Winner 'Best Guidebook' award, Outdoor Writers and Photographers Guild Awards for Excellence, 2008 (sponsored by Aquapac International). Judges' comment: 'It passed the most important test of all - the itchy feet test!'
'This is a hugely welcome and finely presented walking guide to the mountains of a European country which not many British people think of going to. Montenegro, newly independent from Serbia in 2006, may have only 700,000 inhabitants and few natural resources but, inland from the relatively well known coastal delights of Budva and the Gulf of Kotor, lies a truly mountainous country with four National Parks already designated and another area, the Prokletije range in the far south of the country up against the Kosovan and Albanian borders, about to become one, and about time too! The Durmitor National Park in the north takes in both the Tara river canyon, 1600m deep, and Bobotov kuk, at 2523m not quite the country's highest peak. That accolade goes, albeit with some controversy, to Maja e Kollates, 11 metres higher at 2534m on the Albanian border. Durmitor is the most visited area and also a UNESCO World Heritage site.
This guide describes 15 waymarked walking routes in 7 different mountain areas, with suggestions for further exploration and for multi-day treks because these mountains are as attractive to walk through as to climb. The coloured sketch maps are clear and the whole book has a wealth of information on Montenegro itself: history, geography and geology, fauna and flora, language (a very useful section), travel to and within the country, food and drink, contacts and useful addresses. There is important advice on maps, which apart from those produced by the National Parks, are hard to come by. The photographs are highly seductive, but it is a pity that the author had bad luck with the weather when he was in Prokletije; atmospheric scenes of cloud-wreathed valley sides can't do justice to the dramatic, saw-toothed ridges and peaks of this amazing area....
This is an important book, not just as an attractive and enticing guide but because Montenegro needs visitors to its mountains and valleys to climb, walk, kayak, mountain bike or study the environment, all 'sustainable visitor activities', bringing money into the local economy and leaving the mountains still unspoiled. If you glance at Rudolf Abraham's book you too will want to go there.'
'The author describes Montenegro as containing some of the 'wildest, most spectacular and least visited mountains in Europe.' At a glance the photographs reveal a collection of jagged limestone peaks, alpine meadows, lakes and canyons.
The guide describes fifteen routes in seven different areas, with two or three walks in each area. The route descriptions are clear and contain many helpful suggestions as to the location of water and camping spots. The local maps seem to contain many inaccuracies, such as huts and springs that don't exist and routes obliterated by rock fall, venturing on these trails with a map alone seems a recipe for some unforgettable adventures and this guide will undoubtedly repay its cost many times over.
This book is no exception to the high standards of the Cicerone guide series and is of excellent quality. It is well worth the investment if you are looking for something different for your IML log book.'
'Excellent all round travel guide. Superbly presented, this book gives good details, links, numbers, names to arrange/travel around Montenegro. Certainly one of the best of this kind of books I have come across.'
'The author describes fifteen circular and point-to-point routes, generally on waymarked trails, with options for further routes identified. He asserts that Montenegro has some of the wildest, most dramatic and least-visited mountains in Europe, and who are we to disagree?
This at present is the only English language guide to walking in Montenegro - and it is a good one. Montenegro is a land of jagged limestone peaks up to 2,500m high, linked by fine ridges, and its gentle valleys are dotted with picturesque lakes. It is just waiting to be discovered.'
'All sorts of questions arise at the very idea of visiting Montenegro, the first being where exactly is it? Separated from Serbia a year ago, it is a rough parallelogram squashed between the Adriatic, Bosnia, Serbia and Albania, and containing 'some of the wildest, most spectacular and least visited mountains in Europe'
Montenegro has a long, dramatic and complicated history, and Abraham, unusual in a walking guide, provides a 12-page historical appendix. I can't check any of the routes, which vary in length from an hour up to a few days, but from the illustrations they look interesting, and in some cases exciting, in a scenery of glacial cwms and rocky ridges.'
PHOTOS: The mountains of Komovi from Stavna, Montenegro (TOP); Ocnjak ('fang') shrouded in low cloud, Grbaja Valley, Prokeltije, Montenegro (CENTRE); Horse at Stavna, on the road to Komovi, Montenegro (BOTTOM)
