Winter in Bar: Weather, Sea, Electricity and the Town’s Off-Season Life
You can live in Bar in winter: from December to March daytime temperatures average 13–16 °C and nights around 5–8 °C, and snow hardly ever settles. But this is the rainy season, the sea cools to about 14 °C, and the town empties noticeably: according to the 2023 census, 35.6% of dwellings in the municipality are intended for seasonal use. Below: the climate month by month, the sea, the electricity tariff, transport, and what there is to do from November to March.
Short answer: what to expect from winter in Bar
- Warm, not hot. The average daytime maximum from December to March is 13.2–15.9 °C, the night-time minimum 5.5–7.8 °C (WMO 1991–2020 normal, Bar station).
- A lot of rain. The five months from November to March account for about 55% of normal annual precipitation.
- Snow and frost are rare. The average snow depth in Bar is 0 cm in every winter month; frost, according to the WMO 1991–2020 normal, averages about three nights below freezing per winter.
- The sea is cold. The average sea surface temperature off Bar in February and March is about 14 °C.
- The town is quiet. In January 2026, Bar’s hotels recorded roughly 27 times fewer overnight stays than in June.
- Transport is reduced. In April 2026, the shipping company Barska plovidba said the Bar–Bari ferry would not run in summer 2026 and that the line’s operation in 2027 is in question; winter train and flight schedules for 2026/27 could not be found at the time of checking.
We covered travel timing for the whole country in when to go to Montenegro, and the town itself in our guide to Bar. This article is only about winter in Bar.
Weather in Bar in winter: month-by-month table
The main source is the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) climatological normal for 1991–2020 for Bar station. The data were supplied by the Hydrometeorological and Seismological Service of Montenegro (ZHMS), and each month is calculated from 30 years of observations. This dataset contains no mean daily temperature for Bar, so we give the daytime maximum and the night-time minimum separately.
| Month | Day, avg max, °C | Night, avg min, °C | Precipitation, mm | Days with precipitation ≥1 mm | Sea, °C |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| November | 18.6 | 10.5 | 164.6 | 10.4 | 18.8 |
| December | 14.4 | 7.0 | 178.9 | 11.5 | 16.1 |
| January | 13.2 | 5.5 | 142.1 | 9.6 | 14.3 |
| February | 13.7 | 5.9 | 128.2 | 9.8 | 13.8 |
| March | 15.9 | 7.8 | 130.7 | 9.0 | 13.9 |
| For comparison: July | 30.1 | 20.6 | 32.0 | 2.8 | 24.9 |
Air temperature and precipitation: WMO 1991–2020 normal; sea: mean surface temperature from NOAA satellite data for 1991–2020.
The coolest months are January and February. November still feels like late autumn, and in March the days get noticeably warmer again.
Climate in Bar: November–March vs July
Precipitation by month and two temperature lines; the source has no mean daily temperature
WMO normal 1991–2020, Bar station (ZHMS data, NOAA NCEI archive). Temperatures use the right-hand 0–32 °C scale.
Rain: the defining feature of winter
ZHMS describes the climate of the Primorje (coastal region) as “long warm summers and mild winters with large amounts of precipitation”. The numbers bear this out. Bar receives an average of 1,355.1 mm a year, of which about 745 mm falls between November and March. December has roughly five and a half times as much precipitation as July.
It does not rain every day. The number of days with at least 1 mm of precipitation in the winter months averages from 9.0 (March) to 11.5 (December). But the rain can be heavy: days with at least 10 mm range from 3.8 in March to 5.6 in November.
Years differ a great deal. Over the thirty years, January saw up to 351.4 mm in a single month, while December 2015, according to WMO data, had 0 mm. So the averages are a guide, not a forecast for any particular winter.
Snow and frost: how cold it gets
Snow in Bar is rare. In the ZHMS tables, the average snow depth at Bar station from November to March is 0 cm. The greatest recorded snow cover is 28 cm, in February; the page does not state the observation period. For comparison, according to the same tables, the greatest February snow depth is 57 cm in Podgorica, 192 cm in Kolašin and 205 cm in Cetinje.
According to Monstat (the Statistical Office of Montenegro), in 2023 Bar did not have a single day with snow cover of 1 cm or more.
Frost is rare as well: according to the WMO 1991–2020 normal, there are on average about three nights below freezing per winter.
