What's on in Kotor (Montenegro), Montenegro through the year

Quiet — travelers describe it as quiet, school holidays in 7 of the markets that fill it

• Festival

  Kotor Winter Carnival

  6–15 FebCrowded

  Ten days of masked parades in a Venetian-built town that has kept the habit for five centuries, ending with a procession and the burning of an effigy on the Square of Arms. Source ↗

Still on: The bay out of season (1 Nov – 31 Mar (usually))

Busy — Kotor Winter Carnival, school holidays in 3 of the markets that fill it

Nothing new starts in February.

Still on: Kotor Winter Carnival (6–15 Feb), The bay out of season (1 Nov – 31 Mar (usually))

Shoulder season — school holidays in 4 of the markets that fill it, an ordinary month

Nothing new starts in March.

Still on: Kotor Winter Carnival (6–15 Feb), The bay out of season (1 Nov – 31 Mar (usually))

Shoulder season — school holidays in 6 of the markets that fill it, an ordinary month

Nothing new starts in April.

Busy — Cruise season, school holidays in 4 of the markets that fill it

• Season

  Cruise season

  1 May – 15 OctCrowded

  Ships anchor a hundred metres from the town gate and unload into a walled town you can cross in six minutes. On a two-ship day the old town is unwalkable between ten and four.

Busy — Cruise season, school holidays in 4 of the markets that fill it

• Season

  Sea warm enough to swim

  15 Jun – 5 Oct · usually

  The bay is enclosed and shallow-warm by mid-June, though cold springs come up under the surface in places and you will find them. The open sea at Budva warms a fortnight earlier.

Still on: Cruise season (1 May – 15 Oct)

Busy — Cruise season, school holidays in 7 of the markets that fill it

Nothing new starts in July.

Still on: Cruise season (1 May – 15 Oct), Sea warm enough to swim (15 Jun – 5 Oct (usually))

Peak crowds — Cruise season, Boka Night

• Festival

  Boka Night

  22 AugMajor festivalCrowded

  Usually the third Saturday of August: decorated boats parade the length of the harbour under lanterns, a prize goes to the best, and it finishes with fireworks off the walls. Source ↗

Still on: Cruise season (1 May – 15 Oct), Sea warm enough to swim (15 Jun – 5 Oct (usually))

Busy — Cruise season, school holidays in 3 of the markets that fill it

Nothing new starts in September.

Still on: Cruise season (1 May – 15 Oct), Sea warm enough to swim (15 Jun – 5 Oct (usually))

Busy — Cruise season, school holidays in 4 of the markets that fill it

Nothing new starts in October.

Still on: Cruise season (1 May – 15 Oct), Sea warm enough to swim (15 Jun – 5 Oct (usually))

Quiet — school holidays in 2 of the markets that fill it, one of its worst months for weather

• Season

  The bay out of season

  1 Nov – 31 Mar · usuallyOff-season shutdownClosures

  Most of the restaurants and half the guesthouses in the walled town close, and the mountains hold the rain in the bay for days. Perast opposite goes down to almost nothing.

Quiet — school holidays in 7 of the markets that fill it, one of its worst months for weather

Nothing new starts in December.

Still on: The bay out of season (1 Nov – 31 Mar (usually))