Shopping in Ulcinj: Markets, Souvenirs and Where to Shop

What you can buy in Ulcinj, in one answer

The buys worth your time are the food specialities and the craftwork. Ulcinj's market sells olives, olive oil, cheese and dried figs, along with a traditionally smoked beef sausage called sudzuk. In the shops you will find silver trays, copper water pots and Turkish coffee pots, plus leather, linen and silk goods and gold, silver and platinum jewellery. Folk costume pieces such as hats, blouses, scarves and sashes also appear in the shops.

Some of these are easy to carry home and some are not. Olive oil, sudzuk and dried figs travel well in hand luggage if you pack them properly, while a copper water pot or a silver tray will take up most of a suitcase. Decide before you buy whether you have the space, and treat the heavier craft pieces as a deliberate purchase rather than an impulse.

The Old Town market: olives, olive oil, cheese, dried figs and sudzuk

The market in the Old Town is the single stop to plan around. Stalls sell autochthon products — olives, olive oil, cheese and dried figs — alongside fresh fruit, vegetables and fish, and the smoked beef sausage sudzuk is a particular local buy. Even if you are not buying, a walk through the stalls gives you a sense of how the town trades.

The market is at its fullest in the morning, when fresh produce and fish arrive and the stalls are busiest. The Ulcinj market guide covers the stalls in more detail if you want to plan a proper food shop.

Olive oil is the most useful thing to take home and the easiest to carry. Buy a bottle you can wrap well, and check the seal before you pack it. Cheese and dried figs are simpler still, and sudzuk keeps well enough for the journey if you keep it cool. Pair the market stop with a walk through the Old Town, whose gates and lanes are worth an hour on their own.

Traditional souvenirs and crafts: silver trays, copper pots, coffee pots, leather, linen and silk

The craft shops carry the pieces that give Ulcinj's shopping its character. Look for silver trays, copper water pots and Turkish coffee pots in both the Old Town and the newer part of town, with leather, linen and silk goods alongside them. Prices vary by shop and by the weight of the metal, so compare a couple of shops before committing to a copper or silver piece.

For a lighter souvenir, linen and silk goods and leather items pack much more easily than metalwork. Small studios and galleries also sell art and photographs, which are the simplest things to carry home.

If you want a named stop, Natural Products Linda is a souvenir shop selling Montenegrin natural products, and its listed hours are daily from 9:00 to 20:00.

Jewellery shops and folk costume pieces

Jewellery is a serious part of shopping in Ulcinj, with shops selling gold, silver and platinum pieces. Rings and necklaces are the sort of thing that catch your eye on a walk through town. If you are buying metal by weight, ask for the piece to be weighed in front of you and keep the receipt.

Folk costume pieces are the other distinctive buy. Shops sell traditional Montenegrin and Albanian folk costume items such as hats and blouses, and scarves or sashes that echo traditional dress. These are decorative rather than practical, so buy them because you want them on a wall or in a wardrobe, not because you need them for the trip.

Bonanza watch and jewelry store is one named option, listed as open Monday to Saturday from 10:00 to 19:00.

Modern shopping: boutiques, mini department stores and the small malls

Ulcinj's modern retail is modest and practical. Boutiques and mini department stores carry European designer fashion, with swimwear for all ages and dedicated men's and children's shops. You will also find cosmeticians, hair salons, photo shops and art workshops in the same streets.

Treat this side of town as somewhere to top up rather than a destination in itself. It is useful for swimwear, a replacement pair of shoes or a small practical errand, but it will not fill an afternoon. If you want a short retail stop between the market and the Old Town, this is where it fits.

INTERSPORT Ulcinj is a practical stop for sports clothing and footwear, listed as open Monday to Saturday from 9:00 to 21:00.

Shopping centres and their locations in town

The shopping centres are small and spread out rather than gathered in one retail park. Cungu&Co, Concordia Commerce, JOOP! Butik and CTC Shopping center each mix fashion, home goods or specialty shops with food and other services. Cungu&Co is listed as open Monday to Saturday from 8:00 to 21:00, Concordia Commerce daily from 8:00 to 20:00, and JOOP! Butik daily from 8:00 to 22:00.

Several of these centres sit on or near the E851, and the listed distances put them within walking distance of the centre — CTC Shopping center is on the E851, for example. That makes them easier to combine on foot than to reach by a series of taxi rides.

Top Shop Ulcinj, on Rr. Hafiz Ali Ulqinaku, mixes local crafts with apparel and is listed as open Monday to Saturday from 8:00 to 20:00.

Use the Ulcinj map to check where each centre sits relative to your route before you set out.

Supermarkets and everyday essentials

For everyday essentials, iDEA is a grocery store with local and international products, listed as open Monday to Saturday from 7:30 to 21:30. It is a short walk from the centre, which makes it the easiest stop for water, fruit and picnic supplies before a day out.

For a more general food shop, iDEA and the Old Town market cover most of what you would need. Check what is in season before you plan a meal around it.

Stock up on water and snacks before a long day at the beach or a trip out of town. The supermarket is also the place to buy the basics you would otherwise overpay for in a souvenir shop.

Practical points: opening hours, cash and small-shop timing

The listed shops have running hours that are typically Monday to Saturday, while Concordia Commerce and JOOP! Butik list daily hours. Cungu&Co and INTERSPORT run Monday to Saturday. Treat the listed times as a guide and check the specific shop on the day you plan to go, as hours shift with the season.

Carry cash for the market and for small craft shops, and use cards in the malls and larger supermarkets. Smaller studios and art workshops may not take cards at all.

None of the shops or the market publish prices you can rely on in advance, so check on the day rather than budgeting from a figure you read online. The wider Ulcinj Attractions guide covers what else to see while you are in town.

Which buys to prioritise on the day

Start at the Old Town market for olives, olive oil, cheese, dried figs and sudzuk, then walk the craft and jewellery shops for silver, copper or a folk costume piece. Save the malls and supermarket for the practical items and swimwear. If you only have an hour, the market and one craft shop are enough.

Plan the route with the Ulcinj map so the market, the Old Town shops and the E851 centres fall into one loop. If you want to eat nearby afterwards, the Ulcinj restaurants guide covers the options.