Perast and Our Lady of the Rocks: The Bay of Kotor’s Baroque Jewel.

If Kotor is the bay's fortress, Perast is its drawing room. A single baroque waterfront of honey-coloured palazzi curves along the water beneath St. Nicholas' bell tower, with no cars and no beach — you swim straight off the rocks and the jetties. It is tiny, walkable end to end in ten minutes, and best in the golden hour when the stone glows and the day-trippers thin.

Our Lady of the Rocks and St. George

Two islands float just offshore. Our Lady of the Rocks is man-made — for six centuries sailors have dropped stones here after safe voyages, building an islet beneath a blue-domed church whose museum is hung with silver votive plaques and a famous embroidered icon. Its natural twin, St. George, holds a cypress-shaded monastery closed to visitors but unforgettable from the water.

What to see and do in Perast

Take one of the little boats from the waterfront (a few minutes each way), climb the bell tower for the classic view down the bay, and stay for a slow seafood dinner as the light goes. If you're here on 22 July, the fašinada procession of decorated boats is the bay at its most magical.