Luštica by car from Kotor: Rose, Žanjice and Luštica Bay

Tivat Solila is a coastal wetland in Krtoli Bay, on the site of former salt pans. In the Middle Ages, salt brought important income to the towns of the Bay of Kotor, and Solila is mentioned in Kotor's notarial records from 1333. Seawater was channelled into basins, where sun and wind allowed salt to be harvested. The regular lines of embankments and canals are therefore traces of human work in today's nature reserve.

The revival of production in the mid-20th century left a new arrangement of basins and water infrastructure. The old road between Tivat and Krtoli became the main embankment, while cross embankments divided the former reservoirs and evaporation areas. From the path, you can see open water alternating with low, vegetated strips.

The shallow water now provides food and a resting place for migrating birds, and some species spend the winter here. Since 2013, Solila has been on the Ramsar list of wetlands of international importance. Observation towers raise the view above the basins, allowing you to watch birds without entering their habitat. Spring and autumn migration change the birdlife in the reserve, while a summer walk reveals more of the landscape itself and its wetland vegetation.

In Bjelila, stone houses, jetties and fishing boats occupy a narrow strip of the Krtoli shore. Piers and jetties extend directly in front of the houses, while fishing equipment and moored boats show their everyday use.

Bjelila's history also includes the freshwater spring Frutak. The Tivat Tourism Organisation recounts a story that women from nearby villages brought laundry here to wash and whiten it, or "bijelile" in the local language, which is offered as an explanation for the name Bjelila.

From the shore, you can see Ostrvo Cvijeća, Sveti Marko and Gospa od Milosti. Their arrangement reveals the inner, island-sheltered part of Tivat Bay. The view across those islands gives Bjelila a different coastal setting from the later Luštica coves facing the Adriatic.

Rose is an old harbour at the northwestern end of Luštica, opposite Herceg Novi. Stone houses follow the sheltered waterfront and harbour. Many surviving buildings date from the 17th and 18th centuries, when life in the village was closely tied to shipping through the entrance to the Bay of Kotor.

Rose had a customs office, a harbour authority and a quarantine service. Ships and goods arrived here before continuing to ports deeper inside the bay. Quarantine under Venetian rule and the supervision of shipping explain the importance of this harbour, whose size today gives little indication of all its former roles.

Olive oil from the villages of Luštica was purchased and exported through Rose. The olive groves you passed inland thus have a connection to the houses and jetties beside the water.

Žanjice is a pebbly cove on the western shore of Luštica, by the entrance to the Bay of Kotor. The beach is approximately 300 metres long, with olive trees growing behind it. Pale pebbles, the olive grove and open water give it a different appearance from the stone waterfront you visited in Rose.

The pier and places to eat along the beach connect the swimming area with excursion boats. In summer, swimmers arriving by road share the beach with visitors coming from the sea. The view towards the bay entrance and the islands in front of it helps explain why this cove is a departure point for boat excursions.

Žanjice is exposed to westerly and southwesterly winds, which can bring waves.

Mirište is the neighbouring cove south of Žanjice, separated from it by a small headland. From the inner shore, the view opens towards the islet of Mala Gospa. It holds a fortified monastery complex and the Church of the Presentation of the Virgin, whose construction is associated with the 15th century. The walls and church buildings occupy almost the entire islet, so from a distance it looks like a single building rising out of the sea.

The nearby Arza headland was one of the positions in the Austrian defence system guarding the entrance to the Bay of Kotor. Its fort worked together with Mamula on Lastavica island and Oštro on the opposite side of the sea passage. That arrangement shows the importance of the space between the Luštica shore, the island and the other headland, through which vessels entered the bay.

Plavi horizonti is a sandy beach in Pržna cove, on the Trašte Bay side of Luštica. Sand fills the rounded inner part of the cove, while pines line its rocky edges. The Tivat Tourism Organisation highlights it among the popular beach destinations on the Montenegrin coast.

After the pebbles at Žanjice, both the ground underfoot and the shape of the shore change here. From the sand, you look towards the mouth of the cove, and from the accessible rocky edge, along the beach and the pine trees. The pines give the place its distinctive setting and provide shade along the edge.

Pržna is exposed to southerly and southwesterly winds.

Marina Village is the waterfront settlement of Luštica Bay, built around the marina on Trašte Bay. Buildings descend the hillside towards the promenade, with restaurants, shops and terraces beside the water. Local stone and Mediterranean facade styles connect the modern settlement with the surrounding architecture of Luštica.

The promenade follows the berths, while the pier with the lighthouse marks the marina's seaward edge. Walking from the waterfront buildings towards the pier changes the view: from the spaces between terraces, you emerge towards boats, breakwaters and a more open horizon.

After the small boats beside Bjelila's houses and the old harbour in Rose, Luštica Bay shows how tourism and boating are organised on the same peninsula today. The difference is visible in the size of the berths, the layout of the breakwaters and the arrangement of the settlement around the marina.