Montenegro Without a Car: An Honest Assessment

The short answer: the coast, yes; the mountains, no. Buses between Herceg Novi and Ulcinj run roughly once an hour, more often around Budva, and along that strip a car is more burden than help. Anything above five hundred metres is another matter: buses barely go there, and no public transport reaches Lovćen, the Durmitor lakes, upper Ostrog or half the viewpoints people come for.

Here is the honest breakdown of what works and what it costs.

What works well

Coastal buses. The Herceg Novi–Kotor–Budva–Bar–Ulcinj line is served by several operators. Budva to Kotor has more than 30 buses a day, about 40 minutes, usually €5; Budva to Sveti Stefan runs every 15–20 minutes for €2.50; Budva to Bar takes about an hour and costs €6–7. You buy from the driver, at the counter or online at busticket4.me, which shows every operator’s timetable for your date. Buying online adds a small fee, and the rules say the ticket has to be printed. Bags in the hold are usually paid for separately, per bag.

Intercity routes. Podgorica connects by bus to almost everything: Žabljak, Kolašin, Plužine, Ulcinj. Podgorica to Budva has more than 30 buses a day, about an hour and a half, €6–9; Podgorica to Žabljak three a day, 2½ hours; and from Budva to Žabljak there is one direct bus a day in autumn 2026, 4 hours 45 minutes, €22. Every town has a bus station.

From the airports. Podgorica airport has a bus: the stop is outside the terminal, with 27–28 departures to the city bus station on weekdays and 14 on Sundays, €3 and 11–50 minutes; two a day go straight to Budva, €12, about an hour and a half. From Podgorica bus station you can get to any town. Tivat airport has no bus: the stop on the main road is about 400 metres from the terminal, and Tivat bus station is 1.4 km away, about 20 minutes on foot along a road with no pavement — awkward with suitcases. From Tivat bus station 26 buses a day go to Budva, usually €5 and about 35 minutes; 17 go to Kotor, about €3 and about 15 minutes. How to read the local Latin script and ask the way is in Do they speak English in Montenegro?

The Bar — Podgorica — Kolašin — Bijelo Polje train. Cheap, slow and genuinely beautiful: the line runs through canyons and over the Mala Rijeka viaduct, one of the highest railway bridges in Europe. Kolašin is about two and a half hours away. As transport it is mediocre; as an experience it is excellent. Fares and times to Kolašin are in Biogradska Gora and Kolašin.

What works badly

Taxis. At the airports and in season a taxi is the most expensive option; if you take one, agree the fare before you get in. Ordering through Viber and sending your location on a map costs less, but at the airports and in summer fares are still high. Uber and Bolt do not operate in Montenegro. For the airport run, the bus or a fixed-price transfer is the better choice.

Early starts. The first northbound bus leaves around six or seven in the morning, and if you want to be in Durmitor by midday your options are thin.

Getting back at night. Intercity services thin out after eight in the evening and largely stop after ten. A day in the north without an overnight stay does not assemble on buses.

Changes. Budva to Perast means going to Kotor and changing to the local Kotor–Risan bus. It runs once an hour, every two hours on Sundays, and the fare to Perast is €1.50, paid in cash to the driver. With the wait, allow around an hour and a half each way.

Where you simply cannot get

The list is short, and it is exactly why people hire a car:

• Lovćen and Njegoš’s mausoleum — no scheduled buses at all. The mausoleum is open from 15 April to 15 November and closed in winter.
• Durmitor: a bus reaches Žabljak, but nothing goes on into the park, to the lakes and trails.
• Ostrog monastery — the nearest stop is at the bottom; the upper monastery means walking up or taking a local minibus.
• The Crnojević river viewpoint at Pavlova Strana — a spot on a road, not a village.
• Wild beaches — Kraljičina plaža beyond Čanj, between Sutomore and Petrovac, and the coves next to it are reachable only from the water.
• The Piva canyon, Lake Biograd, Đurđevića bridge — technically there are passing services; practically you cannot plan around them. In autumn 2026 Đurđevića bridge is closed for reconstruction until 26 October, though it is expected to reopen sooner. Check before you go.

Three arrangements that work

1. Live on the coast, use buses, take an excursion for the north. The most common and most sensible option. The coach trip to the Tara and Morača canyons costs from €58 per person leaving from Budva or Podgorica (from €68 from Kotor, Tivat and Bar) and collects you at your hotel — doing it yourself by bus takes longer, costs more and comes without a guide. Same with Ostrog: the Ostrog and Podgorica trip is from €39 from Budva or Podgorica and from €49 from Kotor, Tivat and Bar, in season, against a full day of connections. One caveat: these tours, group and private alike, run only with a Russian-speaking guide. If that does not suit you, option 2 below is the honest alternative. Formats and prices are under things to do.

2. Hire a car for two or three days out of the week. Cover the coast by bus and rent for the specific days you go inland. From €25 a day, which beats paying for a week of standing in the hotel car park. How it works is on the car rental page.

3. Handle the sea separately. The coves with no road are reached by boat, and a car has nothing to do with it. A skippered yacht for a cruise around the bay or along the coast starts at €355 for three hours, for the whole boat and your whole group — see yacht charter and the coastal cruise.

What it adds up to

A week on the coast without a car: €30–50 per person on buses along the coast; Tivat airport and back, about €10 by bus from Tivat bus station, or about €58 each if two of you share a transfer (from €116 per car for both journeys); and €100–130 on two excursions in season. Call it €140–190 per person if you take the bus from the airport, and €190–240 with a transfer shared by two.

A week with a car: hire from €175 in the low season to €320–560 in July and August, plus €85–150 of fuel and €30–50 of parking. For two, going without a car is cheaper; for four the difference is small, and the car wins if you plan mountain trips and day outings.

A detailed comparison with numbers on specific routes is in car, bus, taxi or transfer.

The verdict

Montenegro is not closed without a car — its mountain half is. If you came for the sea and the old towns, buses are enough. If Durmitor, Lovćen and the viewpoints are on your list, the choice is simple: hire a car for those days, or take an excursion and let someone else drive.

Prices checked in September 2026; the number of buses is from the autumn timetable, and in summer there are usually more. Check times and fares for your date on busticket4.me.