In the middle of giant Lake Skadar National Park sits the tiny fishing “town” of Virpazar, one of Montenegro’s historic trading centres dating from medieval times and, for the last 10 years, our home and activity base. The clue is in its name – ‘Vir’, which means confluence of rivers and ‘Pazar’, the Turkish word for ‘market’. It’s a beguiling, sleepy kind of place and the start point for many of our hiking and kayaking trips.
These spectacular images will make you wonder why you’d never heard of it until now!
All photographs are by the snap-happy me (Emma Heywood – co-founder of Undiscovered Montenegro).
1) Virpazar as seen from the 14th Century Besac Fortress
2) Summer view looking out from the old bridge
3) The historic monument to freedom celebrating 13th July 1878 and 1941
4) A magical autumn view of Virpazar cloaked in fog
5) We chose our activity base for its amazing location set by mountains and lake
6) Next to the lakeside are some great places to eat, like Konoba Badanj on the right
7) Reasons to love Virpazar #1 – it’s surrounded by the incredible Lake Skadar National Park with all its nature!
8) When Lake Skadar’s waters rise high, the reflected beauty around here is out of this world
9) There are some amazing hiking trails near Virpazar, you just need to know where
10) Virpazar is right on the shores of Lake Skadar, the largest pool of freshwater in southern Europe
11) This view of Virpazar has our activity base Villa Miela sitting pretty above it
12) This tiny fishing town oozes with characterful charm
13) Virpazar has a centuries’ old port – the main gateway to vast Lake Skadar and the place to grab a boat tour
14) Our favourite view of Virpazar of all – from the terrace of Villa Miela
Now you’re in on the secret – Virpazar should not be missed on a visit to Montenegro! It’s a relaxed, friendly little place with a handful of restaurants, bars and cafes, plus a small supermarket, surrounded by spectacular national park – the ideal base for our week-long hosted activity holidays at Lake Skadar! There’s so much to do here for lovers of nature and the outdoors that we could keep you busy for weeks exploring our stunning backyard by kayak and on foot. If your time is short, though, check out our sister company, Lake Skadar Adventure Tours, for an active day adventure or food and wine tour or hop on a boat cruise.
All images in this blog post are by Emma Heywood and copyright protected by Undiscovered Montenegro. If you would like to use an image, please send a request by email to enquiries@undiscoveredmontenegro.com
Comments