King’s Beach, Queen’s Beach & Sveti Stefan: Montenegro’s Royal Shores.

King’s Beach, Queen’s Beach & Sveti Stefan: Montenegro’s Royal Shores.

October 2021.

“Montenegro’s most breathtaking and iconic stretch of coastline,” Sladja read, her face lit by the phone screen. “Well… guess we better squeeze that in before we leave.”

I agreed at once, though the claim felt bold. Could Sveti Stefan really outshine everything we’d already seen in Tivat, Kotor, Perast, and Budva?

Time to find out.

We boarded a local bus in Budva one sun-washed October morning and, half an hour later, spilled out into the resort village of Miločer — population zero, unless you count the steady drift of tourists bound for the swanky, faintly controversial Sveti Stefan Resort.

Within minutes we were inside Miločer Park, a living seam along the Budva Riviera, wrapping a former royal estate around the Queen’s Beach, the King’s Beach, and the improbably pretty islet of Sveti Stefan.

Once the private grounds of Montenegro’s Karađorđević dynasty, it is now a public ribbon of paths, stairways, and shaded clearings, binding together the country’s most beguiling fragments of coast.

King’s Beach, Queen’s Beach & Sveti Stefan: Montenegro’s Royal Shores.

The woodland trail soon opened onto Queen’s Beach. In the mid to late 1930s, King Alexander I and Queen Marija established this stretch of sand as one of two private beachfronts for their grand summer residence.

From the various royal buildings that once stood, set back from the coast amid olive groves, cedars, agaves and towering cypresses, Queen Marija was able to take a short stroll down to her own little beach kingdom.

It certainly isn’t difficult to see why the royals fell so madly in love with the spot. Cupped in a quiet bay where the pines slide straight into the sea, the crystal clear water turns from pale jade near the shore to deep sapphire beyond the rocks.

Inspired, Queen Sladja waded in herself, following in Marija’s footsteps.

The Karađorđević fortunes unraveled during and after World War II, with the abolishment of the monarchy and Yugoslavia becoming a socialist republic under Tito. As a result, much of the family’s property, beaches included, were nationalised.

Montenegro’s Royal Shores.

Today, the elegant Queen’s Beach Spa Centre, part of the Sveti Stefan Resort, overlooks the Queen’s Beach. Modern rather than historic, it offers a swim, sauna, and massage — a fine spot to soak up some royal vibes.

Sladja and I claimed a quiet corner of the beach, passing an hour napping, people-watching, and listening to the gentle whoosh of the waves.

When a local snack vendor strolled by, we happily splurged on her home-baked pastries — a little overpriced, perhaps, but entirely worth it.

Eventually, I grew restless with beach lazing. Curiosity got the better of me, and I ducked into a nearby forest trail in search of elevated views of Queen’s Beach. The path was poorly maintained and wild in places, but the higher I climbed, the more it rewarded me.

King’s Beach, Queen’s Beach & Sveti Stefan: Montenegro’s Royal Shores.

After numerous wrong turns and dead ends, an unmarked trail led me to a superb viewpoint.

From there, I could see the beach in one direction and the bay in the other, taking in the spectacular islet of Sveti Stefan. That was where we’d end the day’s adventuring, after passing through King’s Beach.

Back on Queen’s Beach we gathered up our stuff and took the woodland trail connecting to King’s Beach. This stretch of sand is larger than Queen’s Beach (surprise, surprise), and every bit as beautiful, albeit more open.

It was here that the king decided to put the largest and most opulent building of his summer complex. Constructed between 1934 and 1936, Villa Miločer has a somewhat secretive history.

Indeed there are no documented grand events or high profile visitors. Though historians believe the queen spent several summers here mourning the death of her husband following his assassination in Marseille.

Villa Miločer.

The main thing that sets the two beaches apart is this very cool rock tunnel carved into the limestone cliffs at its northern end.

Unmarked on official maps, the passageway brought Sladja and I onto a fabulous rock ledge, from which we soaked up even more striking views of the Adriatic and Sveti Stefan islet.

The next stretch of Miločer Park proved to be the most dramatic. Climbing a stone pathway that literally hugs the water’s edge, we turned back to give King’s Beach one last look.

A few minutes later we came to a break between the trees and wow! … here was the best view yet of Sveti Stefan islet bathed in an ethereal autumnal glow. An architectural jewel seemingly floating on the sea, it looks like something out of a Ghibli movie, a mythical wonder where place and time feels suspended.

King’s Beach, Queen’s Beach & Sveti Stefan: Montenegro’s Royal Shores.

Next, the path began winding down towards Sveti Stefan beach, the third and final beach of the day.

The beach itself is pretty enough, but certainly the least impressive of the three.

In fact, a visit here is all about admiring the fairytale-like islet. It began life in the 15th century as a fortified fishing village, built to protect locals from Ottoman and pirate raids.

Over time, its stone houses, narrow streets, and small plazas formed a compact community connected to the mainland by a thin causeway.

But by the early 20th century, the settlement had largely declined as residents moved inland. Then, during the 1950s, the Yugoslav government converted the islet into a luxury resort, a playground for royalty, celebrities, and elites.

Elizabeth Taylor, Sophia Loren and The Beckhams are just some of the big names to have stayed here over the years. What’s more, this is where Serbian tennis icon Novak Djokovic married his high school sweetheart Jelena Ristić in 2014. 

Sveti Stefan Islet.

The island’s transformation didn’t go down well with locals and indeed Montenegrins all over the country who felt they’d been priced out of one of their country’s greatest cultural and historical relics. In 2021 things even turned ugly when locals tore down fences around several beaches which had been made private exclusively for resort guests.

Consequently, the company managing the resort moved to close their facilities citing security concerns for both staff and guests. They then sued the Montenegrin state for 100 million Euros for breach of contract. The government responded by filing a counter lawsuit and the case went to an arbitration court in London.

In the summer of 2025 a ruling was finally given in favour of Adriatic Properties, though the amount of compensation due remains unclear. The resort, meanwhile, remains closed. A sad chapter in Sveti Stefan’s long history.

It was late afternoon now, so all that was left to do was wait for sunset. Surprisingly, the day’s beachgoers had largely thinned out, leaving the two of us with a chunk of Sveti Stefan Beach all to ourselves.

We sat there awhile with the sun on our faces, staring at the shimmering islet. At some point a dinky fishing boat hummed into view and gradually moored near where we were sitting by the water’s edge.

King’s Beach, Queen’s Beach & Sveti Stefan: Montenegro’s Royal Shores.

Our three-month stay in Montenegro delivered some of the most memorable sunsets of my twenty-five years of travelling. That evening in Sveti Stefan may have been the finest of all.

As the sun began its descent, we rose and made our way back along Sveti Stefan Beach, rejoining the trail through Miločer Park and descending onto King’s Beach.

Onward we strolled to Queen’s Beach, where we paused one last time to watch the sun vanish completely before turning toward the bus station.

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