Self guided walking vacation in Montenegro

Planet

To minimize the environmental footprint, we limit the size of our walking parties. Our detailed tour information packs include a section on environmental responsibility and detailed instructions related to the ‘leave no trace’ policy, protected animals and plants in the area, etc. We encourage our clients to use the info packs and maps in electronic format.

Through our local office in Montenegro we are supporting the annual Volunteer Spring Camp, a 10-day event dedicated to the maintenance of the hiking trails in the area where this walking vacation takes place.

It intends to maintain and clean the trails first place, but also to promote sustainable tourism in Montenegro and to improve environmental awareness among the locals. In 2017 (the third “Spring Camp”), volunteers who worked on cleaning up the trails were from Australia, UK, Montenegro, Serbia, Poland and Belgium.

The trails that are maintained during the camp are the same trails that we use during this walking vacation; they are among the most picturesque coastal trails in Europe and preserving them and the Kotor Fjiord clean is very important to us as part of the preservation of the natural heritage of Montenegro for future generations. During the camp, all participants – foreign volunteers and also local people - are given instruction and classes in different areas like Leave No Trace policies and many others.

People

Through the annual Volunteer Spring Camp, our local team is promoting Montenegro as a hiking destination and the Kotor Bay area in particular. This contributes to bringing more – and more responsible – tourists to the area and increasing the revenues from sustainable tourism to the poor local village communities, rather than the big seaside hotels in the touristy areas of Montenegro. The participants in the Spring Camp turn into real international ambassadors of Montenegro and the Kotor Fjord area as responsible tourism destinations.

Apart from the camp, our local team is also actively involved in the development of new hiking trails which are built around the responsible travel concept, including the Peaks of the Balkans trail and the Mountaineering Coastal Transversal of Montenegro. We had supported and contributed to several local initiatives aiming to upgrade the lodging network for outdoor lovers/visitors, one of the projects realized in the recent 3 years with a local family – the eco-friendly Olive Garden camping ground, created for hikers and bringing much needed extra revenues to families in this remote mountain area.