Getting around Montenegro without a car
Montenegro is small enough to cross in three hours and mountainous enough that those three hours feel like six. You can absolutely do the whole trip without renting — but the right mix depends on whether you are staying on the coast or heading north.
8 min readUpdated
How do I get around Montenegro without renting a car?
Use intercity coaches for the long hops between cities and taxis or app transfers for everything else — airports, evenings, mountain accommodation and the last mile to your apartment. The country is compact: Budva to Kotor is 22 km, Podgorica to Budva 64 km. Buses are cheap and frequent along the coast; a ride app covers the gaps buses leave.
- Coaches connect all main towns; buy at the station or on board
- Taxis and app rides cover airports, evenings and rural pickups
- Budva–Kotor 22 km · Podgorica–Budva 64 km
- Renting is only clearly worth it for the far north
- Budva → Kotor
- 22 km · ~30 min
- Podgorica → Budva
- 64 km · ~60 min
- Podgorica → Kolašin
- 71 km · ~65 min
- City ride fare
- €3–12
First, how big is Montenegro really?
Smaller than you think. The entire coastline is about 100 km. The two airports are 85 km apart. Podgorica, the capital, is an hour from the sea. Nowhere you are likely to visit is more than about two and a half hours from anywhere else you are likely to visit.
What the map does not show is the terrain. Roads wind, climb and follow the shoreline rather than cutting across it, so distances translate into more time than the kilometres suggest — and considerably more in August.
| Route | Distance | By road |
|---|---|---|
| Kotor → Budva | 22 km | ~30 min |
| Budva → Sveti Stefan | 9 km | ~15 min |
| Budva → Bar | 38 km | ~40 min |
| Podgorica → Budva | 64 km | ~60 min |
| Podgorica → Kolašin | 71 km | ~65 min |
| Podgorica → Ulcinj | 84 km | ~80 min |
| Podgorica → Kotor | 87 km | ~85 min |
| Podgorica → Žabljak | 120 km | ~2 h |
Intercity buses: the backbone
Montenegro's coach network is genuinely good value and connects every town you are likely to want. Services run frequently along the coast and between the coast and Podgorica, less often to the mountains.
The limitation is not the buses, it is the ends of the journey. Coaches link bus stations, and bus stations are rarely next to your accommodation — Budva's is a walk uphill from the beach, Kotor's is outside the walls, and a mountain guesthouse may be several kilometres from the nearest stop.
Buy at the station
Tickets are sold at counters and often on board. A small charge for stowed luggage is normal.
Allow more time than the timetable
Coastal services in summer sit in the same traffic as everyone else.
Check the last departure
Evening frequency drops sharply, especially outside the summer season.
Taxis and ride apps: the gaps buses leave
Almost every visitor ends up using both. The practical split is: coaches for the long, cheap, daytime hops between towns, and a car for everything the coach cannot do.
Airports
Neither Tivat nor Podgorica has a useful airport bus. Every arrival and departure realistically means a car.
Evenings
Dinner in the next town along, or a late return from a beach, is not a bus proposition.
The last mile
From a bus station to an apartment with bags, especially in Budva and Kotor where the interesting parts are pedestrian.
Mountain and rural stays
Around Kolašin, Durmitor and Lake Skadar, public transport thins out fast.
Groups
Four people in one car is often comparable to four coach tickets, and arrives at the door.
When renting a car is actually worth it
Be honest about your itinerary. Renting makes clear sense for the north — Durmitor, the Tara canyon, Biogradska Gora — where public transport is sparse and the driving itself is the point.
For a coastal holiday between Herceg Novi and Ulcinj, a car is often a liability. Parking in Kotor and Budva is difficult and expensive in season, the Old Towns are pedestrian anyway, and you cannot have a glass of wine with lunch.
| Your trip | Rent a car? | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Coast only, 5–10 days | No | Short hops, hard parking, pedestrian old towns |
| Coast + a day inland | No | One transfer beats a week of rental |
| Northern mountains | Yes | Sparse transport, the drive is the attraction |
| Family with young children | Depends | Door-to-door transfers often win over car seats |
| Winter, Kolašin skiing | Maybe | Check conditions; transfers avoid winter tyre rules |
A realistic week without a car
Fly into Tivat, transfer to Kotor (15 minutes). Two days in the bay, with a taxi out to Perast for an afternoon. Transfer to Budva (30 minutes) for three nights, using coaches or short rides down the riviera to Sveti Stefan and Petrovac. One long day trip inland to Lake Skadar or Cetinje. Transfer back to Tivat for the flight.
Total car use: four transfers and a handful of short rides. No parking, no fuel, no rental desk, and no driving the coast road in August.
Common questions
Yes, comfortably. Intercity coaches connect all the main towns cheaply, and taxis or app-booked rides cover airports, evenings, rural accommodation and the last mile that buses cannot reach. Renting is only clearly worthwhile for the northern mountains.
Coaches for the cheapest daytime hops, and a booked transfer when you have luggage, a group, an early flight or accommodation away from the bus station. For longer intercity runs, offer-based pricing lets you agree the fare before the trip.
The intercity coach network is good value and reasonably frequent along the coast and to Podgorica. Local urban transport and mountain services are much thinner, and neither airport has a practical shuttle bus.
Podgorica to Budva is 64 km and about an hour by road. Podgorica to Kotor is 87 km and roughly 85 minutes. Both take longer in peak summer traffic.
Usually not. Distances between coastal towns are short, parking in Kotor and Budva is difficult in season, and the Old Towns are pedestrian. A few transfers plus coaches generally works out easier and cheaper than a week of rental.
City rides typically run €3–12 depending on the town and distance. Longer intercity transfers are priced by agreement rather than a fixed tariff, and the fare is settled before the trip starts.
Related guides
The car you need, only when you need it
Licensed drivers across the coast, the capital and the mountain towns — with the fare agreed before you book and no rental desk in sight.
Free to download. Card or cash, eight languages.