Picking up your car at Podgorica Airport
Podgorica Airport (TGD) is at Golubovci, Zeta, 11.3 km and about 17 minutes from Podgorica city, run by Airports of Montenegro. It handled 1,757,522 passengers in 2024, its busiest year. Every car offered from Podgorica in the booking form can be handed over at the airport; some cars charge a handover fee, and each car shows it before you book.
From here the coast at Bar is under an hour away and the mountains at Kolašin about an hour and 12 minutes, which makes Podgorica the airport for a trip that starts inland or around Lake Skadar.
What happens when you land at Podgorica Airport?
After you leave the aircraft and enter the arrival hall of the terminal, you come to six counters for passport control. The rental agent will be waiting at the time and place you specified in your booking, and the voucher carries the agent's phone number, so you can call if the flight runs late.
Before you drive off, inspect the bodywork, the interior, the windows and the tyres, check the fuel level, and make sure all of it is written into the acceptance report you sign.
Can every car be collected at Podgorica Airport?
Yes. Every car in the search from Podgorica can be handed over at Podgorica Airport. Some hand over there for free and some charge a fee, and each car shows that fee before you book, together with its deposit, its excess, the mileage and the cancellation terms. The airport keeps a dedicated parking area for rent-a-car vehicles. A car can also be brought to a hotel or an address in the city instead, as a city delivery, with its own fee shown.
Pick Podgorica Airport in the pick-up field of the booking form and the results are the cars that can meet you there. Booking a hire car in Montenegro through this site, you see each car's conditions before you pay.
What is inside Podgorica Airport?
- Free Wi-Fi
Wi-Fi at Podgorica Airport is free of charge, as it is at Tivat.
- Duty free
Montenegro Duty Free in departures: souvenirs, tobacco, food, drinks and cosmetics.
- Café
In departures between gates 4 and 5, open in line with the airport's hours.
- Information
In the airport lobby, on +382 20 444 244, for all flight information.
- Medical service
An on-duty doctor and a medical technician, with an examination room in arrivals.
- VIP lounges
Private lounges from EUR 200 an hour plus VAT, booked 24 hours ahead.
- Lost and Found
+382 20 444 246 or lostfound.tgd@apm.co.me, from 7:00 until the last planned arrival.
- Assistance
Book through your airline at least 48 hours ahead; ambulift and low-floor bus available.
What do you need with you when you collect the car?
Bring a valid national driving licence with its details in Latin script, valid until the last day of the rental; copies and electronic licences are not accepted. If your licence is only valid in the country that issued it, an International Driving Permit is strongly recommended. Some cars need a physical embossed credit card in the main driver's name, and some rental companies accept a debit card instead, which the booking and the voucher state; bring the card the booking names.
The minimum driver age and years of licence are set per car and shown on its page, and they can differ even between similar models. Keep the phone number you gave at booking, with the correct country code, reachable from the day before pick-up to the end of the rental, by phone or on Viber, WhatsApp or Telegram; if you cannot be reached, service complaints are not accepted.
How far is Podgorica Airport from the coast and the mountains?
Podgorica city is 11.3 km and about 17 minutes away. Towards the sea, Virpazar on Lake Skadar is 23.3 km and about 29 minutes and Bar 44.9 km and about 55 minutes; inland, Kolašin is 68 km and about 1 hour 12 minutes and Žabljak 130.9 km and about 2 hours 42 minutes. The times below are routed drives without traffic.
| Destination | Km | Drive |
|---|---|---|
| Podgorica | 11.3 | 17 min |
| Virpazar | 23.3 | 29 min |
| Bar | 44.9 | 55 min |
| Budva | 63.4 | 1 h 24 min |
| Kolašin | 68 | 1 h 12 min |
| Tivat Airport | 83.4 | 1 h 47 min |
Which tolls are on the roads from Podgorica Airport?
Two are worth knowing. The Smokovac to Mateševo section of the Bar to Boljare motorway costs EUR 3.50 for a passenger car, and the operator posts a 100 km/h limit on it. The Sozina tunnel costs EUR 2.50 for a passenger car. Tolls, parking, fuel and fines are the renter's, not the rental company's.
Winter tyres with at least 4 mm of tread are compulsory from 15 November to 1 April, and most cars list a winter pack for those months.
What does the standard insurance cover on the hire car?
