Raft the Tara River in Montenegro
Paddle through a UNESCO protected biosphere as you tackle the entire navigable length of the mighty Tara River
Trip Ref #10153
Raft the Tara River in Montenegro
Paddle through a UNESCO protected biosphere as you tackle the entire navigable length of the mighty Tara River
DURATION
LOCATION
ANNUAL LEAVE
SEASON
GROUP SIZE
MEETING POINT
ACCOMMODATION
Lodge · Hotel
DIFFICULTY
No rafting experience is needed, just confidence in the water and the ability to handle 4-5 hours of activity each day
Escape to a UNESCO-protected wilderness of plunging waterfalls, lush forests and rushing rivers with water so pure you can drink it straight from the raft
Raft the entire, 70km navigable length of the mighty Tara River and spend each night in a comfortable river side eco-lodge
Charge through exhilarating rapids, soar across a canyon on a zipline and visit some of the most beautiful locations in Montenegro
Day 1
Hello Montenegro
Driving
Head to your eco-lodge on the banks of the lovely Piva River and settle in. Stretch your legs and then get to know your fellow adventurers around the campfire as the cook prepares dinner.
Day 2
Run the river
Rafting
Driving
Take a scenic drive through the Piva and Durmitor National Parks, stopping at the Great Bridge of Djurdjevica Tara. Look down - you'll be passing beneath it later today! Get your heart pumping with a zipline ride across the deepest canyon in Europe and then launch onto the Tara River. Raft for 40 km passing beneath the 165m high bridge you visited earlier and then navigate a section of canyon that narrows to just 4m across. Dock your raft and then spend the night at another eco-lodge where a delicious Montenegrin meal will be waiting for you.
Day 3
Back onto the water
Rafting
Paddle through the most wild and scenic part of the Tara River as it passes through Durmitor National Park. Navigate exhilarating class III, IV and even V rapids - don't worry, with yesterday's experience you'll be more than ready to tackle them. Return to your lodge in the afternoon and take a hike to a Montenegrin monastery or join a body balance class (weather permitting).
Day 4
Time to head home
Driving
Relax over a last Montenegrin breakfast before jumping in the van and returning to Dubrovnik for your flight home.
Included
Guides
Experienced, English-speaking professional rafting guides
Accommodation
3 nights in an eco-lodge
Meals
Munch on tasty food throughout
Transfers
To and from the airport and everything in-between
Equipment
All your rafting equipment (this includes wetsuit, wet booties, anorak, life jacket)
Permits
All entry fees and taxes
Not Included
Personal expenses
Travel insurance
Flights to and from the meeting point
Visas where required
Day 1
Breakfast
Lunch
Dinner
Day 2
Breakfast
Lunch
Dinner
Day 3
Breakfast
Lunch
Dinner
Day 4
Breakfast
Lunch
Dinner
What is the food like?
You'll enjoy home-cooked meals made with local ingredients whenever possible. Expect lots of fresh and organic fish and meat.
Typical breakfast: Tea and coffee, made-to-order omelettes, fresh doughnuts, fried eggs and bacon, ham and sausage, locally made cheese, granola, yoghurt, milk and fruit. Typical lunch: Delicious soup, quality meat (lamb, veal, chicken, trout or pork), and pasta. Typical dinner: Freshly grilled local specialities like cevapi, pljeskavica, raznjici and musaka, pasta, local cheese, salad, pastries, rice or chips.
All food is freshly prepared and your hosts can accommodate any dietary requests. Just let them know beforehand.
What is the accommodation like?
Riverside Eco-Lodge
You'll spend the first and last night at your host's eco-lodge on the banks of the Piva River. You'll either stay in a new wooden bungalow or in a twin or triple bedroom in the main building. The cabins are built in the style of Montenegrin pioneer cabins, with the addition of a few contemporary comforts like private baths, hot water and comfy beds.
Žabljak Hotel
You'll spend the middle night at the very comfortable Hotel Porto Tara. This four-star hotel offers a private beach and a back to nature-experience with a vast terrace. Rooms are twin-share with private ensuite bathrooms.
Upgrades
For solo travellers looking for their own space, there is an option to upgrade to a private room (subject to availability) - see Optional Extras for prices. Just request at the time of booking.
