A Montenegro itinerary by car

Where should a Montenegro itinerary start and end?

At the two airports, one at each end. Car hire in Montenegro starts at either airport: the cars in the Tivat search all offer a handover at Tivat Airport, and the drop-off tab of the booking form takes Podgorica Airport as the return point, with any one-way fee inside the price each car shows. Tivat Airport is 8.5 km from Kotor, so the first night can be on the bay, a 12-minute drive from the airport.

Flying out of Podgorica puts the mountains at the end of the trip, when the coast is behind you. With a return flight from Tivat, the drive runs back down to the coast: Žabljak to Kotor is 153.8 km and about 3 hours 16, the longest single drive in this guide. A round trip that starts and ends at the same airport needs no one-way hire at all.

What does a seven-day Montenegro itinerary look like?

Day 1: collect the car at Tivat Airport and drive round the bay to Perast, 21.5 km and 32 minutes. From 15 May to 30 September Perast's coastal road is closed to cars other than electric ones from 09:00 to 01:00, so the car stays in the car parks at the entrances to the town. Then back to Kotor for the night, 13.7 km along the water; the old town inside the walls is closed to cars, and the city walls ticket is EUR 15. Day 2: take the old serpentine road out of Kotor to Njeguši, 23.2 km and about 33 minutes with about 25 hairpin bends, then 14.9 km on to the Njegoš Mausoleum on Lovćen and 20.4 km down to Cetinje. Sleep in Budva, 27 km from Cetinje.

Day 3 is the coast: Budva to Sveti Stefan is 9.3 km and 16 minutes; the island itself was reserved for the Aman hotel's guests under the 2026 reopening agreement, so the view is from the shore. Day 4: drive from Sveti Stefan to Virpazar on Lake Skadar, 33.3 km and about 44 minutes. The road leaves the coast at Sutomore and goes through the Sozina tunnel, EUR 2.50 for a passenger car. Lake Skadar National Park charges EUR 5 per person per day, with visitor centres at Virpazar and Vranjina, and the boat trips leave from Virpazar. Day 5: Virpazar to Podgorica, 30.9 km, then north to Kolašin, 57.8 km and 58 minutes from the capital, on the Smokovac to Mateševo motorway, which costs EUR 3.50.

Day 6: Kolašin to Žabljak is 85.7 km and about 1 hour 43 through the mountains. Durmitor National Park charges EUR 5 per person per day, parking in the park is EUR 1 an hour, and the Black Lake is 3 km south-west of Žabljak at 1,418 m. The Đurđevića Tara bridge, 365 m long and finished in 1940, is 22.6 km from Žabljak, about 31 minutes each way. Day 7: Žabljak to Podgorica Airport, 131.2 km and about 2 hours 41, then drop the car and fly.

How do you stretch the route to ten days?

A ten-day version adds Herceg Novi at the start. From Tivat Airport the Lepetane ferry is 7.5 km away; the crossing to Kamenari replaces the drive round the inner bay, and from Kamenari Herceg Novi is 15 km and about 24 minutes. The ferry sails every 20 minutes from morning to midnight between 1 May and 1 October, every 30 minutes after midnight, and a car costs about EUR 5 in 2026. Herceg Novi to Perast is then 29.6 km and 48 minutes.

It also takes in the south coast before the lake: Sveti Stefan to Bar is 29.5 km, Bar to Ulcinj 28.2 km and 38 minutes, and Ulcinj back up to Virpazar 48.8 km and about 1 hour 05. Ostrog fits on the way north: Podgorica to Ostrog Monastery is 37.6 km and 57 minutes, Ostrog to Nikšić 18.6 km, and Nikšić to Žabljak 74 km and about 1 hour 39, which replaces the Kolašin road.

Which hire car suits the mountain half of the route?

The hire terms allow the car on paved public roads only. A compact car with enough power for long climbs is the practical choice. The Kotor serpentine climbs through about 25 hairpin bends, loose rock falls onto the mountain roads, and cattle graze beside them. Every car must run on winter tyres with at least 4 mm of tread from 15 November to 1 April, and most cars list a winter pack as an extra for those months.

The mileage line on each car shows its limit before you book. Most cars carry unlimited mileage; the ones that do not cap it at 150 or 200 km a day and charge for each km over, which the car shows. The two longest days of the seven, Kolašin to Žabljak with the Tara bridge and back (130.9 km) and Žabljak to Podgorica Airport (131.2 km), are inside either cap.

What does the route cost on top of the hire?

Tolls, parking, fuel and fines are the renter's under the hire terms. On the seven-day route that means the Sozina tunnel (EUR 2.50) and the Smokovac to Mateševo motorway (EUR 3.50), plus the Lepetane ferry (about EUR 5 a crossing with a car) on the ten-day version. In Kotor the Riva car park by the old town is EUR 4.80 an hour in summer, EUR 2.40 in winter (EUR 15 for seven seats or more); at Benovo it is EUR 1.90 and EUR 1.10. Fuel is Eurosuper 95, Eurosuper 98 or Eurodizel at pump prices capped by the government each week.

The car goes back with the same fuel it left with; a lower level is charged at the rental company's rate.

Can the itinerary include Dubrovnik or Albania?

Only in a car that offers the cross-border option for that country, with the rental agent told in advance, and the car must come back to Montenegro: none can be left outside the country. Kotor to Dubrovnik's old town is 79.9 km and about 1 hour 51 before the border queue; Ulcinj to Shkodër in Albania is 42.9 km and about 1 hour 05. The cross-border extra differs between cars: some cover every neighbouring country, some exclude Albania and Kosovo, and some cover only those two.