The Budva Dancer
A 1965 bronze on the cliff path.
Anton Nikiforov — CC BY 3.0 · Mikko Lindstedt from Helsinki, Finland — CC BY-SA 2.0 · Vitalii Lytvynov — CC BY-SA 3.0 · Vitalii Lytvynov — CC BY-SA 3.0 · Bratislav — CC BY-SA 3.0
Mogren Beach is a pair of small coves, Mogren I and Mogren II, under the cliffs just west of Budva Old Town, linked by a short rock tunnel. About 350 metres long overall, it has fine pebbles, coarse sand and clear water under the pine and oak woods of Spas hill; beach and hill are protected natural monuments. Legend names it after Mogrini, a Spanish sailor washed ashore here as the only survivor of a shipwreck, who built a church to St Anthony behind Mogren II in thanks; it was demolished after the Second World War. The path passes the Budva Dancer, a 1965 bronze by Gradimir Aleksić recalling a girl who waited here in vain for her sailor fiancé. A 2020 storm swept the statue into the sea; it was recovered and put back. Both coves have beach bars and sunbeds for hire; Mogren II, beyond the tunnel, feels wilder and quieter. The usually calm water suits snorkelling along the rocks. A steep forest path climbs from Mogren II to Fort Mogren, built for the Austrian army in 1860 about 110 metres above the sea, badly damaged by the 1979 earthquake and never rebuilt. No public road reaches the beach, about ten minutes' walk from the old town on a paved 350-metre cliff path from the Hotel Avala, just outside the walls. Its gate keeps set hours and shuts in rough seas; in big southerly waves, keep off the path and out of the sea. Come early in July and August. Sveti Nikola island lies about 2 km south-east.
A 1965 bronze on the cliff path.
A short way through to quieter Mogren II.
Ruins of an 1860 Austrian fort above.
Below Spas hill, west of the Old Town, Budva
No. No public road or car park reaches the beach, so leave the car in a paid car park in central Budva and walk the cliff path from the Hotel Avala.
Yes: a short road leaves the Budva–Tivat road just before the tunnel west of town and leads to the fort, where visitors report free parking and free entry. The ruins are unrestored and poorly kept, so watch your step.
