Thrill ride: Europe’s scariest road beats any roller coaster

The rain is glistening on Kotor’s cobblestones and mist is entangled in its fortifications as I eat breakfast. Then, as we set off on our day’s excursion, the sun breaks through the clouds, and cats stretch languorously on warming cobblestones.

Cars negotiate tricky bends in the mountains above Kotor.Credit: iStock

“We have quite a fantastic road ahead of us,” says local guide Pavle on our first morning in Montenegro, and he isn’t exaggerating. I’ll see plenty of rugged scenery on a Collette tour of the mountainous Balkans, but none as splendid as this.

It isn’t the scenery Pavle is talking about, however, but the road itself. The Kotor Serpentine, officially the P1, seldom has enough width to let two cars pass. Coaches such as ours are only allowed to travel it one way (upwards) and at certain times of year.

We aren’t long out of Kotor before the switchbacks start. Almost immediately splendid views appear over rusting crash barriers. The road narrows. Tree branches scratch against one side of the coach. On the other, a big blue drop showcases the Bay of Kotor, the Mediterranean’s most mighty, fjord-like indentation.

The incredible winding mountain road, Kotor Serpentine.Credit: iStock

Of course, I’m glad I’m not driving, but being in a coach adds to my sense of fear. We’re all used to cars, but coaches are something else. They appear to swing out much further than anticipated. I’m sitting up front and feel as if we’re about to hit the cliffside, or plummet into the void.

Our coach can barely get around the hairpin bends. It’s scarier than riding a roller coaster, since roller coasters are surely more scrutinised and safety checked than this road, with its retaining walls that are crumbling and gapped. Old bridges are so narrow we creep across them at a snail’s pace.

The Serpentine was engineered by the Austrians in 1897, when this region was part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. The journey between Kotor and Cetinje is 36 kilometres, but the most dramatic part is the 8.3-kilometre middle section of 16 hairpin bends.

One of its frightful enjoyments is seeing the terror of white-knuckled downhill drivers who come face to face with your coach around bends and are obliged to reverse up this narrow cliff-side road to slightly wider passing points.

Montenegro’s splendid Bay of Kotor on the Adriatic Sea.Credit: iStock

“Rental cars and especially campervans cause chaos,” says Pavle cheerfully. “They get scared, they freeze. Sometimes they hand over their keys and let the coach driver manoeuvre their car out of the way.”

At switchback 10 the views become even more dramatic. Old fortifications and World War I bunkers cling to cliffs. Kotor Bay is magnificent below. From the 13th bend – site of a ruined customs house that once marked the Austro-Montenegrin border – the switchbacks get closer together as we near the summit. “If you’ve tried our rakia, you’ll know why we have such curvy roads,” jokes Pavle, referring to the strongly alcoholic national tipple.

The highest point of the Kotor Serpentine is 900 metres above sea level, and I feel I could do with a shot of rakia myself.

A significant chunk of Montenegro’s coastline is displayed below. The crocodile teeth of brown jagged hills rise from blue depths. Cruise ships in the bay look like bath toys. Kotor Old Town is a huddle of red-tiled roofs, like something from a toy train set.

Thrill ride: The road rarely has space for two cars to pass.Credit: iStock

Crash barriers at the summit are plastered with the stickers of motorcycle clubs. Motorcyclists from as far afield as Spain and Germany want to ride up here, but they have an easy time of it. They look askance at our coach, but little do they know what a thrill of a ride it has been.

The writer travelled as a guest of Collette.

THE DETAILS

TOUR
Collette’s 16-day “A Taste of the Balkans” tour between Dubrovnik and Ljubljana spends two nights in Kotor and visits numerous other destinations in Croatia, Montenegro, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Slovenia. An optional extension takes you to Belgrade in Serbia.

The next tours depart in April and May 2025. From $5699 a person twin share including accommodation, transport, select meals and tour guides. The ascent of the Kotor Serpentine is an optional add-on tour and costs an additional $105pp. See gocollette.com

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