Plaža Ričardova Glava, Budva: The 100-Metre Old Town Beach Whose Hollywood Name Doesn’t Quite Add Up

Montenegro | Budva | Budva Riviera

The name means Richard’s Head. The Richard in question is said to be the American actor Richard Widmark, who allegedly filmed scenes here for The Long Ships in 1963. The beach carries this story on every tourist board sign and in every listing. The problem is that it almost certainly is not true. The Long Ships was actually filmed in the Lim Canal, now in Croatia, a ten-hour drive from Budva. There is no evidence that Widmark ever set foot in Budva. Some locals insist the Richard in question was actually Richard Burton, who came to Yugoslavia to film the 1969 partisan epic The Battle of Neretva — again, not filmed in Budva.

Whatever the truth of the name’s origin, the beach exists and has a specific character that its story does not require to be accurate. Plaža Ričardova Glava is a 100-metre-long pebble beach located directly outside the Old Town walls of Budva, named after the actor Richard Widmark who is said to have filmed The Long Ships here in 1963. The beach is one of Budva’s most prominent tourist attractions, famous for its picturesque views of the Old Town and the Budva Citadel. Despite its small size it is popular throughout the year, offering cafés and restaurants, and is known as a lively location with an immediately accessible historical setting. Part of the beach is pet-friendly.

The beach is also known to Budva residents as Brijeg od Budve — “Hill of Budva” — the older, local name that preceded the Hollywood attribution and that is still used by the older generation of residents.

Getting There: 1 Minute from the Old Town’s Sea Gate or Land Gate

Plaža Ričardova Glava is the most accessible beach in Budva by a significant margin. From the Sea Gate (the main waterfront entrance to the Old Town) or the Land Gate (the main inland entrance), the beach is reached in under two minutes on foot — either directly through the beach access gate in the old town walls, or by the short walk around the perimeter to the shoreline.

The Avala Hotel sits directly on the beach and provides the nearest formal accommodation. The hotel’s pool extends over the sea, visible from the beach below. Guests of the Avala have direct beach access from the hotel property. Non-guests access the beach from the Old Town gates or from the promenade approach at either end.

No car or bus is needed. No ticket is required for beach access itself. The sunbeds and umbrellas on the organised sections are paid; the remaining public sections of the 100-metre beach are free. Getting there is the most straightforward beach logistics on the Budva Riviera.

The Beach: 100 Metres, Slippery Stones at the Waterline, Murky in Peak Season, Loud Music

The honest description of Ričardova Glava requires acknowledging the specific limitations that the visitor record consistently identifies, because the location quality and the beach quality are sufficiently different to warrant the distinction.

The water can become murky due to the number of swimmers at peak capacity. There is often loud music from nearby bars. The sunbed prices reach €50 per pair for the front row. Over half the beach area is occupied by paid sun loungers in peak season. The water entry has large, slippery, and sharp stones at the shoreline — approximately 10 minutes are needed to enter the water while carefully navigating those stones.

The stones are the specific physical challenge that distinguishes Ričardova Glava from the smoother pebble beaches of the riviera — the limestone blocks at the waterline are larger, more irregular, and more slippery when wet than the rounded gravel of Mogren or Jaz. Water shoes are the practical necessity rather than the optional provision.

The water quality is clear in the early morning and in the shoulder season. In July and August at peak occupancy, the volume of swimmers in 100 metres of beach produces the turbidity that the visitor accounts describe — not pollution, but the physical effect of many people in a small body of water.

Out of season, however, the beach is much quieter and more enjoyable. The local guide’s honest assessment: Mogren Beach is much nicer than Richard’s Head Beach, and is worth the 10-minute walk for visitors who have the option.

What Makes It Worth It: The Citadel View and the Old Town Setting

The specific quality that no other Budva beach provides in the same form is the view. The Budva Citadel — the medieval fortification that rises directly above the beach — is the backdrop to every swim at Ričardova Glava, and the combination of the ancient stone walls overhead, the sea at the base of the walls, and the old town’s red-tiled rooftops visible above the fortifications makes the setting visually unlike any other city beach on the Adriatic coast.

The beach adjoins the Old Town wall directly. A short flight of stone steps leads to a wooden pier — an ideal station for photographing the bay, the beach, and the fortifications. It is a popular swimming spot; locals stroll to the edge of the pier, strip down, and dive headlong into the sea. The approach by sea from the open bay provides a panoramic view of the Old Town rising from the water.

The wooden pier extending from the old town wall is the specific architectural feature that makes the beach setting distinctive — the combination of the medieval fortification, the sea access pier, and the 100-metre pebble cove at the base of the walls is the visual composition that the beach is photographed for.

The evening at Ričardova Glava — when the day-trip crowd has thinned, the late afternoon light hits the citadel walls at the angle that the southern exposure produces in summer, and the bars on either side are warming up for the night — is the time that resident accounts consistently identify as the best version of the beach.

The Restaurants and Beach Bars: Three Options, Loud Music, the Avala Terrace

Three restaurants operate on the beach, with the beach furniture from the hotel and bar operations open year-round. The music from both bars flanking the small beach is described in visitor accounts as a consistent feature regardless of the time of day — the source article’s “social heartbeat” characterisation is accurate, but the sound level is not universally appreciated.

The Avala Hotel terrace above the beach provides the most elevated dining position with the citadel view — the hotel restaurant with its sea-view terrace is the option for visitors who want the setting with a quieter atmosphere than the beach-level bar operations.

The Pizana Beach — the small 50-metre cove adjacent to the Pizana Gate on the south side of the old town, immediately adjacent to Ričardova Glava — is the local alternative that the resident accounts identify as reserved mostly for locals and quieter than the more famous beach.

The Pet-Friendly Section and the Year-Round Use

The pet-friendly section of Ričardova Glava is the specific provision that makes the beach one of the few in Budva explicitly welcoming to visitors with dogs — a detail that the local listings note and that the beach’s year-round accessibility (no seasonal closure, no access fee) supports. The year-round operation of the beach furniture and cafés is the quality that makes Ričardova Glava a viable beach stop in October, November, and April when the majority of the riviera’s beach operations have closed.

Ričardova Glava in the Budva Beach Hierarchy

The beach occupies a specific position in the Budva beach hierarchy: the most central and most historically significant setting, the most accessible location, the most photographed backdrop, and among the most compromised summer experiences due to its 100-metre size and the peak season pressure that combination produces.

For visitors staying in Budva Old Town who want a morning swim before the daily programme, Ričardova Glava is the practical default — two minutes on foot, free access, the citadel above. For visitors who want the best swimming quality on the Budva waterfront, the 10-minute walk to Mogren 1 Beach Budva (and through the tunnel to Mogren 2 Beach Budva) is the consistent recommendation of the resident guides.

Plaža Ričardova Glava in Budva is the 100-metre pebble beach directly below the Old Town citadel walls — named for a Richard whose identity is disputed and whose presence in Budva is unverified, free access, large slippery stones at the waterline, loud music from bars on either side, murky water at peak capacity, beautiful in September and October, and the best view of the Budva Citadel from any beach on the Adriatic.

Walk two minutes from the Sea Gate. Bring water shoes.

Go in September when the crowd has thinned and the citadel light is at its best.