Croatia? Montenegro!

12 JUNE 2022

Croatia has the longer coastline over Montenegro. But who’s going to need that extra coastline mile? And the truly better sand beaches of the Adriatic Sea are located in Montenegro.

Planning a travel itinerary requires various levels of preparation. And truth be told, it is where all sorts of stress can come out on a supposed de-stressing endeavor. Traveling to a place as astonishing as the Adriatic Sea can give us the better kind of problem one can have because of the many options of places and countries as your destination.

Montenegro and Croatia are two of those countries that enjoy the coastal marvel of the Adriatic Sea. It makes them better even as their respective heritages can already attract travelers on their own right. These two nations are adjacent to each other. Montenegro, however, is right at the mouth of the Adriatic Sea entering from the Ionian Sea. It doesn’t make it a better location over the other. As a matter of perspective, it never was a point of contention, as well, why one can be a better destination over the next.

But now going back to the point mentioned above. The dilemma of choosing where to visit can be deduced oftentimes on reasoning that is somewhat irrational. Mostly, we tend to join the bandwagon. What appears to be the trend is where we naturally go. It never was our heart that we are following but the feels of the present time with which we tend to disappoint ourselves.

Which is why it boggles the mind that, comparatively, Croatia is the more frequently visited tourist destination over Montenegro (something that will be articulated later on). Located next to each other, Croatia and Montenegro share a lot of historical and cultural legacy. From their shared access to the Adriatic Sea to their similarly apparent architectural influences, you can tell them both apart and yet you can, in a lot of ways, tell they are the same. Both countries boast of similar gifts: the beaches and the mountains.Both are a go-to-place for beach lovers and hikers alike.

Dubrovnik of Croatia and Kotor of Montenegro are practically a mirror image of each other. So in essence, what you can see and possibly experience in either city will be very very similar–only that Kotor is a much cheaper place to go.Dubrovnik and Kotor are both UNESCO World Heritage Sites. Dubrovnik, however, is the bigger town. From a tourist’s perspective, bigger doesn’t necessarily translate to being better.

Croatia has the longer coastline over Montenegro. But who’s going to need that extra coastline mile? And the truly better sand beaches of the Adriatic Sea are located in Montenegro. Conversely, Croatia being the bigger country has its drawbacks. Traveling is all about enjoying the journey and destination and all the revealing things and experiences…everything new, everything that is exciting is the very essence of the trip. Montenegro is smaller, which allows tourists to navigate and enjoy more places of the country on a limited tourism time. Also, have we already discussed that things are a lot cheaper in Montenegro over Croatia? Traveling involves the proper management of resources during its planning stage so would a smart tourist throw away an opportunity to make every penny count?

The World Bank data has shown data of a huge discrepancy of tourists visits during the pre-pandemic era. In 2020 between Croatia and Montenegro, WB reported that Croatia has 21,608,000 tourists visits while Montenegro has only recorded a measly 351,000. Croatia has become a country of its own breaking away from the Soviet Union way before Montenegro separated from Serbia. It may have contributed to a global consciousness, putting Croatia ahead of Montenegro popularity-wise. But don’t mistake Croatia’s better tourist visits over Montenegro as an indicator of better tourism experience. Again, as stated above, we don’t go bandwagoning for an undertaking as special as tourism. We don’t go out there preparing for the best possible time away from our mundane day-to-day activities only to rendezvous with travelers alike.