Sveti Stefan

In 1955 the Yugoslav government made a radical decision: to empty a fortified fishing village overlooking the Adriatic and turn it into a scattered hotel. The families who for centuries had lived among those stone houses were relocated to the mainland, to a new settlement called Miločer, and their homes were converted into hotel rooms. This gave birth to one of the most photographed places in Montenegro: a rocky islet connected to the coast by a narrow isthmus, which in the following decades would welcome actors, heads of state and crowned heads. Today Sveti Stefan is managed by Aman Resorts and access to the actual village is reserved for hotel guests, but this does not diminish its charm for those arriving from outside: the view from above, from the road descending toward Budva or from the viewpoints above Miločer, remains one of the most striking sights on the whole riviera. Around the islet stretch beaches with pinkish sand, tinted by fragments of coral and crushed shells, and a little further south the village of Pržno offers a more accessible and equally authentic alternative, with its boats pulled up on the shore and fish restaurants along the seafront. This guide tells the story of the village-hotel, the botanical park of Miločer created by the Yugoslav royal family, the beaches to choose depending on budget, and the surroundings of the Budva riviera, to plan a visit that goes beyond the postcard shot.