The Kotor Serpentine to Lovcen: Driving the 25 Hairpins
Twenty five numbered hairpins from just outside Kotor to the village of Njegusi, with the whole bay opening up behind you as you climb.
Same as pickup
What you are actually driving
The old road out of Kotor is one of the great drives in Europe, and the single best reason to have a car of your own in this part of Montenegro. It is also a specific, learnable thing rather than a vague thrill, so read the three panels below before you turn onto it.
The road itself
A paved serpentine that starts climbing almost as soon as you leave Kotor, laid out in about 25 hairpins and numbered the whole way, which is a genuinely useful thing to have on a climb like this.
- About 25 numbered hairpins, so you always know how far up you are
- Fully paved, no gravel sections, all the way to Njegusi
- Narrow throughout, single track in places with marked passing spots
What it asks of the driver
Nothing technical, but it does ask for attention. The road rewards somebody who reads ahead rather than reacts, because most of what happens on it can be seen coming a bend or two early.
- Where the track is single width, look ahead to the next passing spot before committing
- Coaches and tour vans use this road too, and meeting one is the defining moment of the drive
- Go up early, before the tour groups and before the afternoon heat
What it asks of the car
An ordinary hire car does this road fine. Ground clearance is not the issue anywhere on it. Width and nerve are, and so is what you do with the gearbox on the way back down.
- A compact or mid size car is the comfortable choice, not an SUV
- Know where the manual gate or paddles are before you need them on the descent
- Brakes and tyres in good condition matter here more than on any other road on this coast
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Going up is easy. Coming down is the part to get right
The climb and the descent are different problems, and the second one matters more than anything else on this page.
A traction problem this is not. Climbing is straightforward: keep a gear that gives you power out of the hairpin rather than labouring in too high a gear, and let the numbered bends tell you how far you have come. The bay drops away behind you a little more with each one, and by hairpin fifteen or so the whole of Kotor and the water beyond it is laid out below.
Meeting a coach. Tour coaches and minivans run this road daily in season, and somewhere on a single track stretch you will meet one coming the other way. The etiquette is simple: whoever is closer to a passing spot reverses or waits there, and it is usually obvious who that is if you have been reading the road ahead rather than just the bend in front of you.
This is a brake problem, not a traction problem. Twenty five hairpins of continuous descent will overheat brakes that are asked to do all the work, and that is the actual risk on this road, not grip. Select a low gear and let the engine hold the car's speed, using the brakes to trim rather than to do the stopping.
In an automatic, use the manual gate or the paddles. Leaving it in Drive on a 25 hairpin descent means the gearbox hunts and the brakes take the whole load. Drop it into a low manual gear yourself and hold it there for the descent. This single habit matters more than anything else written on this page.
Not a certainty outside summer. In winter the road can be closed, or open but icy in the shaded upper hairpins even when Kotor below is mild. There is no shame in turning back at the first sign of ice on a road this narrow, and checking conditions locally before you commit to the full climb is time well spent.
Kotor to the mausoleum, in order
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Leaving Kotor
The climb starts almost immediately outside the old town, with the first numbered hairpins beginning the switchback up the mountainside above the bay.
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The 25 hairpins
Each one is numbered, so progress is easy to judge. The road narrows to single track in several places, with marked passing spots for reading ahead rather than reacting late.
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Njegusi
The village at the top of the climb, known across Montenegro for its smoked ham and cheese. Small producers sell both, and it is the natural place to stop before continuing into the park.
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Lovcen National Park
The road continues from Njegusi into the park itself, climbing further towards the parking area below the summit.
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The Njegos Mausoleum
Reached by a long flight of steps from the parking area, with the reward at the top being one of the widest views in the country over the mountains and, on a clear day, the bay you started from.
The drive, at a glance
About 25 hairpins
Numbered the whole way up, so you always know where you are on the climb.
Any ordinary car
Ground clearance is not the issue. Width and nerve are, and so is the brake technique on the way down.
Go early
Before the coaches fill the single track sections and before the afternoon heat sets in.
Not a winter certainty
The road can be closed or icy in the colder months. Check locally before you commit to the climb.
Questions worth asking first
About 25, and each one is numbered, which turns out to be a genuinely useful way of judging how far up the climb you are. The numbering runs from just outside Kotor to Njegusi at the top.
No. The road is paved for its whole length and an ordinary hire car drives it every day of the season. Ground clearance is not the issue anywhere on it. Width and confidence on a narrow single track road are what actually matter.
That it is a brake problem, not a traction problem. Select a low gear and let the engine hold the car rather than riding the brakes for twenty five hairpins. In an automatic, use the manual gate or the paddles for the whole descent rather than leaving it in Drive.
Njegusi first, a village known across the country for its smoked ham and cheese, then Lovcen National Park itself and the Njegos Mausoleum, reached by a long flight of steps with a wide view over the mountains and the bay below.
Not with certainty. Outside summer it can be closed altogether or open but icy in the shaded upper hairpins even on a mild day at sea level. Check local conditions before committing to the full climb in winter.
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Any car in the fleet handles this road. What matters is choosing one you are comfortable driving down, not just up.
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