How to Climb Kotor’s City Walls and Not Throw Up.

I spent 3 incredibly lazy days hanging around Kotor’s old town. Each day it’s inviting and somewhat intimidating walls called to me – and each day I passed. It wasn’t until my last day (and the worst conditions of my visit) did I finally work up the courage to climb Kotor’s city walls. Here’s how it went:

Carb up

Not only did I leave climbing Kotor’s City walls to the last day but I had left it to the last couple hours of daylight. After having a late lunch of fettuccine carbonara and a double espresso, I reluctantly headed out. The entrance to climbing Kotor’s City walls can easily be found (after getting lost for 15 minutes) in the northeast corner of the city. There you will find a lady collecting a €3 fee, and on this particular day, a man already sweaty and out of breath.

Keep Climbing

Before even leaving to climb Kotor’s city walls I said I would just head up to the Church of Our Lady of Remedy then turnaround. To my surprise, this took only about 15 minutes and since I wasn’t completely dying, I pushed on for the top. A short while after that the carbonara kicked in and the rain started. I fought off flashbacks of almost dying climbing Lions Head in Cape Town and pressed on, stomach cramps and all.

King of Kotor

My enthusiasm and determination seemed to outlast the gut rot and rain as I reached the gates of Sveti Ivan’s (St. John’s) Fortress well before sunset. Originally built to protect the city from invaders, it is massive and keeps going a ways up from the gates. I pressed on climbing Kotor’s City walls until finally reaching the top. My reward, besides not throwing up, was the most amazing views of Kotor Bay.

A Kotor must

In all, it took took just over two hours for me climb Kotor’s city walls, up-and-down.  This included plenty of picture breaks (gasping at hunched over) as well as some time at the top. If you are lucky enough to visit Montenegro, don’t miss climbing Kotor’s city walls. Even if you were just stopping on a cruise or passing through on road trip, the views and satisfaction are well worth the pain the next day.

And maybe skip the carbonara.

• READ MORE: 3 Days in Montenegro

 Climb Kotor’s city walls – Good to Know

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This climb Kotor’s city walls pitstop is brought to you by Auto Europe Car Rentals as part of my #EuropeanRoadTrip.