Sunshine and humidity
The WMO 1991–2020 normal for Bar has no sunshine or humidity data, so here we use the older ZHMS normal for 1961–1990. According to it, December averages 111.6 hours of sunshine, January 120.9 and February 124.2, roughly three times less than July (351.5 hours). March already has 170.9 hours, roughly half of July’s figure. Average relative humidity over the same years was 64–69% from November to March.
Opština Bar (Bar Municipality) writes on its website of “270 sunny days” a year on average, but does not state the method or the period. Monstat counted 127 clear days in Bar in 2023 (cloud cover below 2/10). These are different indicators and cannot be compared directly.
Wind: bura and jugo
Two characteristic winds blow on the Adriatic in winter: the cold north-easterly (bura) and the humid south-easterly (jugo). We did not find primary data on how often and how strongly they blow in Bar specifically, so we give no figures.
Sea temperature in winter
According to NOAA satellite data (1991–2020 climatology), the average sea surface temperature off Bar is 18.8 °C in November, 16.1 °C in December and 14.3 °C in January. The sea is coldest in February (13.8 °C) and March (13.9 °C). In April the water starts to warm (15.4 °C), and the peak comes in August at 25.4 °C.
This is an average over open-sea areas off Bar (grid cells of about 25 km). Right by the shore, especially after rain, the water may differ noticeably from these averages. For comparison, in the ZHMS morning report of 31.10.2026, the sea temperature off Bar at 7 a.m. was 19 °C.
Sea temperature off Bar by month
Mean sea surface temperature, °C
NOAA OISST v2.1, 1991–2020 climatology. Grid cells about 25 km; values at the shoreline may differ.
Winter 2025/26: how much years differ
ZHMS monthly bulletins for last winter show clearly how variable it can be. The bulletins do not name Bar for every month, so below we give data for Bar where available and otherwise for the coast and the country as a whole.
- November 2025: there was no snow cover in the southern and central regions, and no frost days on the coast.
- December 2025: no frost days on the coast; the highest monthly mean temperature in the country was 13.3 °C in Budva; the month was dry, with even Budva receiving only 53% of normal precipitation.
- January 2026: Bar’s monthly mean temperature was 11.2 °C, the highest in the country, with one frost day; the month was very wet, from 150% of normal precipitation in Herceg Novi to 365% in Nikšić, with a record total in Ulcinj.
- February 2026: Bar’s mean temperature was 12.3 °C, again the highest in the country; there were no frost days on the coast, and Budva had 270% of normal precipitation.
A dry December and a very wet January in the same winter show why the long-term averages are only a guide.
Seasonality: how many tourists Bar gets in winter and in summer
Monstat publishes monthly data only for collective accommodation: hotels and similar establishments. Private accommodation is counted once a year, so the figures below do not cover apartments rented by the night.
| Month of 2026 | Arrivals in Bar | Overnight stays in Bar | Overnight stays in Montenegro |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 2,187 | 3,930 | 73,491 |
| February | 2,292 | 4,130 | 85,102 |
| June | 22,728 | 104,525 | 793,956 |
Monstat data for 2026 are preliminary.
In June, Bar’s hotels recorded roughly 27 times more overnight stays than in January. July and August data are not used in this article; the peak may be even higher.
For everyday life this means something simple: in winter there are many times fewer tourists in Bar’s hotels than in summer. The hotels and other collective accommodation establishments do stay open, though: in January 2026 they registered 2,187 tourist arrivals.
A third of dwellings are seasonal: why the town is quieter
According to the 2023 census, the Municipality of Bar has a population of 45,812. The same census counts 41,729 dwellings in the municipality. Of these:
- for permanent residence: 25,720 (61.64%), including 16,240 occupied and 9,480 temporarily vacant or abandoned;
- for seasonal use: 14,869 (35.63%);
- for business activity only: 898 (2.15%);
- no data: 242 (0.58%).
More than a third of dwellings are intended for seasonal use. Hence the feeling of a quiet town off-season.
Bar off-season in two pictures
Far fewer tourists in hotels in winter, and more than a third of dwellings are seasonal
Monstat: “Dolasci i noćenja turista u kolektivnom smještaju”, January, February and June 2026 (preliminary data; collective accommodation only); Monstat, “Stanovi 2023 I”.
