Herceg Novi Nightlife

Herceg Novi is not a club town. If loud DJs, bottle service and sunrise beach parties are what you're after, you'll find them 60 kilometres south along the coast. What Herceg Novi does well is evenings. Long ones, outdoors, with wine, often with music that you can still talk over.

The main strip for summer drinking is Škver, the promenade along the harbour east of the Old Town. From late June through early September a string of bars, lounges and restaurant-terraces here keep going past midnight. A cocktail is €6 to €10, a local beer €2.50 to €3.50, and most places have some kind of live music on the busier nights. Acoustic sets, jazz trios, the occasional regional band. The crowd is a mix of visitors and locals in about equal measure, which keeps the tone fairly relaxed.

Inside the Old Town the tempo is even slower. Small wine bars and rooftop terraces tucked behind the stone walls pour Montenegrin wines (Vranac red, Krstač white, Chardonnay from Plantaže), craft beers from the Montenegrin microbreweries, and regional spirits. Rakija, loza, medovača. These places reward wandering rather than research; the best ones are the ones you stumble into turning a corner on the way back from dinner.

Kanli Kula above the Old Town is the big summer venue. Concerts run inside the fortress walls through July and August. Classical, rock, regional folk, the occasional international act. Tickets are €10 to €25 and worth it for the setting alone.

Outside peak season the town's evenings shift to year-round cafés on Njegoševa and the Igalo promenade. A fair number of summer-only spots close from November to April. In winter, ask your hotel which bars stay open.