Third-party liability, the equipment kit and VAT are included on every car; collision damage cover and its higher levels are extras on the cars that offer them, and the excess is set per car. The standard insurance does not cover the wheels, the undercarriage, the windscreen or the interior.
After an accident, tell the rental agent straight away and get a police report, unless the agent agrees otherwise; without them the insurance on the car is cancelled. The car may only be driven on paved public roads. The minimum charge is 24 hours, so a hire of a few hours is charged as a full day. If you want to extend the hire, tell the rental agent in advance.
Minimum coverage
- Included: Coverage for collision damage caused to other vehicles (TPL)
- Not included: Collision damage coverage
- Not included: Glass and tire damage coverage
Basic coverage
- Included: Limited collision coverage (CDW)
- Included: Coverage for collision damage caused to other vehicles (TPL)
- Not included: Glass and tire damage coverage
Full Coverage
- Included: Full coverage with limited driver liability (SuperCDW)
- Included: Coverage for collision damage caused to other vehicles (TPL)
Full Coverage Plus
- Included: Full damage coverage
- Included: No driver liability for accident-related damage
Can you drive from Podgorica Airport to Tivat Airport or abroad?
Inside Montenegro, yes: a car collected at Podgorica Airport can be returned at Tivat Airport, 83.4 km and about 1 hour 47 minutes away, and the price each car shows for a one-way hire already includes its one-way fee. Choose Tivat Airport in the drop-off tab of the form.
Crossing a border is a per-car option: only a car that offers the cross-border option for that country can leave Montenegro, the rental agent must be told in advance, and the car comes back to Montenegro. Shkodër in Albania is 61.5 km and about 1 hour 38 minutes from the airport.
What should you allow for when you return the car before your flight?
Check-in counters open 120 minutes before the scheduled departure and close 30 minutes before it, so agree the return time and place with the rental agent when you collect the car and leave enough time for the handover. The car goes back with the same fuel level it had at pick-up; if it is lower, you pay the difference at the rental company's rates.
If someone is meeting you or dropping you off, the airport car park charges EUR 1.50 an hour or EUR 8 a day, with 384 spaces. Buses leave from in front of the terminal for Podgorica Central Bus Station, run by BTC Zeta, MS Tours and Zejdin, and Zejdin also connects the airport with Ulcinj; tickets are sold on the bus or online. The airport lists two taxi firms, Zeta Taxi and Vuk BG Taxi, and both published a fixed fare of EUR 20 from the airport to Podgorica in October 2026.
Which cities fly to Podgorica Airport?
On the airport's own list on 25 September 2026 the destinations included London Gatwick and Stansted, Berlin, Cologne, Dortmund and Hamburg, Warsaw, Gdańsk, Kraków, Katowice, Poznań and Wrocław, Istanbul (both airports), Ankara, Izmir and Antalya, Paris Charles de Gaulle, Orly and Beauvais, Rome, Milan Malpensa and Catania, Maastricht, Vienna, Zurich and Belgrade. Schedules change through the season, so check your own flight with the airline.
The first passenger aircraft landed in Podgorica on 5 May 1930. The rebuilt and modernised airport at Golubovci, with a runway 2,500 m long and 45 m wide, opened on 13 July 1977, and the new Podgorica Airport opened on 14 May 2006. Together, Podgorica and Tivat welcomed their three millionth passenger of 2026 on 18 September.
Car hire questions
Collecting, returning and driving on from Podgorica Airport, in short answers.
Is there a fee to collect the hire car at Podgorica Airport?
It depends on the car. Some cars hand over at Podgorica Airport for free and some charge a fee, and each car shows its fee before you book.
How far is Podgorica Airport from Podgorica city centre?
11.3 km, about a 17-minute drive.
Can I collect the car at Podgorica Airport and return it at Tivat Airport?
Yes. Choose Tivat Airport in the drop-off tab; the price each car shows for the one-way hire includes its one-way fee.
How much is parking at Podgorica Airport?
The airport car park charges EUR 1.50 an hour or EUR 8 a day, and it has 384 spaces.
Is there a bus from Podgorica Airport?
Yes. Buses leave from in front of the terminal for Podgorica Central Bus Station, and Zejdin also runs to Ulcinj.
What if my flight to Podgorica lands late?
The rental agent waits at the time and place in your booking, and the voucher carries the agent's phone number, so call the agent if the flight is delayed.