Electricity in winter: the EPCG tariff in 2026
Since 01.01.2026, the following EPCG (Elektroprivreda Crne Gore, the national power utility) tariff applies to households with dual-rate metering (basic model, excluding VAT). The price per kilowatt-hour is made up of four components:
| Component, euro cents per kWh | Day rate | Night rate |
|---|---|---|
| Active energy | 5.2424 | 2.6212 |
| Network use | 3.9178 | 1.9589 |
| Network losses | 1.9130 | 0.9565 |
| Renewable energy (RES) levy | 0.4730 | 0.4730 |
| Total | 11.5462 | 6.0096 |
Put simply, 100 kWh at the day rate costs about €11.55, and at the night rate about €6.01, excluding VAT. On top of this comes a fixed charge that depends on the connected capacity: €0.6916 per customer for up to 8 kW, €1.3832 for 8–16 kW and €2.9824 for 16–34.5 kW. The EPCG table does not state the billing period for this charge.
What makes up the bill and how the apartment itself affects it is covered in detail in energy efficiency of an apartment in Montenegro.
Heating and damp
According to the 2023 census (Monstat, “Stanovi 2023 III”, 17.04.2025), of Bar’s 16,240 occupied dwellings, 9,485 (about 58%) are heated mainly by electricity (heaters, radiators, air conditioners or electric heating of their own heating system), 6,064 (about 37%) mainly by firewood, and 549 by pellets or briquettes; 59 dwellings have no heating. The census records only the main heat source and only dwellings that are permanently lived in; seasonal dwellings are not included in these statistics. Before renting or buying, it is worth asking the owner how a particular apartment is heated and what the bills were last winter.
For comparison: according to the description of the engineering on the project’s website, the Zen Gardens design includes water-based underfloor heating and an air-to-water heat pump.
Winter humidity is a separate topic. We do not repeat the standards, causes of damp and ventilation methods here; they are covered in why a seaside apartment feels stuffy, damp and noisy.
What is open in winter, and what to check in advance
We did not find official data on the winter operation of beaches, restaurants and town events for winter 2026/27. The table includes only what is confirmed by sources.
| What | In winter | Caveat |
|---|---|---|
| Hotels | open: in January 2026, 2,187 tourist arrivals in Bar’s collective accommodation establishments | Monstat, collective accommodation only |
| “Blažo Orlandić” hospital | regional hospital for Bar, Ulcinj and part of Budva | 2018 data |
| Electricity supply | dual-rate metering, tariff since 01.01.2026 | prices excluding VAT |
| Podgorica airport | winter 2025/26: 17 destinations in 13 countries | 2026/27 schedule not confirmed |
| Tivat airport | winter 2025/26: four destinations, two of them only for part of the winter | 2026/27 schedule not confirmed |
| Train from Bar | only the summer timetable to 30.09.2026 has been published | winter 2026/27 timetable not found |
| Bar–Bari ferry | according to Barska plovidba (April 2026): not running in summer 2026, 2027 in question | winter 2026/27 schedule not found; see the ferry section |
| Kolašin ski centers | in the 2025/26 season, Kolašin 1600 operated for 77 ski days | according to media; no official 2026/27 dates |
| Beaches, restaurants, events | no data | check locally |
| Buses | timetables not checked | check with the operator |
Hospital and schools
Opšta bolnica “Blažo Orlandić” (General Hospital) in Bar is the regional hospital for Bar, Ulcinj and part of Budva (according to the industry portal medicalcg.me, 2018 data). We do not give more recent data on it.
For families moving with children, we have written about kindergartens, schools and outpatient clinics in moving to Montenegro with children.
Flights and trains in winter
The nearest airport is Podgorica: 46 km by road, about 58 minutes by car. Tivat airport is 59 km away, about 1 hour 22 minutes. Times are calculated from map data without traffic or bad weather.
According to Investitor.me, in winter 2025/26 flights from Podgorica served 17 destinations in 13 countries (Air Montenegro, Wizz Air, Pegasus, Turkish Airlines; from January 2026 an El Al Podgorica–Tel Aviv flight was scheduled to join them). Tivat’s winter schedule had four destinations: Belgrade and Istanbul, plus Tel Aviv (only until January 2026) and, seasonally, Yerevan. According to EX-YU Aviation, Wizz Air flies year-round from Podgorica to Budapest, Dortmund, Memmingen and Milan (Malpensa), while flights to Katowice, London (Gatwick) and Warsaw are seasonal. The 2026/27 winter schedule was not confirmed at the time of checking.