The Area
Logistics
Starts
Dubrovnik Airport, Croatia
16:00
Ends
Dubrovnik Airport, Croatia
15:30
Transfers
Your host will pick you up and drop you off at the airport.
The drive between Dubrovnik Airport and your base in Montenegro takes approximately 4 hours, although this can be longer depending on the traffic and you will also stop for a break on the way. A driver will pick you up at the airport and you will meet your guides upon arrival at your base in Montenegro. You may wish to pick up some snacks for the journey in case of delays and to help to see you through until dinner time.
If you are staying in Dubrovnik before the trip or after, there are regular buses from the airport into town that cost approx. 5Euros a journey. At the end of the trip, please book a flight that departs after 17:30
Travel options
There are regular flights to/from Dubrovnik from airports across the UK and Europe.
Enjoy 12.5% Off Outdoor Gear
In need of a few more items? All bookings receive a 12.5% discount to use at Cotswold Outdoor, Snow + Rock and Runner's Need.
What's included?
- All your rafting equipment (this includes wetsuit, neoprene booties, anorak, life jacket, helmet (appropriate for attaching GoPro cameras), 1 waterproof bag per raft for storing cameras or mobile phones)
What do I need to bring?
- Breathable, quick-drying, sport clothes for getting changed into after wearing your wetsuit
- Hiking shoes or boots for the walk through the forest to the monastery
- Casual shoes or sandals/flip flops for outside use when you are not in the water
- Slippers or indoor shoes for use around your accommodation
- Lightweight trousers, shorts or skirts for when you are not in the water
- T-shirts or long sleeve shirts for when you are not in the water
- Swimsuit (towels will be provided by your host)
- Sun hat
- Sunglasses
- Sunblock/suncream
- Warm jumper for evenings by the river
- Light waterproof jacket
- A light rucksack as your overnight bag for the second rafting camp (your main luggage will be safely stored at the Waterfall Rafting Centre)
- Passport
- Cash for any extra bits you'd like to buy. There is a cash-only bar on site, but no card-payment facilities are available.
Optional Private Room Upgrade
Payable Before Departure
Optional Private Room Upgrade
… Per Person
Rafting on the Tara river is a huge amount of fun with unbelievable scenery.
Tara River and the canyon was one of the most beautiful places I've ever been to! I'd go again today if it was possible.
Rafting on the Tara river is a huge amount of fun with unbelievable scenery.
An absolute must do trip, from airport pick up to the end, this was my first sole trip and I felt totally safe throughout. The group I was with were all brilliant company and I've made a great set of new friends. The Rafting centre is in a beautiful location and the hosts were brilliant, loved the log fire on and evening, definitely bring a few layers as it did get chilly but the accommodation was cosy and plenty of hot water. Day 2 was definitely the best, lots of great rapids, the guide Marco was so good at navigation through them and made it such fun. Took loads of photos on route down the river and stopped to let us take pictures where waterfalls were so got some great memories to look back on. All in all the best trip can't wait to do more.
Breathtaking scenery and fantastic white water rafting. I went as a solo traveller and had a fantastic time. Montenegro is a beautiful country and you get to see real beauty in the remote national park. The rafting was exhilarating in May and the guide was brilliant, I felt safe at all times but also challenged. I didn’t want the trip to end!
Fantastic trip! Great rafting and lots of laughter along the way
Excellent rafting with a lovely relaxed guide in a beautiful setting with glorious white fluffy dressing gowns and brandy on arrival at our canyon hotel! Recommend! The hike to the monastery was worth it for the views but take the road, not the forest where there is no path and tics!
Our raft guide, Marco, was excellent and the accommodation was too.
Amazing trip in such a beautiful place. We had a great group and our guide Lazar was brilliant.
Great experience on the Tara River. Quite a lot of driving was required but a night in Dubrovnik before and after made that aspect manageable.
We've crunched the numbers to work out the total carbon footprint of this trip, and plant enough trees to suck 2x as much back out the atmosphere.
What's the number?
It works out on average at 85kg of CO2 emissions per person, including all local transport, accommodation, food, activities, guides, staff and office operations.
