Hiking by day, wine by night: Plan an active trip to Montenegro while it’s still under the radar

Butterflies still clung to my life jacket as our raft upended us into the rushing waters of the Tara River. An unexpected dunking hadn’t been on my Montenegro itinerary, but more on that later.

I came to this tiny Balkan country in search of adventure. You’ve likely heard of Montenegro’s high end coastal resorts, and fjord-backed Kotor is a stalwart on most Adriatic cruise itineraries. But head inland beyond the coast and you’ll find dramatic mountains, crystal rivers, and some of the last virgin forest in Europe.

Here are some of the best ways to get active on holiday in Montenegro, all the while supporting communities and conservation.

Choosing train over plane is guaranteed to get your holiday off to an adventurous start. While trains are more comfortable, fast and reliable than flight aficionados think, you never know who you’ll meet or what you’ll see along the way.

You can reach Montenegro from many places in Europe in a day and a half. From the UK, take the Eurostar from London to Paris, connect through to Stuttgart, on to Zagreb and finally Belgrade in Montenegro’s neighbour, Serbia. From there, take a train to Bar and you’re in Montenegro. The final step is the most adventurous - tickets from Belgrade to Bar can only be booked in person at Belgrade Centar station.

Until our raft took an unexpected flip, our time on the Tara River had been glorious. We were surrounded by scores of colourful butterflies for most of the journey, making us feel part of the nature that surrounded us.

Winding along the base of Europe’s deepest canyon, the 144km Tara is one of the longest rivers that is fully drinkable. It’s so clear that it looks like someone has turned on a tap somewhere near Albania and simply left it running. From above