Our Ski Trip to Savin Kuk, Zabljak (Montenegro)
After a scouting weekend, we return to Zabljak 3 weeks later to spend our last weeks in Montenegro. Our 3-month visa exemption is coming to an end soon and we want to finish our stay in style.
Zabljak and its tiny ski resort Savin Kuk were chosen for its very local atmosphere. It’s all locals, not stressed at all. The ski instructors are numerous and English-speaking. And the food is really really good!
Covid restrictions have become more and more strict in the big cities in Montenegro (restaurants closed, non-essential businesses closed), but here, everything is still open and running, including the lifts, restaurants and hotels.
The ski resort has an easy blue slope (more green than blue), a red slope and two blue slopes that are quite difficult for beginners like me.
There’s also a kind of tow rope for babies (and hopeless cases), and the T-bars (or double tow ropes), which are perfectly suited for hopeless cases like me.
To learn more about my ski lessons (24h in total) and JB’s lessons (6h in total), click here
There are chairlifts that take you to the top (red slope) but which allow you to stop in the middle to go down the two blue slopes. The other chairlift that goes to the black slope only works rarely without us knowing why (lack of people maybe?). It’s said that you can have a very nice view from the second chairlift. As soon as it works, we need to go ASAP. It only worked for one day during our stay and we missed the opportunity.
At the end of the first chairlift.
On the way to the ski resort:
Even though it’s the end of the season, it’s still snowing a bit. Not 2 meters and -24°C like 2 weeks ago, but we still had two non-stop days of snow with 40 centimeters on the ground. It’s the first time I remove snow piled up on the car, I find it particularly fun. We had a lot of snow when I was in Norway, but I took public transport and all the roads around the house were taken care of by the municipality, so I never had to remove snow.
Every day, we have to check the weather forecast to decide what time to start the lesson (depending on the weather, the slope can be too icy, or too slushy), and the feels-like temperature to dress properly.
JB works all day from Monday to Wednesday and the afternoons. So I just take a lesson on Tuesday morning. He drops me off and picks me up, while skiing for 30 minutes between noon and 2 pm. That leaves me Monday and Wednesday where I have the whole day to work hard.
From Thursday to Sunday, we ski for 2 hours in the morning, then we work part of the afternoon and enjoy the hotel sauna to avoid sore muscles. It’s a very intense pace, especially since JB has so much work that the weekend is also partly dedicated to work.
That said, if I don’t master parallel skiing this year, I’ll be scared all the time and will have to ski with an instructor for the rest of my life. So might as well learn and practice properly, but once and for all.
Restaurants
There are many open restaurants, but since we have little time, when we’re not skiing, between two calls with our clients, we’re too lazy to look for new restaurants and we go back to the same restaurants as last time. When we both ski, we’re tired and we just have lunch at the hotel.
We still love the restaurant by the Black Lake. It takes 15 minutes to walk there, 15 minutes to come back (and we have to be careful because the path is a real ice rink!), but the service is fast and their meat is to die for! The view is not bad either. I love it too much!
I spent a lot of time at the restaurant at the Durmitorsko Sijelo ski resort. The dishes are simple, some can be described as “fast food” but the service is warm and the prices are very affordable (think €5 to €6 per dish). If JB is working, after the ski lesson, I settle in there. I order for JB, while he enjoys a few runs between noon and 2 pm. When the food arrives, I call him and then we go back together.
Here are three other restaurants I recommend:
- Izvor : with an incredible view of the mountains), traditional cuisine
- ORO in the city center, traditional cuisine
- Hotel SOA traditional and international cuisine.
Accommodation
We chose 2 hotels for our 17-night stay, just to switch things up a bit.
Hotel Polar Star
We got an upgrade. This studio apartment is very spacious with a great individual work desk. The downside is that there’s no separate bedroom/living area and we can’t both be on calls at the same time.
The sauna is top-notch! It’s super hot! There’s a masseuse who comes by appointment, really cheap (€25/hour). She’s used to massaging people tired from skiing, she focuses on the sore spots without being asked. It’s great!
They also have an outdoor sauna, to enjoy the dreamy views, but it’s only available in the summer.
They even have a mini ski slope (same baby lift system) right next to the hotel. It’s super professional. Too bad there isn’t enough snow to enjoy it, but sledding is allowed. There are often stray cats in front of the hotel. They’re very affectionate and beautiful. The hotel also offers ski rentals but since they didn’t have JB’s size, we took the opportunity to go to the ski resort directly.
