The Relief of Montenegro located in the courtyard of the Narodni muzej Crne Gore national museum in Cetinje, offers a good overview of this wonderful country. Its scale of 1:10,000 helps us grasp just how high the “black mountains” are and also the sheer size of Lake Scutari. Until 1918, the small town of Cetinje was the capital of the Kingdom of Montenegro, hence the well-preserved royal buildings and many museums gracing the town, while on its doorstep, Lovcén National Park awaits nature lovers. The highest point of the Lovcén Mountains close to the town is the site of the Mausoleum of Njegoš, Montenegro’s poet prince. On a fine day, you can see the Italian coast and the Albanian mountains from here.

Europe’s last primeval forest survives on the slopes of this mountain range in the northeast of the country. Bears and lynxes inhabit the area around the Biogradska Lake, the largest glacial lake in Biogradska Gora national park. Visitors should only ever tour the park with an experienced guide because the weather is unpredictable here. The guides at Eco-tours offer multiday trips during which visitors get to sample the local cuisine, succulent lamb, perhaps, gently stewed in milk or cooked in ash.

This hotel occupying a magnificent building in the middle of a luxury marina looks very like a Venetian palazzo. The hotel has multiple swimming pools for its guests, but the main attraction is the outdoor infinity pool with its unique views of the majestic mountains and the gorgeous blue of the Adriatic Sea. After a luxurious dip in the pool, a meal at the hotel’s own Murano restaurant should go down a treat: The menu lists a seasonal selection of wild asparagus, chicory and other local fare.

This fortified town on the Adriatic coast is a UNESCO World Heritage Site with a visible Venetian influence, but it is also famous for its many street cats, which are cherished and protected by the townsfolk. This prompted Piero Pazzi from Italy to set up the Cats Museum a few years back: On a piazzetta not far from the cathedral, this small, but surprisingly entertaining museum pays homage to cats with collections of antique pictures, 19th-century postcards, books, posters, postage stamps, drawings and medallions. And there also are some cats living there, of course.

Ivana Marković was born on Lake Scutari and in 2013, at age 12, she founded the family company Golden Frog Boat: The boatmen are her father and uncle, and Ana, her 24-year-old sister, does the morning shift. While other companies noisily ferry crowds of up to 100 people across the lake, Golden Frog Boat tours use traditionally built boats that carry a maximum of 12 people. Mom’s snacks, all local fare, are included in the price. All boat trips start from tiny Vir Pazar and can be booked on the website or via Whatsapp.

Lake Scutari is southeastern Europe’s largest lake, and the border between Montenegro and Albania runs right through it. The tiny island of Beška is on the Montenegrin side. The center of spiritual life in the Principality of Zeta was located on the island in the 15th century. For more than 300 years, the island lay deserted, but then industrious Orthodox nuns came along and turned it into a Garden of Eden. They planted 180 fruit trees, and the air is fragrant with the mingled scents of sage, mint, rose and laurel. The churches were renovated with the aid of financial donations. Today, the island is inhabited by 15 nuns, who work and pray here all day long. Visitors are welcome to drop by and are offered fresh pomegranate juice, raspberry cake, painted icons and rosaries. On request, the nuns will also pray for guests.

This small, predominantly Muslim town with its 12 kilometers of sandy beach is a veritable paradise for wave riders, although horseback riders who love to feel the wind on their face won’t be disappointed here. The Ulcinj Salina, one of the largest salt production facilities in the Mediterranean, is an important stopover habitat for European birds, which come here to rest and breed on their way from northern Europe to Africa. The Salina was sold to private investors in 2014, and if the projected golf courses and resort are actually built, it could mean the end of the flamingos and Dalmatian pelicans here. The German-Montenegrin environmental organization Martin Schneider-Jacoby Association is working to save the Ulcinj Salina. Anyone wishing to help is welcome to do so, even if it just means paying a visit to this unique place.