The only thing it doesn’t include right now is flights and travel to the destination. We do make an overall estimate across all our customers separately, but as we don’t book flights, have customers from all corners of the world, and no way of reliably knowing their travel plans, we simply can’t include an individual number in the figure on display here. We’ve got a goal for 2023 to fix that, so that when you book, there is a way to measure and mitigate the carbon emitted by your flight too.
But what does the number mean?
Yep, hard to picture eh? To give you an idea:
- Driving 1000miles/1609km would be approx. 281kg of CO2 in an average car (or 140.5kg per person if there was 2 of you in it).
- A return economy class flight London - New York would be approx. 1,619kg (1.66 tonnes) per person.
- 10 trees in a temperate forest are estimated to remove approx. 250kg of CO2 from the air in a period of 5-10 years.
What are we doing about it?
Our trips are relatively low-carbon by design, and we're working with all our hosts to develop long term carbon reduction plans. For every person booked with us since 2016 we’re planting enough trees to suck at least 2x more carbon out the atmosphere than is emitted by their trips. All native trees, as part of amazing projects that are re-foresting degraded land, tackling the biodiversity crisis and supporting local communities at the same time. We go further than that too, also funding re-wilding projects worldwide to help protect important keystone species from extinction. See the reforestation and re-wilding schemes we support. See our carbon action plan.
Want to know more?
Amazingly, no international travel company has ever publicly published their carbon measurements before, as far as we know. We believe that must change, quickly. So we’re openly sharing the method we used in the hope that other companies will be able to more easily follow suit and build on what we've done so far. You'll find it all here.
During the high water season when the rapids are at their best you’ll raft a 90km section of the Tara River.
On the first day, you'll mostly encounter class II and III rapids, which are fun and exciting and a good way to prepare for the second day.
On the second day, you'll navigate class III, IV and V rapids. These are big enough to get the heart racing and challenge even experienced rafters, but your guides will ensure you get through safely.
The duration of rafting on days 2 and 3 may vary if the water levels are particularly high or particularly low.
No rafting experience is needed, just confidence in the water and the ability to handle 4-5 hours of activity each day. Your guide will give you full instructions and a safety briefing before you start.
Sure can! Over 50% of our travellers travel solo, it’s a great way to meet like-minded people.
Summer is the best season to explore the Montenegrin Mountains. The average temperature is around 25 degrees, but it cools down at night so you may want to bring warm clothes for sitting around the campfire.
The best time of year to run the river is between April and June when the water levels are at their highest and most exciting. Guides will monitor water levels and weather conditions especially during early springtime to ensure the safety of the group.
You can leave your excess luggage at your host's eco-lodge on the banks of the Piva River, where you will be staying during the first and last night of your trip.
Our recommended travel insurance provider is Campbell Irvine.
Travel insurance is compulsory for all of our adventures and you are required to provide your policy information before departing.
Your insurance should include adequate protection for overseas medical treatment, evacuation/repatriation, your baggage and equipment and the specific activities involved on your adventure. We also strongly recommend it includes cancellation and curtailment insurance, should you be unable to join your trip for specific reasons such as illness.
We fully endorse Campbell Irvine as their insurance offers all of the above, so get in touch with them or call on 020 7938 1734 to get your insurance sorted. We suggest that you book travel insurance as soon as you book your adventure, just to cover you for any last-minute life changes. We know you’re an active lot and injuries do happen!
We automatically convert prices from the local currency that a host receives to your chosen currency. We update our exchange rates on a daily basis so this does mean that prices displayed on the site are subject to currency fluctuations, which is why you may see them change over time.
If you wish to change the currency you pay in, head to the bottom of the page.
All of our group adventures are specially designed for adults to enjoy (18+) as we want these adventures to bring together outdoorsy people who are truly like-minded. Children can be accommodated on some private departures.
You're in good company. Our adventures are typically made up of a mix of solo travellers and small groups of two or three friends who simply love adventure, pushing themselves and meeting awesome like-minded people. See here for more info about our lovely bunch of Much Better Adventurers.
Want to book a private trip? Just tap ‘Private Group’ in the dates and prices tab.
Your trip is led by carefully curated local hosts and expert guides. See here for more info about the guides we work with.
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