Trains. The published timetable of the railway operator ZPCG was valid from 13.06.2026 to 30.09.2026: an express train to Subotica left Bar at 9:00 and an express to Zemun (Belgrade) at 20:10, and 11 trains ran to Podgorica. The 2026/27 winter timetable could not be found on the operator’s website, so it is worth checking before you travel.
Entry and visa rules depend on your citizenship and are not covered in this article.
The Bar–Bari ferry in 2026
In April 2026, the N1 portal, citing the newspaper Vijesti (09.04.2026), reported that the Bar–Bari ferry would not run in summer 2026. The executive director of Barska plovidba, Boris Mihailović, explained that Jadrolinija has no vessel for the line and that the contract would not be signed; in his words, it is very likely that the contract with Jadrolinija will not be in effect in 2027 either. The Ancona–Bar–Durrës line had not been confirmed for the 2026 season at that time, because the Gat V berth in the port of Bar had not been repaired.
At the time of checking (31.10.2026), we found no confirmed schedule for ferries from Bar to Italy for winter 2026/27. If you are planning such a trip, check the schedule with the operators in advance or consider flying.
What to do in winter: mountains, the lake and nearby towns
In winter you can take trips from Bar to the mountains, to the lake and to nearby towns. Below are road distances from the center of Bar by car. Times are calculated without traffic; in winter, driving over mountain passes may take longer.
| Where | Distance | Travel time |
|---|---|---|
| Virpazar (Lake Skadar) | 24 km | ~31 min |
| Ulcinj | 26 km | ~34 min |
| Budva | 39 km | ~59 min |
| Podgorica (center) | 54 km | ~1 h 06 min |
| Cetinje | 59 km | ~1 h 23 min |
| Kolašin (center) | 110 km | ~2 h 01 min |
| Žabljak (center) | 173 km | ~3 h 31 min |
Skiing. There are ski centers in Kolašin (about two hours’ drive) and in Žabljak. According to Turistička organizacija Kolašin (the Kolašin tourist organization), the Kolašin 1450 resort has 26 km of slopes and 4 lifts, and the ski centers are 12 km from the town center. According to the director of Kolašin 1600, quoted by biznis.rs, the resort had 77 ski days and about 80,000 visitors in winter 2025/26. At the time of checking, there are no official opening dates for the 2026/27 season in Kolašin or at Savin Kuk in Žabljak.
The lake and old towns. Virpazar on Lake Skadar is about half an hour’s drive. Cetinje is about an hour and a half away.
Nearby towns. Budva and Ulcinj are within an hour’s drive.
No official announcements of Opština Bar’s winter events for 2026/27 could be found at the time of checking.
Frequently asked questions
Is it cold in Bar in winter?
No. From December to March the average daytime maximum is 13.2–15.9 °C and the night-time minimum 5.5–7.8 °C (WMO 1991–2020 normal). Frost is rare: according to the same normal, there are on average about three nights below freezing per winter.
Does it snow in Bar?
Rarely. The average winter snow depth is 0 cm; the greatest recorded snow cover in the ZHMS tables is 28 cm, in February. In 2023 there was not a single day with snow cover of 1 cm or more.
What is the sea temperature in winter?
According to NOAA satellite data, it averages 16.1 °C in December, 14.3 °C in January and about 14 °C in February and March. Values near the shore may differ.
Does a ferry run from Bar to Italy in winter?
In April 2026, Barska plovidba said the Bar–Bari ferry would not run in summer 2026 and that the contract with the carrier Jadrolinija would most likely not be in effect in 2027 either; the Ancona–Bar line had not been confirmed for the 2026 season. We did not find an official winter schedule.
When does the season start in Bar?
According to Monstat, in June 2026 Bar’s hotels recorded roughly 27 times more overnight stays than in January. The sea warms on average to 18.9 °C in May and 22.8 °C in June.
How much does electricity cost in winter?
Under the EPCG tariff in effect since 01.01.2026 for dual-rate metering: 11.5462 euro cents per kWh during the day and 6.0096 at night, excluding VAT, plus a fixed capacity charge.
