Ladder of Kotor

Long walk up numerous switchbacks, but fantastic views. Note the "free" entrance to the fortress involves climbing and may not be easy for everyone. If you want to get into the fortress without paying 15E wait until the pay entrance closes in the evening and walk up then.

This is where the free path to the top of the fortress begins. It's a much easier hike with arguable better views, just slightly longer (5-10 min longer), and to reach the beach view, you'll have to climb through a window in the fortress and there are only a couple of rocks to stand on and lift off of. If you're shorter, it might be difficult and very scary looking, but im 5 ft and still managed it (get some help, tho). It's an easy hike with only a gradual incline, so it's manageable for a beginner with low stamina like me. I highly recommend you do it!

I highly recommend this walk for beautiful views and an achievable round trip. It took us 90 mins up and 75 mins down with a few stops for photos, sun cream and snacks. We walked 575m elevation but the path isn’t particularly steep, we even saw some people managing in sandals and flip flops (wouldn’t recommend personally). We had 1,5l of water each but more would have been ideal at 33 degrees. If you need a break, there’s a little house that serves drinks 2km up. It’s free to hike the Ladder of Kotor, although we first accidentally found the walk within the Kotor walls, where they charge €15 entry.

My God! this is the ladder, climbing in & out of the walled fortress. The walk of the paid way, €15 is quite easy, stone steps well built. The unpaid way is easy walk too, until you reach the cheese shop. From there to St.Juraj church to the ladder/window is a bit confusing, as paths are not clear. Anyway very interesting hike, whichever way you take.

There is two ways to go to the Kotor Fortress which overlooks the town of Kotor and the bay in front of it. The ‘Ladder of Kotor trail’ is a zig-zag uphill path located behind the old town walls (unlike the normal path up, with the entrance up located within the town walls).The trail wraps its way behind the small crest that the Kotor Fortress City Walls are built on and leads all the way up to the Krstac Pass to an altitude of 940 meters above mean sea level. This trail is both significant and historic, and for centuries served as the only route connecting Kotor to Njegusi village and the region of Cetinje. The constant switchbacks (72 of them!) allow for a less steep ascent, enabling travelers to navigate over this mountain range with livestock and goods. This is the free and less tourisy way for the same awesome view over the Bay of Kotor and the town of Kotor. The trailhead starts outside the town, near the North Gate of the city wall, in a residential neighbourhood. Walking past a disused hydroelectric power station, the ascend began. The route was mostly gravel and sand, but the gradient was rather gentle. The frequent switch back allowed from numerous photo-taking opportunity. Then the end point of the trail can be seen - which is a window on the castle wall. There used to be a ladder placed there for one to access the window but it has been removed. A flight of stairs led to the crumbling abandoned fort. From the top of the fort, Kotor and the bay spread below. The view was magnificent!

Very nice hike, not too demanding (we climbed with 2 kids). Begin at "Start of the Ladder of Kotor" which is located behind the shopping centre. When we got to the fortress we realized there was no ladder but you can still get inside for free with a little bit of an effort. Amazing views over the Kotor Bay.

It was a nice trail. Only took 30-40 minutes to reach the fortress from the start of the trail. You have to climb through a window to get into the fortress, but wasn’t too bad.

The "free" entrance for the fortress. You must exit the same way if you entered here, the staff will check your ticket if you try to exit via the original path (You can still enter/exit via the original path if you come super early or late when the staff are off work). You can go down the original path to visit the church without problem, the staff only checks your ticket at the exit, I didn't encounter any staff checking tickets on the path itself. I also heard that the ticket counter sometimes doesn't operate deep in the low season so be sure to ask around. There's usually some sort of objects to help you climb up, but I still found it quite easy to climb up if you're abled. Just have to becareful since there's not much of a platform and one wrong step can lead to injuries.