Montenegro packs mountains, canyons, lakes and a full stretch of Adriatic coastline into an area smaller than Northern Ireland — and in autumn, you get nearly all of it to yourself. The days are still long and sunny, the sea stays warm enough for swimming, and the summer crowds that pack Kotor's old town have thinned out. It's arguably the best window for seeing the country at a relaxed pace.

The geography is the big selling point. From Kotor, a cable car (with shuttle buses running from Kotor, Budva and Tivat) whisks you up Mount Lovćen for panoramic views — beach-to-summit in a couple of hours. Above Stari Bar, a trail climbs Mount Rumija with Lake Skadar on one side and the Adriatic on the other, while Herceg Novi is the jumping-off point for quiet hiking on limestone-rich Mount Orjen. Deeper inland, Durmitor National Park — a UNESCO site and the country's largest — is around three hours' drive from the Bay of Kotor, and holds the Tara Canyon, which plunges more than 1,300m and is famed for white-water rafting. From the port of Bar, a train gets you to Lake Skadar's wetlands in half an hour.

On the coast, Kotor's walled medieval old town is the headline act, but it's worth working down the shoreline: Herceg Novi's fortresses and promenade, Budva's old town, the former pirate haunt of Ulcinj, and the photogenic ruins of Stari Bar, layered with Byzantine, Venetian and Ottoman history. Water lovers can kayak the bay, paddleboard, or kitesurf on Velika plaža, a beach stretching over 12km south of Ulcinj.

Culture-wise, Cetinje — the old royal capital — has the country's best museums and the Cetinje Monastery. Ostrog monastery is built dramatically into a cliff face, the 13th-century Morača monastery holds superb frescoes, and Our Lady of the Rocks sits on a tiny island near Perast. Podgorica, the modern capital, mixes contemporary architecture with an old Ottoman quarter.

For slow travellers, the Lake Skadar region is the sweet spot. The Crmnica area on its western shore is wine country — try Vranac, Montenegro's big signature red — and autumn brings wild mushrooms, local honey, freshwater fish and olive harvests from groves above Bar where some trees are over 2,000 years old. Birdwatching boat trips on the lake, a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve, are a highlight of the season.

Who's this for? Anyone who wants Mediterranean scenery and swimming without peak-season prices and queues, plus hikers and foodies who'd rather earn their dinner on a trail than fight for a sunbed. Autumn hits the overlap perfectly.