Montenegro Express: Belgrade to Bar on a night train

Travelling from Belgrade to Bar by train is one of Eastern Europe’s most scenic joyrneys, taking passengers from the Serbian capital to the Adriatic coast. 

With 254 tunnels and 435 bridges along almost 500 kilomtres of tracks, fans of train travel are sure to swoon over this journey. The mountainous scenery, with rivers running through the valleys, keeps the rest of the passengers happy too.

The construction of the railway began in the 1950s but was only completed in 1976. The rail line was opened by Tito, the former president of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, and his private Blue Train once rumbled along these tracks.

Today, the Belgrade to Bar train service takes about 11 hours, and its graffiti-veiled carriages and old-style, six-berth compartments make it a no-frills affair. The scenery, on the other hand, is rich in variation.

My Journey from Belgrade to Bar on a train

Excitement fills the air as I approach the Montenegro Express, also known as the Lovćen after a Montenegrin mountain. This is my first night train on my overland journey from Helsinki to Istanbul. I bought my ticket two days before, as they cannot be booked online.

The sun starts to set as I embark on the 20:20 train, the conductor showing me to my couchette. I roll down the window and look out as the train exits Belgrade, the moon taking over from the sun, dimly lighting the suburbs.

When the night gets too cold, I close the window and get cozy in my bed with a diary before succumbing to blissful sleep – only disturbed by the border controls.

The highlight of this trip is waking up just as the sun starts to rise over Montenegro’s mountains. The tracks wind along the mountainsides and over bridges, rivers running underneath. The journey also turns out to be truly slow, allowing me to peacefully admire – and photograph – the scenery from my own bed.