Our Lady of the Rocks & Perast: Complete Visitor Guide (2026)

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Our Lady of the Rocks (Gospa od Škrpjela) is a small man-made island with a 17th-century church and museum, a five-minute boat ride off the waterfront of Perast in Montenegro’s Bay of Kotor. You reach it either by a local taxi boat from Perast’s quay, paid in cash, or as a stop on a boat tour from Kotor, Tivat or Perast. Most visitors spend 30–45 minutes on the island and two to three hours in Perast itself; the best light and the thinnest crowds are before about 11:00 and in the late afternoon.

This guide pulls together everything you need for a visit: what you will actually see on the island, how the boats work, what a combined trip costs, how long to allow, and how to fit Perast, the island and the rest of the bay into one or two days.

Our Lady of the Rocks at a glance

Question	Short answer
Where is it?	Just offshore from Perast, in the inner Bay of Kotor, Montenegro
How do I get there?	Taxi boat from Perast quay (cash) or a boat tour from Kotor, Tivat or Perast
Crossing time	About 5 minutes from Perast
Time on the island	30–45 minutes (church, museum, viewpoint)
Can I visit St George island next to it?	Generally no; boats circle it, but it is not a regular landing stop
Cheapest organised tour	Short speedboat trips from Kotor start from about $28 (Oct 2026)
Best time of day	Before 11:00 or after about 16:00
Big local event	Fašinada procession at sunset on 22 July

What Our Lady of the Rocks actually is

Perast’s two islets look like twins from the shore, but they are very different. St George (Sveti Đorđe) is a natural rock with cypress trees and an old Benedictine abbey. Our Lady of the Rocks is artificial: according to local tradition, on 22 July 1452 two seamen found an icon of the Madonna and Child on a reef here, and the people of Perast began sinking stones and old ships around the rock to build up an island for a chapel. The islet covers only about 0.38 hectares, and a votive custom of dropping stones into the water is still kept alive every summer.

The Baroque church you see today, with its blue dome, was renovated in 1722. For the full story of the legend, the Venetian-era seafaring families of Perast and the later renovations, read our history of Our Lady of the Rocks.

The two isletsFrom €53

What you will see on the island

The island is small enough to walk around in five minutes, so the visit is mostly about the church interior and the little museum attached to it. A short guided explanation is usually given by church staff or the boat crew; the church asks a small entry fee or donation, paid in cash on the island.

The church interior

• Tripo Kokolja’s paintings. The 17th-century Perast painter Tripo Kokolja produced 68 paintings for the church, covering the ceiling and walls. His most important work, The Death of the Virgin, is around 10 metres long.
• The icon. The venerated image of Our Lady above the altar is attributed to the 15th-century painter Lovro Dobričević.
• Silver votive plates. Large numbers of small silver tablets cover the walls, most of them offerings from sailors and their families who prayed for safe voyages or gave thanks for a survived storm.

The museum

The adjoining museum holds votive paintings of ships, Venetian-era documents (including a privilege granted to Perast by a Doge of Venice), archaeological finds and the island’s most famous object: a votive embroidery that Jacinta Kunić-Mijović of Perast worked on for 25 years while waiting for her husband to return from sea. She stitched it in gold and silver thread and, as the story goes, wove strands of her own hair into it as her sight failed.

Outside

There is a small waterfront terrace and a souvenir stand. The best photo of Perast’s skyline and the mountains behind it is taken from the island’s quay, looking back to the village.

Island churchFrom €30

From above, the islet looks like a jewel dropped into the bay: a ring of stone, the blue dome, boats nosing up to the jetty. Step ashore and you hear the water lapping at the rocks, then the hush inside the church, where the silver votive plates catch the light. A five-minute walk around the edge brings Perast back into view across the water. The 2-hour boat trip from Kotor brings you out here.

How to get to the island

There are two realistic options. Our step-by-step guide to getting to Our Lady of the Rocks covers every route in detail; here is the short version.

