Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Durmitor National Park
Montenegro's first three national parks were declared in 1952: Lovćen, Biogradska Gora
and Durmitor. The most interesting and popular of the three is Durmitor, a magnificent
place for nature-lovers, blessed with springs of clear mountain water and glacial lakes that
mirror the heavens. In 1980 it was recognised by Unesco as a World Heritage Site.
The 39,000-hectare park is comprised of the Durmitor mountain range and a narrow
strip forming an elephant's trunk along the Tara Canyon. The Durmitor range has 48 peaks
over 2000m high including Bobotov Kuk (2523m), which is often referred to as the coun-
try's highest mountain. In actual fact there is a higher peak in the Prokletije Mountains
bordering Albania, but Bobotov Kuk is the highest mountain entirely within Montenegro.
The Tara River is hidden in the deepest canyon in Europe (1300m at its apogee). It's not
sheer force of water which has gouged such an impressive rift through the mountains but
rather the carbon dioxide in the water reacting with the hard limestone (calcium carbonate)
to form soluble calcium bicarbonate.
Popular activities in the park include rafting (between April and October), skiing (from
January to March), hiking, rock climbing and jeep safaris (best in summer). These can all
be organised from Žabljak, the park's gateway town.
Montenegro has 500 types of herbs with medicinal properties, many of which are harvested for essential
oils and ingredients for natural remedies. Wormwood is an ingredient of absinthe and was once exported
to Italy to make the bitter liqueur Amaro Montenegro.
