An emerald reservoir in one of the deepest canyons in the Balkans, a 16th-century monastery miraculously moved stone by stone to save it from the rising water, and the Mratinje arch dam — one of the highest in Europe. Taxi Podgorica to Plužine from 95€.
Plužine is a small mountain town in the far northwest of Montenegro, at the edge of the Piva Canyon — one of the deepest and most dramatic river canyons in the Balkans, where the Piva River cuts through over 800 metres of limestone in a gorge of extraordinary grandeur. In the late 1960s and 1970s, the construction of the Mratinje hydroelectric dam transformed the lower canyon into Piva Lake — an artificial reservoir of startling emerald-green colour, approximately 55 km long, flanked on both sides by sheer canyon walls that rise hundreds of metres from the water surface. The taxi Podgorica to Plužine — the private airport transfer from TGD to Plužine and Piva Lake — covers approximately 120 km and takes around 2 hours and 15 minutes, following the main highway north before turning west into the highland interior. TTM has been covering this mountain route since 2003.
The road from Šćepan Polje along the Piva Canyon to Plužine — the Pivska magistrala — is one of the most spectacular mountain roads in Montenegro. Built at great engineering cost along the sheer wall of the canyon above the rising lake waters, the road clings to the cliff face with tunnels, galleries, and hairpin bends for most of its length, with the emerald surface of the reservoir visible hundreds of metres below at every turn. Driving this road for the first time is one of those experiences that stays with visitors regardless of what else they see in Montenegro. TTM drivers have been covering this road in all seasons and conditions and will describe every kilometre on request.
The combination of the canyon landscape, the engineering of the dam and road, the relocated monastery, and the utter remoteness of the Plužine area from the coastal tourist circuit makes this one of the most distinctive and least-visited destinations in Montenegro. It is not a destination for everyone — there are no beach clubs, no restaurants with menus in five languages, and no organised tourist infrastructure of the kind the coast provides. What there is is space, silence, an extraordinary landscape, and the particular hospitality of a mountain community that does not see many visitors and receives those who do come with genuine warmth.
The artificial lake formed by the Mratinje Dam — 55 km long, flanked by the sheer walls of the Piva Canyon, and coloured a deep, luminous emerald-green by the mineral content of the water and the reflection of the limestone walls. One of the most visually extraordinary bodies of water in the western Balkans. Swimming, kayaking, and fishing are possible along the lake shore from Plužine.
The original Piva River canyon — now partly submerged by the reservoir — cut over 800 metres into the limestone plateau of northwestern Montenegro, creating one of the deepest gorges in the Balkans. The section of canyon still visible above the lake surface, and the walls that rise from the water, retain the scale and drama of the original landscape.
The Mratinje arch dam at the southern end of Piva Lake is 220 metres high — one of the highest arch dams in Europe at the time of its completion. The scale of the structure, the engineering achievement it represents, and the views from the dam crown over the reservoir and the canyon are extraordinary. A destination within the destination.
Boat tours of Piva Lake depart from Plužine town — the only way to experience the full scale of the canyon walls and the emerald water from the surface. The lake is calm, the canyon walls rise vertically from the water on both sides, and the silence is complete. Kayaking is also possible on the calmer sections of the lake.
The highland above Piva Canyon connects to the Durmitor plateau — the Plužine area is the western gateway to Durmitor National Park, and trails from the town and its surroundings lead up onto the plateau and into the national park terrain. TTM drops hikers at the relevant trailheads and can arrange a Plužine–Žabljak transfer for guests completing a cross-plateau traverse.
Plužine sits close to the Bosnia and Hercegovina border, and the area around the town is the western Montenegro highland in its most remote and traditional form. The road continuing north from Plužine toward Foča and the Tara canyon area of Bosnia connects the Montenegrin northwest to the broader landscape of the central Balkans. TTM covers cross-border transfers to Bosnia on request.
