

We embraced chance. Upon disembarking in Bar, we hopped in a cab for the beach, assuming that the city couldn’t be far– and that, at worst, we’d have a nice swim.

The beaches at Bar were PACKED, but with good reason– the water was cool and turquoise and clear as can be. We floated in the salty sea like content little fishes.

And then we tried to find the town and our plans fell apart.

You see, in our spontaneous haste, we never learned that there are actually TWO cities in Montenegro named Bar.

We were in Bar, a modern city on the sea that was constructed in the late 1970’s. We actually wanted to go to Stari Bar, the old Bar, where the history and beauty were concentrated—but it was miles away. We found out all of this as the day went on and we walked aimlessly, trying to locate the old city. Liza was invaluable, because everyone we asked didn’t speak English—but they did speak Russian. Once we realized that we’d spent most of the day far away from the place we actually meant to be, we decided to make the best of where we were and investigate what exactly Bar had to offer.

It turns out the seaside is Bar’s highlight—the city itself is unexceptional. The ports and beaches were lovely, though—especially when the sun started to go down and dramatic storm clouds blew in.

We also passed an epic-looking church alongside the road, tucked in along the pink and white summer houses and ever-present mountains.

Though we didn’t see very much in Bar, and we didn’t get to Stari Bar at all, our day trip was worth it. A perfectly low-key break from Budva, complete with swimming and strolling and exploring? Not bad at all.