Niksic

Where to shoot

• Bedem Fortress — Roman, medieval and Ottoman ramparts on the west side of town, free to walk, with the best view over Nikšić.
• Cathedral of St. Basil of Ostrog — the 1895–1900 memorial cathedral on Petrova glavica, white and unfrescoed inside under its dome.
• Tsar's Bridge (Carev most) — an 1894 stone bridge of 18 arches over the Zeta valley south of town, financed by Russia's Alexander III.
• Ostrog Monastery — the cliff-face shrine of St. Basil of Ostrog, Montenegro's biggest pilgrimage site, under an hour from Nikšić by car.
• The rebuilt corner tower — the one fully restored structure in the complex, with a tile roof and a stair up to the wall walk.
• The town-facing ramparts — a continuous stretch of wall looking straight down over Nikšić's rooftops to the mountains on the far side of the plain.
• The Ottoman gate arch — a surviving stone archway in the lower walls, now framing an unplanned view out over the valley.
• Bedem Fest — the free summer rock festival staged inside the ruins since 2010, the one time of year the fortress is genuinely crowded.
• Cathedral of St. Basil of Ostrog — an 1895–1900 stone cathedral on Petrova Glavica hill, built as a memorial to the fallen of the anti-Ottoman wars.
• King Nikola's Royal Palace — the 1890 royal residence beside the town park, now the Nikšić Heritage Museum.
• Trebjesa forest park — 126 hectares of protected pine forest on a 725-metre hill, walkable from the city centre in about thirty minutes.
• Josip Slade's 1883 town plan — five squares and seven avenues radiating from the centre, drawn on Renaissance principles and still the shape of the modern city.
• The Piva canyon road — dozens of short unlit tunnels cut into the cliff face above the turquoise reservoir between Nikšić and Plužine.
• Mratinje Dam — a 220-metre arch dam completed in 1976, among the highest in Europe, holding back a lake 45 kilometres long.
• Prutaš — the striped limestone peak above the Durmitor plateau, its face scored with near-vertical rock striations.
• Sedlo Pass — at 1,907 metres the highest paved road in Montenegro, crossing the open plateau between Plužine and Žabljak.

When to go

Late May to September. At 640 metres Nikšić is warm rather than sticky in summer (July averages about 20°C), while January averages under 2°C with snow on some days.

What to eat

Drink Nikšićko, brewed in town by the Trebjesa brewery, whose roots go back to 1896, with a plate of Njeguški pršut and smoked cheese, or kačamak, the highland cornmeal mash with cheese and kajmak.

Where to stay

Stay in the centre around Trg slobode: the palace, the cathedral hill and the café streets are walkable, Bedem is about fifteen minutes on foot to the west, and you are on the main road out to Ostrog and Podgorica.