The story of Pivski Manastir — the Piva Monastery — is one of the most extraordinary stories in the heritage of Montenegro. The monastery was founded in 1573–1586 by the Bishop Savatije Sokolović, nephew of the great Ottoman Grand Vizier Mehmed Pasha Sokolović, and built in the canyon of the Piva River below the current location of the lake. It was, from its foundation, one of the most important Orthodox monasteries in the western Balkans — a centre of manuscript copying, fresco painting, and religious and cultural life for the communities of the Montenegrin and Herzegovinian highland.
When the decision was taken in the late 1960s to build the Mratinje Dam and flood the Piva Canyon to create the reservoir, the original location of the Pivski Manastir was directly in the path of the rising water. The monastery — its church, its walls, its frescoes, and its accumulated heritage — would have been submerged. The decision was made to move it.
Between 1969 and 1982, the entire monastery complex was dismantled stone by stone, each stone numbered, catalogued, and transported up the canyon wall to the new site above the lake level. The frescoes were removed from the walls of the church with extraordinary care and reinstalled in the new building. The result is a monastery that stands today in its new location — visually identical to the original, its 16th-century frescoes intact, its architectural character preserved — but occupying a position it did not occupy when it was built.
The Piva Monastery is considered one of the finest examples of 16th-century fresco painting in Montenegro and the wider Orthodox world. The cycle of frescoes in the main church — covering the full interior of the nave and narthex — represents a standard of craftsmanship that places it among the great monastic fresco programmes of the Balkans. The monastery remains active, with a small monastic community, and is open to visitors. TTM drops guests directly at the monastery entrance from Podgorica Airport.
The fresco cycle of Pivski Manastir — painted in the late 16th century and covering the full interior of the main church — is among the finest and most complete fresco programmes in Montenegro. The quality of the painting, the richness of the colour (remarkable given the age and the relocation), and the theological coherence of the programme make this one of the essential heritage sites in the Montenegrin interior.
The founder of Piva Monastery — Bishop Savatije Sokolović — was the nephew of Mehmed Pasha Sokolović, the great Ottoman Grand Vizier of Serbian origin who held the highest office in the Ottoman Empire in the second half of the 16th century. The founding of Piva Monastery was an act of cultural and religious patronage by a family that straddled the Ottoman and Orthodox worlds — one of the more complex and more interesting stories of this era in the Balkans.
Pivski Manastir remains an active Orthodox monastery — a small community of monks maintaining the religious life of the institution as they have done, in one form or another, since the 16th century. Visitors are welcomed with the hospitality that is a tradition of Montenegrin Orthodox monasteries, and the monastic shop sells local products including honey, rakija, and religious items.
Piva Lake has several accessible swimming spots along the shore road between Plužine and the dam — the water is clean, cold even in high summer, and the emerald colour in the deep sections is genuinely extraordinary. The combination of canyon walls rising on both sides and the still lake surface makes this a swimming experience unlike any other in Montenegro.
Piva Lake and the remaining free-flowing sections of the Piva River are among the finest fishing waters in Montenegro — trout and huchen (the Danube salmon) are present in the cold, oxygen-rich water of the canyon. Fishing permits are required and available locally. For fly-fishing guests, TTM transports all equipment from Podgorica Airport at no extra charge.
Plužine is the western gateway to Durmitor National Park — the Trsa village and the highland above Piva Lake connect to the plateau trails of Durmitor. For guests doing a combined Piva–Durmitor itinerary, TTM arranges the transfer from Plužine to Žabljak (~60 km, ~1h over the mountain road) at a fixed price.
The road along the canyon wall — one of the most technically demanding and most spectacular mountain roads in the western Balkans — is itself a reason to come to Piva. Built over nearly two decades by Yugoslav engineers and labourers who worked on the cliff face to create a carriageway where the rock itself had no natural ledge, it is a monument to the determination that also built the dam and moved the monastery.
Plužine has a small but functional selection of family guesthouses and a few hotel options — simple, clean, and oriented entirely toward guests who come for the landscape rather than the amenities. The hospitality is genuine and the food is the mountain cooking of the western Montenegrin interior: lamb, dairy, freshwater fish, and local spirits. TTM drops guests at any address in the Plužine municipality at the same fixed price.