Option 1: Get to Perast, then take a taxi boat

Local boatmen wait along Perast’s waterfront and shuttle visitors across all day in season (roughly every half hour, more often when it is busy). The crossing takes about five minutes. Prices are set by the boatmen rather than published, so agree the return price and how long they will wait before you step aboard, and carry small euro notes: payment is cash.

Getting to Perast itself is easy from Kotor, about 14 km away. The Blue Line local bus costs about €2 and takes around 35 minutes, running roughly hourly (less often on Sundays). A taxi costs about €15–20 one way, and there is no taxi rank in Perast, so arrange your return. Drivers must leave the car in one of the paid lots at either end of the village, because the waterfront is pedestrian-only; bring cash and arrive early in July and August.

Option 2: Join a boat tour

Most people combine the island with the Blue Cave, the old submarine tunnels and Mamula island on a half-day speedboat tour from Kotor. You skip the bus and parking, see more of the bay, and usually get 30–45 minutes ashore on the island plus time in Perast. The trade-off is a fixed schedule.

Best boat tours that stop at Our Lady of the Rocks

These are the tours we would shortlist from the GetYourGuide listings we checked in October 2026. Prices are per person “from” prices in US dollars and change with season and date.

Tour	Length / style	From	Rating
Blue Cave, Submarine Base & Lady of the Rocks Tour	Half day, speedboat, from Kotor	$43	4.8/5 from 5,104 reviews
Blue Cave Swim, Lady of the Rocks & Submarine Tunnels	Half day, group boat, from Kotor	$40	4.7/5 from 4,926 reviews
Perast & Our Lady of the Rocks Speedboat Tour (2h)	2 hours, Perast and island only	$33	4.7/5 from 1,134 reviews
Perast & Our Lady of the Rocks Sunset Tour	Evening departure	$40	4.8/5 from 36 reviews
Full-Day Catamaran Cruise with Blue Cave Visit	Full day, larger catamaran	$105	4.7/5 from 690 reviews

• Best all-rounder: the Blue Cave, Submarine Base and Lady of the Rocks tour (from about $43 (Oct 2026)) is the most-reviewed tour in the bay and covers all the classic stops in one morning or afternoon.
• Short on time: the two-hour Perast and Our Lady of the Rocks speedboat tour (from about $33 (Oct 2026)) skips the Blue Cave and focuses on the island and Perast.
• For photographers: the sunset tour (from about $40 (Oct 2026)) puts you on the water in the softest light, when day-trippers have gone.

For a deeper look at the combined routes, read our Our Lady of the Rocks and Blue Cave tour guide. Families and groups of four or more should also price a private boat, which lets you choose the timing and skip the busiest slots.

Blue CaveFrom €36

Most combined tours reach the Blue Cave on the Luštica peninsula near the mouth of the bay. Light inside is brightest around midday, and the boat usually anchors at the entrance so you can swim in; bring swimwear even on a cultural day out.

What it costs: a realistic budget

Item	Typical cost	Notes
Bus Kotor–Perast	about €2 each way	Blue Line, roughly hourly
Taxi Kotor–Perast	about €15–20 each way	Arrange the return in advance
Taxi boat Perast–island	a few euros, cash	Agree the return price before boarding
Island church / museum	small fee or donation, cash	Includes a short explanation
Perast Museum (Bujović Palace)	€8 adults, €5 under-12s	Muzeji Kotor fees
St Nicholas bell tower, Perast	about €2	Narrow steps, cash
Group boat tour from Kotor	from about $28–56 (Oct 2026)	Includes island stop and often Blue Cave

The full spread of tour prices, including discounts, private boats and day trips from Dubrovnik, is analysed in our Bay of Kotor boat tour price study.

When to go

• Time of day: before about 11:00 the village is quiet and the island faces soft light; from about 16:00 the tour buses leave and the light warms again. Late morning to mid-afternoon is busiest.
• Season: May, June and September give warm water with fewer people. July and August are hot and crowded, especially on days when several cruise ships are in Kotor. Boats run less often from November to March, and weather can cancel crossings.
• 22 July: the Fašinada, when local boats sail in procession carrying stones out to the island at sunset and drop them into the sea to keep it growing. It is the most atmospheric day of the year, and also the busiest.

