Budva Old Town

Budva Old Town sits on a narrow rocky peninsula jutting into the Adriatic, enclosed by fifteenth-century Venetian walls that survived the 1979 earthquake and were rebuilt stone by stone. Inside the gates the layout is a tight grid of limestone alleys connecting four churches — St John the Baptist, the Holy Trinity, St Sabba and Santa Maria in Punta — two small squares and the Citadela fortress at the southern tip.

The settlement dates to at least the fifth century BC, making it one of the oldest on the Adriatic coast. Greek colonists, Romans, Byzantines, Venetians and Austro-Hungarians each left a mark on the architecture and street plan. The town museum inside the Citadela covers this layered history across several galleries.

Today the Old Town is the busiest dining and nightlife district on the Riviera. Restaurants line the inner alleys and spill onto the waterfront terrace below the walls, serving grilled seafood, Montenegrin mains and wood-fired pizza. After dark the bars along the harbour wall and inside the squares stay open late through summer. The directory covers restaurants, bars, cafés, galleries and shops inside the walls.