Kayaking on Piva Lake is one of the most rewarding water activities in the Montenegrin interior — paddling through the emerald reservoir with the canyon walls rising hundreds of metres on both sides, the water cold and clear beneath the boat, and the silence of the gorge complete except for the sound of the paddle. The calmer upper sections of the lake near Plužine are accessible to all experience levels; the narrows closer to the dam provide more demanding conditions. Kayak hire is available locally in Plužine. TTM drops kayakers at the lake access point from Podgorica Airport at a fixed price.
The Pivska Planina — the mountain plateau above Piva Lake — is one of the finest and least-visited highland hiking areas in Montenegro. The plateau rises steeply from the canyon rim to open highland terrain above 1,800 metres, with views over the reservoir below, the Durmitor massif to the east, and the mountains of Bosnia and Hercegovina to the north. The trail network connecting Plužine to the plateau pastures, the highland villages, and the ridgeline traverses is extensive and almost entirely uncrowded. The combination of canyon edge, old-growth forest, and open highland produces hiking terrain of exceptional variety within a compact area. TTM drops hikers at the trailhead from Podgorica Airport and arranges collection at the agreed time.
The mountain tracks and forest roads of Pivska Planina above the lake are excellent quad terrain — unpaved highland roads connecting the plateau villages, forest sections with technical rocky stretches, and the open meadow terrain of the summit area. The views from the plateau tracks down over Piva Lake and the canyon are extraordinary and unreachable by any other means. Local operators in Plužine offer guided quad excursions onto the mountain. TTM transports guests from Podgorica Airport to the quad operator base at a fixed price.
Boat tours of Piva Lake depart from Plužine and the lake shore — the only way to experience the full scale of the canyon walls from the water surface. Moving slowly through the reservoir, with the sheer limestone walls rising hundreds of metres on both sides and the emerald water below, gives a sense of the canyon's scale that no road or trail can convey. Boat tour operators in Plužine offer both guided tours with interpretation of the canyon geology and history, and simpler motorboat hire for independent exploration of the lake. An evening tour — when the canyon walls turn from grey to gold in the late light — is among the finest experiences the Piva area offers.
Šćepan Polje — where the Tara and Piva rivers meet to form the Drina — is approximately 30 km from Plužine and the main embarkation point for white-water rafting on the Tara Canyon. For guests combining Piva Lake with a Tara rafting day, TTM arranges the Plužine–Šćepan Polje transfer at a fixed price.
The Komarnica Canyon — carved by the Komarnica River as it descends from the highland plateau into Piva Lake — is one of the least-known and most spectacular canyon landscapes in Montenegro. The Komarnica flows through a gorge of remarkable depth and narrowness before entering the reservoir at its northeastern end, its clear water joining the emerald of the lake in a confluence that is best seen from the water by kayak or boat. The canyon walls above the river are, in places, among the most vertical and most imposing in the country — sheer limestone faces rising directly from the riverbed with no ledge, no slope, and no interruption.
The Komarnica Canyon is accessible on foot from the canyon rim above — the descent to the river requires serious hiking experience and appropriate equipment — but the most accessible way to reach the canyon mouth and the lower section where it opens into Piva Lake is by boat from Plužine. A guided boat tour from Plužine can navigate to the Komarnica confluence and enter the lower canyon section, giving a view of the walls and the river that foot access cannot provide. The combination of the two canyons — Piva and Komarnica — meeting at the lake creates a landscape of layered geological drama that is genuinely without parallel in this part of the Balkans.
For hikers, the approach to the Komarnica Canyon from the plateau above passes through the highland village terrain of Pivska Planina — a walk of exceptional character through limestone karst, old shepherd tracks, and high viewpoints above both the Komarnica and Piva gorges simultaneously. The view from the canyon rim at the point where the two canyons meet is one of the finest panoramic viewpoints in the Montenegrin interior. TTM arranges transfers to the Komarnica approach trailheads from Podgorica Airport at fixed prices — contact us via WhatsApp for the specific route and pricing.