We negotiated a half-board rate (breakfast + dinner). Sometimes JB enjoys breakfast so much that he saves time and doesn’t need lunch. Dinner is included in our rates. There were a few people on the weekend, so it was a buffet (served by staff, COVID-style) but the rest of the week is very quiet and we get table service.
The dishes are traditional, extremely calorie-heavy, served generously but very tasty. It’s a hotel for locals, but everyone speaks English (there’s a French-speaking receptionist). I really like the vibe here.
They even have a partnership with the ski resort. By showing a document given by the hotel, you pay €7/day instead of €10/day for the pass. However, the offer only works for single-day passes.
Hotel Soa
To change the vibe (and vary the meals, we got through the menu in a week ^^), we’re back at Hotel SOA, where we stayed last time. We manage to get a good price for a studio, half-board, with a table and two high chairs for working. The space is a bit smaller than at Polar Star but the advantage is that we can close the bedroom door and have two calls at the same time.
There’s also a sauna, not as hot as at Polar Star, but if you stay long enough, it gets really hot. It feels good to have access to the sauna because it helps with sore muscles after skiing.
Being on half-board, a unique breakfast is served at the table, very complete and varied. Dinner offers 2-3 choices for starter/main & dessert. So far, the dishes aren’t repetitive, so we get to try lots of things. In terms of taste, it’s clearly a step above Polar Star (justified by the higher price).
They also have a partnership with the ski resort. By showing a document given by the hotel, you pay €7/day instead of €10/day for the pass. However, the offer only works for single-day passes.
Our room (202) doesn’t have the best view, but there’s no overlooking. When it snows, it’s even prettier. I really like this hotel too. It’s more modern and more international. On weekends, there are often guests from Russia or Albania.
In the two and a half weeks in Zabljak, we had 2 days of non-stop snow
Our car got covered in 40 cm of snow in 2 days. We learn to put on snow chains for the first time (with the welcome help of a hotel employee!). However, one of the chains provided by the car rental company is broken and we find it easier to drive without them, but at 10 km/h. The locals tell us they have winter tires and that’s enough because the roads are quickly cleared by the council.
Here’s the town layout.
Adventure sports in Durmitor
Whether you come here in winter or summer, you can contact Danilo, my ski instructor who also runs an adventure travel agency: Summit, featured in Lonely Planet. I don’t get any commission for recommending him, but he’s so kind, patient, and professional. You can reach him via WhatsApp.
He also has 3 apartments for rent, accommodating between 4 and 9 people in the city center.
In winter, he can arrange snowshoeing tours and photography excursions. In summer, you can go rafting, canyoning, cycling, quad biking…
By the end of the stay, I managed to ski parallel most of the time. I did the harder blue run 3 times, albeit screaming, but I made it. Anyway, it’s a beautiful region absolutely worth discovering! We loved coming here in winter, but looking at the summer photos, it makes us really want to go back.
After this mountain stay, we have to return to Podgorica, drop off the car, and then take a bus to Tirana (Albania). Travel between regions is currently restricted, but as foreigners, we can move around without any issues. We were stopped twice by the police and all it took was a smile and a “hello” to be let through.
We would have loved to stay longer in Montenegro. We fell in love with this country, but unfortunately, it’s time to leave.
Budget
- Car rental: between €5 and €15/day in Montenegro (it depends on the models and probably the season). Since you’re going to the mountains, opt for a slightly more powerful model. No need to get a big car, as they rent smaller skis than in France, which fit in the car without any problem (if you don’t have rear passengers).
- Contact details for our instructors (who speak English) at Savin Kuk:
- Danilo: whatsapp +382 68 535 535
- Mirko: whatsapp +382 67 447 589
- Expect between €15 and €20/hour depending on the number of hours planned
- Ski rental: €10/day/person maximum. €8 is a good price
- Lift pass: between €7 and €10/day (depending on the number of days you get)
- Accommodations:
- the cheapest: €25 to €30/night in a chalet with equipped kitchen
- our hotels:
- Polar Star (Booking link), €396/week half-board for two people. Free sauna, breakfast included. Room with work desk. Preferential rates for the ski resort. Ski rental available on site (but no large shoe sizes).
- Hotel Soa (Booking link), €511/week half-board for two people. Free sauna, breakfast included. Room with work desk. Possibility to work in the hotel restaurant (with a view). The SOA hotel restaurant is one of the best in town.
- Restaurants: between €10 and €15/meal for two (drinks included)
Planning a trip to Montenegro? Our partner Get Your Guide offers entry tickets and guided tours with French-speaking guides at very reasonable rates. Click here to see what they offer and book online.
