Luštica Peninsula Travel Guide, Tours & Hotels

Best time: June–September, when the boats run
Ideal for: Boat trips, swimming, quiet coves, sailing
Time needed: A half-day by boat, longer if you stay
Getting there: Boat from Herceg Novi, Kotor or Tivat; road via Radovići
Region: Tivat & Luštica
Nearest airport: Tivat Airport (TIV), ~15 km

Ideal for

Boat trips

Swimming

Sailing

Quiet beaches

About Luštica Peninsula

The headland closing the Bay of Kotor keeps the coastline the resorts never reached: the Blue Cave, the pebble coves of Žanjic and Mirište, the fishing hamlet of Rose, and Mamula island offshore.

Luštica is the long limestone peninsula separating the Bay of Kotor from the open Adriatic, and it has stayed noticeably emptier than the coast on either side. Its interior is a plateau of olive terraces, drystone walls and small stone villages where the population thins to almost nothing in winter; its shoreline is a run of coves hard to reach by road and easy to reach by boat, which is why nearly every visitor arrives on the water. The headline stop is the Blue Cave, a sea cavern where light refracts to an intense blue and boats pause so passengers can swim. Around the point sit Žanjic and Mirište, shingle beaches with a handful of konobas, and the abandoned Austro-Hungarian fortress on Mamula island at the mouth of the bay.

Highlights

Blue Cave swim stop

Žanjic and Mirište beaches

Rose village by boat from Herceg Novi

Olive groves and stone hamlets inland

Where it is

The Blue Cave

The cave sits on the peninsula’s open-sea flank, a wide-mouthed cavern where sunlight enters underwater and reflects off the pale floor, turning the pool an electric blue. Boats nose in and cut engines so people can swim; the effect is strongest in the middle of the day when the sun is high, and weakest under cloud. It is a short stop rather than a destination, which is why it is nearly always sold as part of a circuit with Mamula, Rose and a beach.

Rose and the inland hamlets

Rose, at the peninsula’s northern tip, is a former fishing village facing Herceg Novi across the strait, reached by a short boat hop and lined with a few waterfront restaurants. Inland, villages such as Radovići, Krašići and Gošići preserve the old Luštica pattern of stone houses, cisterns and olive presses, with groves that still produce oil. A newer resort development at Luštica Bay has added marina and golf infrastructure on the eastern shore.

Plan your visit

Line up where to stay and what to do around Luštica Peninsula.

Hotels near Luštica Peninsula Experiences & tours Explore Tivat & Luštica All places in Montenegro

Official resources & further reading

National Tourism Organisation of Montenegro

Frequently asked questions

How do you get to the Blue Cave in Montenegro?

By boat — trips run from Herceg Novi, Kotor, Tivat and Budva, usually as a half-day taking in the cave, Mamula island and a beach stop.

Can you drive around Luštica?

Yes, a road crosses the peninsula to Rose and Radovići, but the best coves are steep or trackless to reach, so boats remain the easier way in.

What is Mamula island?

A 19th-century Austro-Hungarian island fortress at the mouth of the bay, used as a prison camp in the Second World War and since converted into a hotel.

Are Luštica beaches sandy?

Mostly pebble and shingle with very clear water — Žanjic and Mirište are the best known, and both have places to eat behind the beach.