The trail network along the rim above the Komarnica Canyon traverses some of the most dramatic karst terrain in northwestern Montenegro — the canyon visible hundreds of metres below, the plateau open above, and the occasional view down to the point where the Komarnica enters Piva Lake. A full-day hiking excursion from Plužine. TTM drops hikers at the trailhead and collects at the arranged time.
The mouth of the Komarnica Canyon where it enters Piva Lake is accessible by boat from Plužine — a guided lake tour can navigate to the confluence and enter the lower canyon section. The walls visible from the water at the canyon mouth are among the most vertical limestone faces accessible to non-technical visitors anywhere in Montenegro.
The point where the Komarnica Canyon meets Piva Lake and the broader Piva Canyon creates a landscape of layered geological complexity — two gorge systems of different ages and orientations converging in a single body of water. The view from the lake surface at the confluence, with both canyon systems visible simultaneously, is one of the most geographically extraordinary viewpoints in the country.
The zipline across Piva Lake is one of the most dramatic adventure experiences in Montenegro — a cable crossing above the emerald surface of the reservoir, with the canyon walls rising on both sides and the sheer scale of the gorge visible from a position that no trail or road can replicate. Suspended above the water between the canyon walls, with the depth of the lake below and the height of the limestone above, the zipline gives a perspective on the Piva Canyon that transforms what is already a remarkable landscape into something genuinely extraordinary. It is the kind of experience that people who have done it describe as unforgettable — not because of the adrenaline, which is real, but because of the view, which is unlike anything available from the ground. The zipline operates seasonally from the lake shore near Plužine; TTM drops guests at the zipline base from Podgorica Airport and from all major Montenegrin destinations at fixed prices. Contact us via WhatsApp to arrange the transfer around the zipline departure time.
The zipline trajectory crosses above the surface of Piva Lake between the canyon walls — the emerald water below, the vertical limestone above, and the full scale of the reservoir visible along its length. A perspective on the Piva Canyon that no other activity — hiking, boating, or driving the Magistrala — can provide.
The Piva Lake zipline is accessible to participants without prior experience — safety equipment, briefing, and supervision are provided by the operator. The experience combines genuine adrenaline with a quality of natural scenery that makes it as much a landscape experience as an adventure sport.
TTM covers the transfer from Podgorica Airport and from all major Montenegrin coastal and mountain destinations to the zipline base near Plužine at fixed prices. For guests combining the zipline with the monastery visit, a boat tour, or a night in Plužine, we can arrange the full day itinerary — contact us via WhatsApp.
Maglić (2,386 m) is the highest peak in Montenegro — a massif on the Montenegrin-Bosnian border above the Sutjeska canyon, accessible from the Piva Lake and Plužine area as a full-day or overnight mountaineering excursion. The approach from the Montenegrin side crosses the highland above Piva Lake via the Trnovačko jezero valley — one of the most rewarding approach routes to a high summit in the entire western Balkans. The summit panorama on a clear day encompasses the Durmitor massif, the Prokletije, the Adriatic coast, and the mountain ranges of Bosnia and Serbia in a 360-degree view that is, simply, the finest viewpoint in Montenegro.
Trnovačko jezero is the glacial lake that lies on the approach to Maglić — a heart-shaped lake (genuinely heart-shaped, seen from above) at around 1,687 metres, set in a cirque of limestone walls below the final approach to the summit. The lake is one of the most beautiful alpine lakes in the western Balkans — its clarity, its colour, its shape, and its setting combine into a destination that would be world-famous if it were in the Alps and remains, here, relatively unknown even within Montenegro. The walk to Trnovačko jezero without the Maglić summit is itself a full-day hiking excursion of exceptional quality. TTM drops hikers and mountaineers at the trailhead from Podgorica Airport at fixed prices and arranges collection at the agreed time.
The highest summit in Montenegro, on the border with Bosnia and Hercegovina — a demanding full-day ascent from the Piva area requiring good fitness and appropriate equipment, rewarded with the finest panoramic view in the country. The technical sections of the upper ridge require care but no specialist climbing equipment. Season: June to October. TTM transports mountaineers to the trailhead from Podgorica Airport.
