Hiring a car in Montenegro: all our practical tips

For our 8-day road trip in Montenegro, we hired a car when we arrived at Podgorica airport. Many of you asked me whether the roads were in good condition and whether hiring a car in Montenegro was a good choice: clearly yes, we highly recommend having a car, and it was a really easy and comfortable experience! Overall, Montenegro’s roads are in excellent condition and driving there is very relaxed. We felt completely safe.

To help your driving experience in Montenegro go as smoothly as ours, I wanted to share a few tips and practical details here. I hope they will be useful!

Where should you hire a car for a road trip in Montenegro?

Our car hire at Podgorica airport

Podgorica is the capital of Montenegro and also the main airport. It was therefore the most obvious starting point for our itinerary. We hired a Citroen C3 for 30 euros per day. We compared the different offers for car hire at Podgorica airport and chose the cheapest option among the rental companies with the best reviews. Obviously, prices vary depending on the season. We travelled at the end of July, so in high season, and we had booked our car one month in advance. Compared with other countries in southern Europe, we found it more expensive, but it remained an affordable budget. Good to know:

UK and other European driving licences are accepted.
You drive on the right, as everywhere on the continent.
Some rental companies do not have a desk inside the terminal. That was the case for us, but it was not a problem because the rental company picked us up with a free shuttle.
We preferred hiring a small car because it is easier for parking and for winding roads.

Hire your car in Montenegro rather than in Croatia!

Many people want to combine Croatia and Montenegro. Dubrovnik, in the south of Croatia, is not far from Montenegro, so it can seem tempting to spend a few days in that pretty Croatian city before heading into Montenegro. But I would not recommend it, especially in summer! Why?

In summer, crossing the border between Croatia and Montenegro can take very long hours, which could ruin a whole day.
Car rentals that allow you to travel in both countries are much more expensive. Some rental companies do not allow you to leave the country where you hired the car at all! So make sure you read all the conditions carefully: each rental company’s practical information is clearly shown on every listing on the DiscoverCars comparison site that we use.

That said, if budget is not an issue and you are not travelling in summer, then why not! We tested it ourselves a few years ago during the autumn half-term holidays and everything went smoothly, with no wait at the border. Nevertheless, Montenegro really deserves a trip of its own, and you can visit Dubrovnik another time during a stay in southern Croatia (read our article about our road trip between Zadar and Split).

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Our opinion of the roads in Montenegro

The general rule: Montenegro’s roads are in very good condition!

We found that the roads were often in excellent condition. Some even seemed quite new. The surfaces are good quality, so the roads are nice and smooth. We drove on roads similar to national or departmental roads. On our itinerary, we only used one motorway, on the last day to return to Podgorica. It was brand new and had a toll. The other roads were free.

Our itinerary in Montenegro:

We did the following loop, at the end of July, clockwise:

Podgorica airport: pick-up of the hire car.
Lake Skadar: very good small roads, very quiet.
Budva and surroundings: very good roads, lots of traffic, steep slopes and parking issues in summer.
Bay of Kotor: very good roads, lots of traffic, limited parking in summer.
Durmitor National Park: very good roads to get there and once there, quiet and easy.

Grebaje Valley and Prokletije National Park: overall, very good roads and beautiful panoramas. A few less modern roads (nothing problematic) and a few tracks, in good condition, to reach our accommodation (see below).

Biogradska Gora National Park: very good roads and a track, in good condition, to reach our accommodation on a remote farm (see below).
Podgorica airport: a beautiful brand-new motorway on the way back. Return of the car.

The most beautiful roads to drive:

Our favourite roads were:

The hairpin road above Kotor: incredible views at every bend! There are several pull-in bays on the side where you can stop. The panoramas are worth it! On the other hand, you need to be comfortable with tight bends and drive carefully. See below.

The road between Kotor and Durmitor, which passes by pretty lakes:

The road from Durmitor towards the east, following the Tara River along a very green, narrow valley with lots of charm:

The roads north-west of Lake Skadar, passing incredible viewpoints such as the Pavlova Strana viewpoint and the heights above the village of Karuc:

Watch out for bends

There are two places in particular where we had a lot of bends:

The panoramic hairpin road above Kotor: I mentioned it above. Clearly, this road is not for everyone, and you should know that you absolutely do not have to take it to reach Kotor. Personally, I do not like driving at all when the bends are that tight! So I was not behind the wheel, and Papa Voyage loves this kind of road! Fortunately, the road surface is in excellent condition. You just need to drive carefully. The road is theoretically closed to buses and coaches, but unfortunately this rule is not respected. Passing a coach is not easy. We had left early in the morning and only met one bus on a bend. We had to go slowly and manoeuvre close to the side to let it pass. Also note that if you are travelling with young children, they may feel unwell or nauseous because of all the bends.

The road up to Ostrog Monastery: you need to take a hairpin road for about 3 km, but this time the bends are more typical of a mountain road. They are not as tight as on the road above Kotor. If you can drive up to villages or resorts in the Alps, you will have no problem. Personally, I found it less impressive than the previous one, but I prefer to warn anyone who really dislikes bends. There is no other way to reach the monastery, but as I explained in my article about Montenegro, I do not think it is an absolute must-see. On arrival, there is a large car park.