Sources (checked 31 October 2026)
- WMO Climatological Standard Normals 1991–2020, Bar station (WMO 13461), ZHMS data, NOAA NCEI archive, accession 0253808 v6.6: https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/data/oceans/archive/arc0216/0253808/6.6/data/0-data/Region-6-WMO-Normals-9120/Montenegro/CSV/Bar_13461.csv
- ZHMS, “Klimatske normale” 1961–1990, Bar station: https://www.meteo.co.me/page.php?id=40 ; https://www.meteo.co.me/Meteorologija/klimatologija/normala/bar/Bar-all.htm
- ZHMS, “Klimatologija → Karakteristike”: https://www.meteo.co.me/page.php?id=39
- ZHMS, “Prosjeci i ekstremi” (snow depth tables): https://www.meteo.co.me/page.php?id=41
- ZHMS, monthly bulletins (November 2025 – February 2026): https://www.meteo.co.me/Meteorologija/klimatologija/bilteni/mjesecni/2025-12.html (also 2025-11, 2026-01, 2026-02)
- ZHMS, home page (sea temperature on 31.10.2026): https://www.meteo.co.me/
- NOAA OISST v2.1, 1991–2020 monthly mean climatology: https://psl.noaa.gov/thredds/dodsC/Datasets/noaa.oisst.v2.highres/sst.mon.ltm.1991-2020.nc ; product description: https://psl.noaa.gov/data/gridded/data.noaa.oisst.v2.highres.html
- Monstat, “Montenegro in Figures 2024” (2023 climate): https://monstat.org/uploads/files/publikacije/MONSTAT__ENG_2024.pdf
- Opština Bar, “Klima”: https://bar.me/o-baru/osnovne-informacije/klima/
- Monstat, tourists in collective accommodation, January 2026: https://monstat.org/uploads/files/TURIZAM/DIN2026/1/TURIZAM_CG_Januar_2026.pdf ; February 2026: https://www.monstat.org/uploads/files/TURIZAM/DIN2026/2k/TURIZAM_CG_Februar_2026.pdf ; June 2026: https://www.monstat.org/uploads/files/TURIZAM/DIN2026/6/TURIZAM_CG_Jun_2026.pdf
- Monstat, 2023 census, first results: https://monstat.org/uploads/files/popis%202021/saopstenja/SAOPSTENJE_Popis%20stanovnistva%202023%20I_ENG.pdf
- Monstat, “Stanovi 2023 I”: https://www.monstat.org/uploads/files/popis%202021/saopstenja/SAOPSTENJE_STANOVI%202023_I.pdf
- Monstat, “Stanovi 2023 III”, 17.04.2025, Table 3 (main energy source for heating occupied dwellings, by municipality): https://www.monstat.org/uploads/files/popis%202021/saopstenja/SAOPSTENJE_STANOVI%202023_III.pdf
- EPCG, “Cijene”, sections 1.1 and 1.2: https://epcg.com/cijene
- medicalcg.me, 17.01.2019 (hospital in Bar): https://medicalcg.me/11-decembar-otvoren-renovirani-operacioni-blok-i-porodiliste-barskoj-opstoj-bolnici/
- ZPCG, timetable 13.06–30.09.2026: https://beta.zicg.me/wp-content/uploads/red-voznje/Timetable.pdf
- Investitor.me, 01.11.2025, winter schedule 2025/26: https://investitor.me/2025/11/01/gdje-sve-mozemo-letjeti-iz-podgorice-i-tivta-ove-zime-detaljan-vodic-kroz-zimski-red-letenja-2025-26/
- EX-YU Aviation, 14.10.2025: https://www.exyuaviation.com/2025/10/wizz-air-launching-podgorica-base-with.html
- N1, citing Vijesti, 09.04.2026: https://n1info.rs/region/vijesti-bar-ostao-bez-trajekata-sa-barijem-i-ankonom/
- OSRM (OpenStreetMap), route calculation: https://router.project-osrm.org/
- Turistička organizacija Kolašin, Kolašin 1450: https://kolasin.me/en/skijaliste-kolasin-1450/
- biznis.rs, 06.05.2026, Kolašin 1600 season: https://biznis.rs/vesti/region/zavrsena-zimska-sezona-na-skijalistu-kolasin-1600-prihod-oko-million-evra/
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