ROUTE
The full circular drive around the Durmitor massif — from Žabljak over the Jezerska plateau and the Sedlo pass to Trsa and Plužine, along the Piva lake shore, then back east through Šavnik to close the loop.
ABOUT THIS ROUTE
The Complete Durmitor Ring is the full circular drive around the Durmitor massif, closing the loop that the popular one-way Žabljak–Plužine traverse only half covers. From Žabljak the road crosses the Jezerska plateau past the Vražje and Riblje lakes, climbs over the exposed Sedlo pass beneath the high peaks, drops through the remote settlement of Trsa and winds down into the Piva canyon to Plužine. The return leg follows the reservoir landscape along the Piva lake shore, crosses the Mratine bridge and climbs back east through the small town of Šavnik to Žabljak. The ring is short in kilometres but long in character — a sequence of very different mountain landscapes (plateau, high pass, highland, canyon, reservoir and pine country) strung together by narrow, sometimes single-lane roads. It is a serious full-day drive with viewpoints and stops built in, not a quick loop, and it demands the same respect as any high-mountain road: stable weather, an early start and the willingness to turn back when conditions turn.
Starting in Žabljak, the ring follows the road across the Jezerska plateau, passing the roadside Vražje and Riblje lakes before the sustained climb toward Sedlo — the high pass beneath Bobotov Kuk where the terrain opens into bare high-mountain country with long views in every direction. Beyond Sedlo the road descends to Trsa, a remote highland settlement on the western flank of the massif, and continues down into the Piva canyon, following the tunnels and viewpoints of the canyon road to Plužine and the Piva lake waterfront. The loop then runs along the lake shore toward the Mratine bridge, crossing the Piva before turning east onto the road through pine forest and small highland villages toward Šavnik, the quiet little town at the crossroads of northern Montenegro. From Šavnik the final leg climbs back to Žabljak and closes the circle. The practical shape of the day: treat the western half (Sedlo–Trsa–Piva) as the morning highlight while light and weather are at their best, take lunch or a long stop around Plužine and the lake, and use the calmer eastern half through Šavnik for the return. Total distance and exact driving time are deliberately not stated here — check current road opening, weather, roadworks, fuel and any restrictions for every leg before departure, and treat shortening the ring (for example by turning back before the pass or returning via Nikšić on the main road) as the correct decision whenever conditions deteriorate.
PLAN RESPONSIBLY
Best from early summer to early autumn in stable, snow-free conditions; the Sedlo pass and high sections can hold snow, fog or ice well outside that window, and mountain weather changes fast. Confirm road opening and conditions for every leg before departure.
Use only lawful parking areas and designated viewpoints; never stop in tunnels or on the carriageway. Keep speeds low on single-lane sections and expect oncoming traffic around blind bends. Turning back or shortening the ring must take priority over completing it whenever weather, visibility, road conditions or daylight make continuing unsafe.
WAYPOINTS
Vražje and Riblje Lakes
waypoint
Sedlo Pass
pass
Trsa
waypoint
Piva Lake Viewpoint
viewpoint
Plužine
waypoint
Mratine Bridge (Piva crossing)
waypoint
Šavnik
waypoint
MAP & ROUTE
ATTRACTIONS
Vražje and Riblje Lakes with the Stećci Landscape
A dispersed cultural landscape on the Jezerska plateau — two glacial lakes, Vražje and Riblje, set in open grassland, with nearby medieval stećci graveyards that make the area a single, spread-out heritage site.
Žabljak
Bobotov Kuk and the Sedlo Summit Route
The highest summit of the Durmitor massif at 2,523 m — not Montenegro’s absolute highest point, but its most celebrated peak, reached by a steep, exposed approach from the Sedlo pass that demands genuine mountain preparation.
Žabljak
Piva Lake, Canyon Roads and Tunnel Viewpoints
Piva Lake is the long artificial reservoir that fills the canyon of the Piva river, hemmed in by steep forested walls and threaded by the dramatic canyon road — cut into the rock and tunnelled through it. Viewpoints are reached only from lawful, safe stopping places, never from inside a tunnel or on the carriageway.
Plužine & Piva
Plužine Town and Piva Lake Waterfront
The small modern town of Plužine sits above the western end of Piva Lake — the practical base for the area, with fuel, rooms and restaurants, and the waterfront from which the reservoir is first read. The town itself is a 1970s settlement, built higher up the slope after the original village was affected by the hydroelectric project.
Plužine & Piva
INTERESTS
WEATHER
Forecast data from Open-Meteo. Updated regularly.
REGIONS
KEEP EXPLORING
More routes, destinations and stories from every corner of the world — start where you like below.
