Montenegro - Bay of Kotor - Stepped Trail up to Castle of St. John (Castel San Giovanni)

Paste this link into your browser for even more info on the hike:
http://grantourismotravels.com/2010/05/12/climbing-up-to-kotors-castle-of-san-giovanni/

Also, here's some history on Kotor's ancient fortifications (available in many languages):
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fortifications_of_Kotor

Here's what you should NOT do.... You should NOT eat a heavy lunch of mussels and 8 gallons of Karolvacko beer immediately prior to attempting to trek up this hill in the sun. That is what, in my infinite wisdom, I tried to do.

It did not go well for me. :p

You can take a wander thru the walled city to get to the beginning of the trail. It's nice to just meander thru the streets to get a sense of the city before heading up the trail where you can take in the views. Save any shopping for afterwards, though because you don't want to haul anything bulky up the steps.

When the trail starts, it begins climbing immediately and doesn't really stop until you reach the castle and it's defenses. It is, thankfully, switchbacks the whole way, but that does little to reduce the grade. It's pretty steep the whole time.

The saving grace, and something I thought gave a wonderfully anachronistic feel to the trail, is all the old stone steps placed along its length. It's more like a long, long, stair climb than a trail hike. At many of the switchback apexes are shrines and niches - sometimes shed-sized buildings. The trail crosses and combines with defensive ramparts in several locations. You can get a sense of this trail being necessary to the defense and overland resupply of the city back in the day.

The defensive fort is in need of restoration. I have no idea how old it is. Watch out for rubble and exposed metal.

But the views of the bay and all the settlements are breathtaking. I recommend trying to visually retrace your route thru the old city from up high. It's fun trying to identify the streets.

Take plenty of water and maybe even lunch for a "table" with a hell of a view at the top.

I didn't really get much out of hiking much past the fort. There's more zig zags and very little else to catch the eye - with one exception - the trail eventually crisscrosses an old World War One trench. If you're a history buff, you can sort of visualize yourself hunkered down in that trench during the Great War. Ahead and above trail goes on. I have a lot of admiration for those who made this trek a part of everyday life.

When you get back down and are just outside the walled city, try looking back up the hill and tracing the path of the trail and the defensive walls as they zigzag and hug the hill contours as they ascend. Remember - you just trekked that!