Where to Stay in Perast, Montenegro with Kids: Best Family-Friendly Accommodation

Perast is a small Baroque town on the shore of the Bay of Kotor with a few hundred metres of waterfront, a handful of stone palaces, two churches, and two small islands sitting just offshore with the Church of Our Lady of the Rocks gleaming white in the middle of the bay. We visited as part of our 7-day Dubrovnik and Montenegro trip when our daughter was 9 months old, and our highlights were a tranquil swim in the water and then eating dinner at a waterfront restaurant so close to the water that I had to actively not lean back too far on my chair.

The town is tiny meaning there are no cars within the pedestrianised waterfront strip, so the pace is slower and the views of the bay from waterfront are absolutely stunning (the kinds that keep you sitting on the waterfront long after you've finished your drink!).

For the full itinerary covering Perast alongside Kotor and Dubrovnik, see our 7-Day Dubrovnik & Montenegro Itinerary with a Baby.

Before You Book: What Families Need to Know

No cars in the centre: The main waterfront strip of Perast is pedestrianised. You will park at one of two car parks at either end of the town and walk in, or use a hotel shuttle. This adds to the tranquillity but it means arriving with luggage requires either a hotel pickup or a willingness to carry things. Every hotel on this list arranges guest transfers from the parking areas.

Prams and terrain: The waterfront itself is flat and manageable with a buggy. Side streets are cobbled stone and can be uneven, so a sturdy pram handles better than a lightweight stroller. If you're planning to visit any of the palaces or churches, stairs are involved. A carrier or sling is worth packing.

Cruise ships: Between roughly 10am and 4pm on certain days, Perast receives day visitors and cruise ship groups, and the waterfront gets noticeably busier. It's nothing like the crowds in Kotor, but the town's size means even moderate visitor numbers change the atmosphere. Arriving in the early morning or spending the middle of the day at your hotel pool avoids this entirely.

Best time to visit: May, June and September offer the best combination of warm weather, manageable crowds and reasonable prices. July and August are beautiful but at peak capacity. We went in September and it was perfect — still warm enough to swim, and the bay was calm and clear.

Getting there: Perast is about a 15 minute drive from Kotor and around 45 minutes from Tivat Airport. You will almost certainly need a hire car to reach Perast unless you're doing a day trip by bus or boat from Kotor. From Dubrovnik, it's around a 90-minute drive depending on border crossing times.

Where to Stay in Perast with Kids

Perast is a small town and the accommodation options reflect that (there are no large chain hotels and no resort complexes). What you get instead is a handful of carefully restored historic properties that sit directly on the waterfront or above it, each one occupying a building that tells you something about the town's Venetian past. I've listed the four best family-friendly options available here.

1. Bluemarine Rooms & Apartments (from around £70/night)

A four-century-old Venetian stone house on the waterfront, 200 metres from Perast Beach, with a garden terrace looking out over the bay. The property has been in the same family for generations and still has the original coat-of-arms above the entrance from when it belonged to a captain's family. Family rooms are available and the apartments come with a kitchen, which is useful with young children. Sea and mountain views from the rooms, live music some evenings at the garden terrace.

2. Heritage Hotel Leon Coronato (from around £110/night)

Set in a 17th-century building right in the middle of the Perast waterfront, this 4-star hotel has spacious rooms and sea views from every room. Breakfast is served at the adjacent restaurant terrace overlooking the water for a special way to enjoy the view in the morning. There are no cars in the town centre, so the hotel arranges guest pickups from the parking areas at either end of Perast. Staff are attentive and helpful with logistics.

3. Heritage Grand Perast by Rixos (from around £200/night)

The most family-friendly option in Perast, set across four buildings including a beautifully restored 18th-century palace right on the waterfront. The hotel has 130 rooms across different building configurations, including a Double Deluxe Duplex with two floors and sea views that sleeps up to five — a practical option for a family who needs space. Free baby cots are available for all room types with no additional charge. There are three restaurants with waterfront terraces, an outdoor heated pool with direct bay access, an indoor pool, a spa with hammam and sauna, live music most evenings, and free parking at the town's car parks with a hotel shuttle service. Our Lady of the Rocks island is directly in front of the hotel, and boat rides out to it take five minutes. It is the most complete option in Perast for families who want proper facilities alongside the historic setting.

4. Santa Boka (from around £300/night)

A 5 star boutique hotel and member of Small Luxury Hotels of the World, situated above the Perast rooftops with panoramic views over the bay. Unlike the other properties on this list, Santa Boka sits on the hillside rather than directly on the waterfront — which means the views are exceptional but access to the water involves descending a steep set of stone steps. The outdoor pool, spa, hot tub and rooftop restaurant make it an atmospheric retreat. The design is understated and refined rather than overtly family-facing, but the property is confirmed family-friendly and the setting is unlike anything else in the bay. Cot availability: check at time of booking. Private parking available.

Our Verdict

For most families visiting Perast, the Heritage Grand Perast by Rixos is the standout recommendation. The combination of free cots, a pool, multiple restaurants, a family-sized duplex room option, and the convenience of the hotel shuttle from the car park makes it the most practically complete option in the town. It also happens to sit directly opposite Our Lady of the Rocks (a white church on a small island) which is reachable by a 5 minute boat ride. Bluemarine Rooms & Apartments is the best-value option if self-catering matters, with a kitchen and a garden terrace right on the bay.

Perast was one of our favourite places in Montenegro and staying even two nights lets you experience the town before and after the daytime visitors arrive, and the evening atmosphere of the waterfront lights reflecting on the bay, the sound of the water, dinner in that particular kind of quiet. It is one of the most peaceful places we visited on the whole trip.

For the full Dubrovnik and Montenegro itinerary, read our 7-Day Dubrovnik & Montenegro Itinerary with a Baby.