Watch out for steep slopes on the Riviera!

When you think of the seaside, you might imagine flat terrain, but not at all! Montenegro is a very mountainous country, even on the coast. So even in the Riviera seaside resorts, there are streets with steep slopes as soon as you head into neighbourhoods set back from the sea. For example, in Budva, our accommodation was up in the hills.

It is nothing impossible because the roads are in very good condition, but it is better to be comfortable with hill starts and know how to use the handbrake properly! In exchange for the effort, you can easily enjoy beautiful views:

Here is another example, on the coast in front of Sveti Stefan: we are close to the seafront, but already high up:

The few tracks we drove on:

And which you can avoid if you wish!

I mentioned this above: twice, we drove on tracks to reach two accommodations in more remote areas. We knew this in advance because I always read the comments on Booking before booking. These tracks were in good condition. We drove very slowly and everything went well.

If you really do not want to drive on tracks, simply choose more accessible accommodation. So it is a matter of choice. It is very easy to avoid the track experience if you prefer!

For those interested in our two remote accommodations, which we liked very much, here are the details of the two tracks:

In the Grebaje Valley, we slept in these beautiful wooden huts at A&R Cottages in Vusanje: there are about 200 metres of track to get there. So it is very little! Even at home in England, there are a few metres of track to reach our house, so we did not feel out of place!

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In Biogradska Gora National Park, we slept at Danka’s place on a remote farm, our choice for switching off, and there were 6 km of track at the end. As Danka told us, it is thanks to this track that her farm is such a haven of peace, so she is rather attached to it:

The little surprises on the roads:

They are also part of the driving experience in Montenegro 🙂

Parking in Montenegro, step by step

Parking at Lake Skadar

It was easy and always free for us to park around Lake Skadar.

The summer parking nightmare on the Riviera

At the end of July, parking on the Montenegrin coast was complicated: you need patience and may have to circle around quite a bit before finding the holy grail! We do, however, have a good tip for parking in Budva: instead of aiming for the centre and the entrance to the old town, we parked further away, at the free outdoor car park by Fort Mogren, then followed the pedestrian coastal path for 25 minutes to the fortified town of Budva. It is also a lovely way to arrive in Budva, with pretty views.

In the evening, if you have booked a table by the sea in one of the seaside resorts, allow plenty of time beforehand to find a parking space. Alternatively, it is better to choose a restaurant within walking distance of your accommodation.

Parking difficulties in Kotor and the Bay of Kotor:

In Kotor itself, here is our advice:

Book accommodation that offers a parking space. That was the case with our apartment at Monte Bay Apartments: we could then walk to the fortified town in 15 minutes.
If you are not staying in Kotor, arrive as early as possible, before about 10 am: there should still be spaces in the large free car park at the entrance to town, in front of the cemetery.
For the Ladder of Kotor hike, you can reach the start on foot by crossing the old town, but if you need to park nearby, you will find a few paid car parks close by. Again, it is better to arrive early because they fill up quickly!

In the other villages around the Bay of Kotor:

Perast is a very touristy destination! If, like us, you are not staying there and just want to stop by the water to admire the small island, it is very complicated because there are only car parks at 15 euros for the day! We did not find any options for just an hour or two. In the end, we made a very short stop of a few seconds to take the photo and then headed to the next, quieter village. That suited us because we already know Perast. If you want to discover this place properly, it is better to stay there and make sure your accommodation guarantees parking.

Parking in the mountains

Everything is simpler in the mountains because there are far fewer people! Here are a few tips:

At Black Lake (Durmitor): they have created a very large paid access area in front of the lake, with several car parks. But we found a free space in town in Zabljak and simply walked a good kilometre extra.

At the start of the Bobotov Kuk hike (Durmitor): as this is the best-known hike in Durmitor, it is advisable to arrive early to find a space. We were there around 8 am. Free parking.

The viewpoint over Tara Canyon (Durmitor): to avoid paying for parking, we found a free spot that added 30 minutes to our walk, which was ideal for enjoying nature.

At the start of the Three Peaks hike (Grebaje Valley): this is the most popular hike in the area, so it is better to arrive early. We were there around 8 am. That said, the car park is very large, so there should always be enough space. It is free.

Driving in Montenegro: practical information

GPS: we used Google Maps and it worked very well.
Phone plan: check carefully whether your mobile plan includes data in Montenegro. Mine did not, so we used Papa Voyage’s phone for Google Maps.
Tolls: we only had one toll, on the last day, on the A1 motorway from Kolasin to Podgorica.
Petrol: a little cheaper than in the UK, around 1.76 euros per litre in July 2026.
Safety: no worries at all! We did not even hear any stories about theft from cars or anything similar.
Cleanliness: the roads and roadsides were generally very clean.
In a campervan? In Montenegro there are lots of possibilities for bivouacking, so it is an option to consider if vanlife appeals to you!

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In conclusion, we found driving in Montenegro easy, on roads that are more modern than you might imagine. We always felt safe, so it seems to us like a very good choice for a family road trip to discover this magnificent country!