Island churchFrom €29

Perast: what to do once you are ashore

Perast is a single waterfront street of stone palaces, built by sea captains when the town was part of the Venetian maritime world. It is small, car-free along the water and easy to see in two hours. Do not miss:

• St Nicholas Church and bell tower, the tallest structure in town at about 55 m, with a narrow climb and the best overhead view of both islands.
• Perast Museum in Bujović Palace, covering the town’s naval school and seafaring history.
• A swim from the concrete platforms along the waterfront, where the water is deep and clear.
• Dinner on the water after the day boats have gone.

Our list of things to do in Perast covers each stop in more detail.

The two isletsFrom €50

Back on the waterfront, the bell tower of St Nicholas rises above you and the two islets sit out in the bay: St George with its dark cypresses, Our Lady of the Rocks with its blue dome. The stone is warm underfoot in the late afternoon, and once the last tour boats pull away the street settles into a slow, quiet evening. Coming from Croatia, the Montenegro day trip from Dubrovnik lets you see this shore in a day.

A sample half-day and full-day plan

Half day from Kotor

1. 09:00 – take an early bus or taxi to Perast.
2. 09:45 – taxi boat to Our Lady of the Rocks; 40 minutes on the island.
3. 11:00 – climb the St Nicholas bell tower and walk the waterfront.
4. 12:30 – lunch in Perast, then the bus back to Kotor.

Full day around the bay

1. Morning – a group speedboat tour from Kotor covering the Blue Cave, submarine tunnels, Mamula and Our Lady of the Rocks.
2. Afternoon – back in Kotor for the old town and, if you have the legs, the 1,350 steps up to San Giovanni fortress (about €15 from March to November).
3. Evening – return to Perast by taxi for sunset and dinner on the waterfront.

If you are still choosing a base for these plans, our guide to where to stay in the Bay of Kotor compares Perast, Kotor, Dobrota, Tivat and Herceg Novi.

Bay of KotorFrom €70

Practical tips

• Cash: boatmen, the island church, the bell tower and parking lots generally take cash only. Montenegro uses the euro.
• Dress: it is an active church; cover shoulders inside if you can.
• Shoes: landing steps can be slippery; sandals with grip are better than flip-flops.
• From Dubrovnik: Perast is about 79 km away, but summer queues at the Debeli Brijeg border can last for hours. A guided day trip or an early start helps.
• Seasickness: speedboats can be bumpy near the open sea at the Blue Cave; larger boats and the inner bay are calmer.

See all Our Lady of the Rocks tours

Frequently asked questions

Can you go inside Our Lady of the Rocks?

Yes. The church and its small museum are open to visitors during the day in season. Expect a small cash fee or donation and a short explanation of the paintings, silver votive plates and the famous embroidery. Opening can be reduced in winter and on church holidays.

How long do you need at Our Lady of the Rocks?

Thirty to forty-five minutes is enough for the church, museum and photos. Add two to three hours if you also want to explore Perast, climb the bell tower and eat on the waterfront.

Is Our Lady of the Rocks worth visiting?

Yes, if you enjoy art and maritime history. The island itself is tiny, but the Kokolja paintings, the votive silver and the story of the embroidery make it one of the most memorable short visits in Montenegro, and the boat ride gives you the classic view of Perast.

Can you visit St George island?

Not normally. St George is a natural island with an old abbey and cemetery and is not a regular landing stop. Boats pass close by, so you still get a good look at it.

Do I need to book a tour, or can I just turn up in Perast?

You can just turn up: taxi boats leave Perast’s waterfront throughout the day in season. Book a tour if you want to combine the island with the Blue Cave and other bay sights without arranging transport yourself.

What is the Fašinada?

A procession held at sunset every 22 July, when Perast’s boats sail to the island and people throw stones into the sea to strengthen it, continuing the tradition that built the islet in the first place.