Bar: the old olive tree, the marina and why the new town underwhelms

Why the new town of Bar disappoints most visitors

Bar is Montenegro’s main commercial port, and it looks like one. Container cranes, a rail terminal, a ferry dock and a modern marina dominate the waterfront, and the town behind it was largely rebuilt after the 1979 earthquake that flattened much of the coast, including Budva further north. There is no historic core to wander, no city walls, no old stone streets. If you arrive expecting something like Kotor’s old town or even Herceg Novi, Bar will read as a functional transit town, because that is largely what it is.

That is not a criticism to skip Bar entirely — it is a reason to be precise about why you are going. Two things justify a stop here: an olive tree that predates the Roman Empire’s decline, and the ruined old town a few kilometres inland that most people actually picture when they hear the name “Bar”. Understanding the split between the modern port and Stari Bar, the old town, saves a lot of confused planning.

The old olive tree: Bar’s genuine curiosity

In the Mirovica district of Bar, a short drive or taxi ride from the marina, stands the Stara Maslina — the Old Olive Tree. Estimates of its age vary depending on who is asked and which method was used, ranging from roughly 2,000 to a bit over 2,200 years. Nobody has a documented planting date; the figure comes from trunk girth and comparative ring studies on similarly sized olives, not a written record. What is not in dispute is that the tree is still alive, still fruiting, and sits within a small fenced park with information boards and a modest surrounding of younger olive groves.

It is a 15 to 20 minute visit. The trunk is genuinely striking — gnarled, hollowed in places, wider than most cars — and the setting is quiet rather than commercialised, though a small café and souvenir stall sit near the entrance. Several tours combine it with a wider look at the town and its olive oil production; the tastings that come with some of these tours are a reasonable way to understand why olive cultivation still matters to this stretch of coast, even if the town around it does not.

For a walking overview of the tree, the harbour area and what little else the new town offers, an organised city tour saves the guesswork of where to park and what is actually worth the detour: a guided city tour of Bar covering the museum and the old olive tree.

Stari Bar: the old town that isn’t in Bar

This is the detail that trips up most first-time visitors: the historic “old town” associated with Bar is not in the town of Bar. Stari Bar sits about 4 km inland and uphill, a separate site entirely. It was a fortified settlement dating back over a thousand years, passing through Byzantine, Serbian, Venetian and Ottoman control before an 1878 siege during the Montenegrin-Ottoman conflict left it burned and largely abandoned. The population resettled on the coast, which is how the modern port town of Bar came to exist a few kilometres away.

What remains is a genuine ruin rather than a restored old town — roofless stone houses, a partly standing citadel, a former cathedral, cisterns and narrow lanes reclaimed by fig trees and wildflowers. It rewards an hour or two of unhurried walking rather than a quick photo stop, and unlike Kotor’s old town it is rarely crowded, even in August. Sturdy shoes help; much of the stonework is uneven and there is limited shade.

Stari Bar and the olive tree are usually visited together, since they sit only a few kilometres apart and share the same access road out of Bar. A vintage-car format turns the short hop between the sites into part of the experience rather than a chore: a classic car drive taking in Stari Bar and the old olive tree.

The marina and the modern port

Bar’s marina is the one part of the new town that is genuinely pleasant to sit in for half an hour. It is modern, well maintained, and lined with cafés and a handful of restaurants aimed at boat owners and ferry passengers rather than day-trippers, which keeps prices roughly in line with the rest of the coast rather than inflated. Beyond the marina, the commercial harbour handles freight, and the passenger terminal handles the ferry.

There is a market worth a quick look if timing allows — fruit, vegetables, olive oil and local produce sold by growers from the surrounding villages — but this is an ordinary regional town, not a sight in itself. Treat the marina as a coffee stop or a lunch break bookending the olive tree and Stari Bar, not a destination on its own.

The ferry to Italy

Bar’s other practical function is as Montenegro’s gateway to Italy by sea. Montenegro Lines operates car and passenger ferries between Bar and Bari, roughly a 9 to 11 hour overnight crossing depending on the season and exact routing. Sailings run more frequently in the summer months and drop back to a reduced schedule outside the season, so this is not a service to plan around without checking the current timetable close to your travel dates — frequency and even the operating route can change year to year.

For anyone road-tripping the Balkans and wanting to avoid backtracking through Croatia and Bosnia, or looking to combine Montenegro with a swing through southern Italy, the Bar-Bari crossing is a genuine option worth researching directly with the ferry operator rather than relying on secondhand schedules.

Getting to Bar from Kotor

There is no fast direct road. The route runs along the coast through Budva and Petrovac, following the same corniche that makes the Kotor-Budva stretch scenic but slow. Allow around 1 hour 15 minutes to 1 hour 30 minutes by car in normal traffic, longer in July and August when the coast road backs up around Budva and Petrovac.

Option	Approx. time from Kotor	Notes
Self-drive	1h15–1h30	Coastal road via Budva and Petrovac; slower in high season
Bus	1h30–2h+	Coastal bus network covers Bar but timetables are not centrally bookable online
Organised tour	Half day round trip	Combines olive tree, Stari Bar and sometimes Ulcinj or Lake Skadar
Taxi/private transfer	1h15–1h30	Fix the price before departure; meters are inconsistently used with tourists

Public buses reach Bar, but Montenegro’s bus network has no unified online booking system, so timings are best confirmed at the station rather than assumed in advance. Renting a car gives more flexibility to combine Bar with nearby stops; see the car rental guide for what to expect on cost and paperwork.

Combining Bar with the rest of the trip

Bar sits roughly halfway between Budva and Ulcinj, and about 30 to 40 minutes from Virpazar and the northern shore of Lake Skadar. That geography makes it a natural stopover rather than a there-and-back trip from Kotor:

• Bar plus Ulcinj: continue south for the beaches and old town character Bar itself lacks.
• Bar plus Lake Skadar: pair the olive tree and Stari Bar with a boat tour of the lake and a wine stop in the Crmnica hills.
• Bar as a Kotor-Budva-Bar loop: for travellers deciding where to stay overall, see the Kotor vs Budva basing guide — Bar is realistically a day stop from either, not a base.

A tour that strings Bar’s olive tree together with the Lake Skadar wine region covers a lot of ground without requiring your own car: a Bar day tour combining a Lake Skadar boat trip and wine tasting. For travellers based further south, the reverse direction works too: a day trip from Budva to the old olive tree and olive oil tasting in Bar.

Anyone extending south towards the Albanian border can fold in the wider itinerary using the Montenegro-Croatia-Bosnia loop as a planning reference, adjusting for the southern coast instead. For a lighter, family-friendly add-on near Bar, a donkey farm visit is an easy way to break up a day heavy on ruins and driving: a donkey farm tour from Bar.

Practical notes

• Parking: Bar has more space than Kotor or Budva, with reasonably priced parking near the marina and at Stari Bar’s lower car park.
• Food: the marina cafés and a handful of harbourside restaurants cover basic needs; this is not a food destination compared with Kotor’s old town restaurants.
• Timing: visit Stari Bar in the morning or late afternoon in summer — there is little shade and the stone holds heat.
• Budget: expect coastal Montenegro’s standard pricing for coffee, snacks and taxis; see the daily budget guide for typical figures across the coast.
• When to go: late May to mid-June and September avoid both the summer heat at Stari Bar’s exposed ruins and the busiest ferry and border traffic — see the best time to visit guide for the wider seasonal picture.

Frequently asked questions about visiting Bar