The glacial lake below Maglić — heart-shaped when seen from the summit above, crystalline blue-green in the cirque below the ridge. The walk to the lake is a full-day excursion from the Piva area and one of the most rewarding highland walks in Montenegro. The lake is swimmable in the height of summer and the approach trail passes through old-growth forest and highland meadow of exceptional quality.
The Maglić massif and Trnovačko jezero lie at the border of Montenegro's Sutjeska National Park (Bosnia and Hercegovina) — one of the finest protected natural landscapes in the Balkans, containing the Perućica primeval forest. For guests combining the Piva Lake area with a visit to Sutjeska, TTM arranges the cross-border transfer at fixed prices.
The Plužine and Piva Lake area has developed a genuinely distinctive local food and hospitality offer in recent years — combining the mountain cooking of the western Montenegrin interior with the fresh lake fish, the highland dairy, and the lamb and game of the surrounding plateau. The restaurants and traditional village settlements listed below represent the best of what this area offers: honest, seasonal, and deeply rooted in the landscape around them. TTM provides private taxi to all restaurants and etno sela in the Plužine municipality from Podgorica Airport at fixed prices.
Restoran Sočica is one of the most established and most respected restaurants in the Plužine area — a lakeside konoba with a focus on the freshwater fish of Piva Lake and the grilled meats and dairy of the surrounding highland. The trout and the lamb are particularly celebrated; the local cheese and kajmak served as a starter set the standard for what follows. A destination in its own right for guests who come to the Piva area specifically for the combination of landscape and food.
Restoran Zvono (“The Bell”) brings a warmer, more intimate character to the Plužine dining scene — a restaurant with a strong local following and the kind of cooking that reflects what the surrounding landscape actually produces: freshwater fish from the lake, lamb from the mountain pastures, wild mushrooms and greens from the forest above. The zvono — the bell — has been calling guests to this table for years, and the guests keep coming back.
Etno Selo Izlazak is a traditional village settlement in the Plužine area that has been developed as an agri-tourism destination — stone houses, traditional interiors, and a restaurant serving the food of the old Montenegrin mountain household: smoked meats, fresh dairy, corn bread, and the highland hospitality of a family that has always known how to feed and receive guests. The restoran Izlazak attached to the settlement serves both overnight guests and day visitors. TTM drops guests at Etno Selo Izlazak from Podgorica Airport at a fixed price.
Etno Selo Brezna — in the village of Brezna near Plužine — holds a unique distinction: it is considered the first traditional etno village in Montenegro, established as a model for the agri-tourism and heritage accommodation concept that has since been replicated across the country. The settlement preserves the architecture, the domestic arrangements, and the way of life of the old Montenegrin mountain household in a form that is both genuinely historic and genuinely habitable. Stone construction, wooden interiors, open hearths, and the accumulated character of a highland community that has been living in this way for centuries. The restaurant at Etno Selo Brezna serves traditional highland cooking prepared from the produce of the surrounding land — the cheese, the meat, the milk, and the spirits are all made here or sourced from the immediately surrounding farms. As the original etno village of Montenegro, Brezna carries a significance that the more recently established versions elsewhere in the country cannot claim. TTM provides dedicated airport transfer to Etno Selo Brezna from Podgorica Airport at a fixed price.
The taxi Podgorica to Plužine — the private taxi from Podgorica Airport (TGD) to Plužine and Piva Lake — covers approximately 120 km and takes around 2 hours and 15 minutes, following the highway north before turning west through the Montenegrin highland interior. There is no direct public bus from Podgorica Airport to Plužine. TTM drops guests at the monastery, at the dam viewpoint, at any guesthouse in Plužine, or at the lake shore access points — 24/7 at a fixed price. For the onward Pivska Magistrala section along the canyon, TTM can arrange a guided tour of the lake road and return at fixed prices.
~120 km · ~2h15min · Fixed price · Monastery & lake shore drop-off · Fishing gear included · Cash on arrival · 24/7
Taxi Podgorica to Plužine from 95€ · Piva Monastery & lake shore · Fishing gear free · 24/7