The cheap European city Brits often overlook – with Only Fools and Horses pub and new cable car attraction

FOR decades, the rich and famous have flocked to tiny Montenegro, on the shores of the Adriatic.

But my tour guide Dusan tells me, the people here are more, “Del Boy and Rodney than Hollywood”.

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This tiny Balkan country makes an unlikely location for an Only Fools And Horses fan base, but its stars — led by David Jason and Nicholas Lyndhurst — are worshipped like legends.

There is even a Nags Head pub, named after the one in the show.

Which is probably a little different from the hangouts frequented by Elizabeth Taylor, Angelina Jolie and Novak Djokovic, who have all stayed at Aman’s luxury Sveti Stefan resort in the country.

A thousand miles from Del Boy’s Peckham, Montenegro is 80 per cent mountains.

I’d heard of its fabled peaks, but the real thing is truly spectacular to see, with giant swathes of limestone cliffs jutting into the sea.

There are also 117 beaches and five national parks calling out for Brits to explore.

Public transport isn’t great, but taxis and car rentals are cheap — and every road offers beautiful sea or mountain views.

A drive through the coastal town of Kotor takes me to Lovcen National Park.

Here, I join mesmerised tourists hitching a gondola on the country’s new cable car for an 11-minute, stomach-flipping ride.

One of our group kept their eyes shut the whole time until we squealed at the sight of the Bay of Kotor.

Then we were all glued to Lustica Bay and a slice of Croatia further north.

From the peak, I could see a giant M-shaped road etched into a distant mountainside.

The story goes that the designer employed to build the motorway was sending a message to Queen Milena, who he was secretly in love with.

She lived in Cetinje, nestled in the heartland of the ex-Yugoslavian country.

Once the capital of Montenegro, it is now a shrine to the country’s turbulent history.

It is also home to six museums, all within walking distance of each other and all packed with tales of destruction and regeneration by foreign rulers.

Being there is like stepping back in time.

Queen Milena’s ornate palace has been restored to how she once lived with King Nicholas and their 12 children before they were exiled in 1918.

After their deaths, the couple’s remains were eventually brought home and are now buried in the Court Church near the Cetinje Monastery.

At the opposite side of the national park, in the marble town of Perast, the Grand Heritage hotel has a large balcony which is the perfect spot to watch the sun going down over the Bay of Kotor.

After 24 hours I was truly under Montenegro’s spell, but a lesson in traditional noodle-making is what got me fully immersed in the culture.

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Mary Gallagher

We ate our hand-rolled noodles with aubergine, baked in the best tomato sauce I’d ever tasted.

It was accompanied by aromatic goat, cow and sheep’s cheese, and succulent veal baked for five hours in red wine.

For a taste of wine with the meat, we ventured to Skadar Lake National Park and its Garnet Winery, where you can taste the indigenous grape that is only found here.

Cured ham and three types of cheeses were washed down with a craft red, as owner Misko explained that his family have been making wine here for 13 generations.

He told us that Montenegrin wine makes people smarter and calmer, and so I made sure to take home a few bottles.

My hotel for this night was on Mamula Island, a 170-year-old fortress that once guarded the entrance to Boka Bay.

And my room previously housed a cannon used to fire at enemy ships.

The hotel certainly keeps alive the history of the island and of the prisoners who once lived and tried to escape from here.

The 5* resort now operates with an army of people and features a helicopter pad, a world-class spa, gallery and 32 rooms overlooking the bay.

Unsurprisingly, it comes with a hefty price tag too (£430 per night), but travellers can still dine at the restaurant or visit the gallery without staying here.

For a fraction of the price, the Stara Carsija Hotel & Spa, back on the mainland, is just as comfortable and charming.

And after guzzling all that Montenegrin wine, you might not even be able to tell the difference . . .

Mary Gallagher

BRIAN MOODY