We decided to visit Montengro, and specifically Podgorica, Kotor and Budva, for two months in the touristy summer of 2023. Although we had a great time, it seemed as if the people there weren’t as friendly as we were used to. Considering that we had just arrived from a Greek island, though, where the locals were the friendliest that we had ever met, it made sense that we were culture shocked.
Podgorica, Montenegro was the friendliest of the three cities we had visited, however. Likely, it was because Kotor and Budva were the most touristy and the locals there were stressed out. Another reason for this, though, could be a side effect of the Soviet history of the country, and we see this unfriendliness in practically every ex-Soviet country that we visit.
Highlights of Podgorica, Montenegro
Despite the effects of the Soviet remains and noisy streets, there are very nice parts in the country, which we will get to in future posts. Specifically in Podgorica, however, there are a few pretty parks and great places to shop at. Those parks include Independence Square, King’s Park, and Central Park. Andriy also got a nice haircut at a local barber shop for 10 euros, which is a bargain nowadays.
The Mall of Montenegro, which is close to the downtown area of Podgorica, has a huge indoor farmers market with tons of fruit and vegetables. For some reason, it seemed that the stores and farmers sell more fruit than they do vegetables. We found some of the tastiest fruit we had ever tried in our lives in Montenegro. Specifically, the dark black plums we bought in Kotor tasted like chocolate pudding and I often wish that I could try them again.
Also in the same mall, you can find retail stores. We bought a great pair of black shorts that I needed at Intersport, and they weren’t expensive.
The outskirts of the downtown area disappointed us a little, though. While they were walkable, the roads were so busy and loud! The only upside was seeing the new apartment developments, which looked modern and pretty, compared to the old Soviet architecture.
We took a long stroll along such roads in order to visit a home goods chain store called Okov, as we needed to buy a food grinder so that I could grind chia seeds. Okov turned out to be a great store, similar to Best Buy in USA, and we did find a coffee/food grinder there.
Our Grocery Food Haul at Podgorica, Montenegro
We bought a few items at the Idea supermarket chain for the few days of our stay in the capital city. The groceries we got include melons, apricots, pears, peaches, balsamic vinegar from Italy, a local pastry, Thai chili sauce, rice, soy milk, canned sardines from Croatia and 12 liters of water. All of this came out to 26 euros, which was pretty good for our budget.
Our next post is on Podgorica’s New Town, which really impressed us.
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Related content: All of our posts on Montenegro