Podgorica and beyond.
My local experience during April 2023 of using public transport in Podgorica and visits to Tivat and Bar on the coast. So here are a few travel tips for Montenegro.
Montenegro Tourist Tax and registration.
Hotel – The hotel should handle the registration and tourist tax for you. Just ask first as I had booked accommodation on Booking.com and the hosts of three places had no idea about doing so.
Private house/ Air BnB etc – Whilst visiting Montenegro and staying in private accommodation you will generally need to pay the tourist tax and register your accommodation yourself. Per person its around 1 euro/day and 50% off for under 18-year-olds. We paid this in Podgorica in the Tourist Registration Office at 47 Slobode St. In Bar its at the tourist office near the Marina. In Tivat my hosts arranged for it.
Tourist office business hours.
Opens 9am to 3.30pm Mon to Fri and Sat 9am till 1 pm, closed Sunday. Make sure you pay it though within 24 hours of arriving (or make sure your accommodation host pays it for you) otherwise risk a 200 euro fine! Staff are very helpful and speak English fluently.
We hadn’t tried the other methods of paying the Tourist tax at the post office and registration at a police station. Best method to have both the tax and registration sorted at the same place is one of the Tourist Registration Offices in each town.
The official website for a visit to Podgorica is www.podgorica.travel
And Make sure you hold onto the pink registration slip!
Public transport – Podgorica.
Local transport is cheap and reliable – A real positive has been the availability and frequency of public transport within Podgorica, namely the bus and taxi services. Board the bus and pay the driver (currently 0.90 cents) which allows you to travel on the bus network for around one and a half hours.
With Podgorica being a small city its not far to most districts and depending on the bus route the buses are pretty frequent during the week and less so on the weekends. (Bus line 21 for example runs every 20 min during the week and 40 mins on the weekend.)
Taxi’s – Cheap and plentiful, always running on the meter and have never been overcharged. Most fares have been around 2 to 3 euro and 6 euro to go from the City Mall to Zlatica near the edge of Podgorica. Hail the driver or call, peak times such as lunch and peak morning and evening traffic can be a bit harder. Many speak at least some basic English.
Tesla Taxi’s can be booked on the TeslaGo app easily, very similar to booking an Uber as well as being cheap. Peak times its often not possible to book as their numbers are limited. Drivers all speak English well and very polite.
Intercity bus services – can be booked through www.busticket4.me or www.getbybus.com You will need to print out the tickets and from recent reviews the bus station may be a bit of a hassle. Buses are modern and comfortable. The Tivat to Podgorica services provides spectacular views as you climb into the mountains and look down on the Adriatic Sea.
Trains – Head into the train station just next to the bus station (about a 5 min walk from Velika Pijaca Farmers Market) Book and pay at the booking counter. The entrance to the train station is pretty small, look for the blue ‘Tourist Information’ sigh outside the entrance.
No English spoken but the staff were very helpful. We booked an overnight train to Belgrade for two in a two-berth sleeper compartment for 150€ return (which included the 3 euro per person booking fee and bed linen).
Internal Trains – There are internal trains which will take you to towns such as Niksic, Bar, Bijelo Pole and Tuzi (North of Lake Skadar near the Albanian border).
Airport train – There is one to Podgorica Airport and don’t recommend it! It’s a long walk 20 minutes from the airport itself, the station is pretty well just an old cement hut, and the train is pretty infrequent as it’s on the train route to Bar timetable.
Better to grab a taxi for 12€ or Tesla taxi (order on the TeslaGo App) for 10€.
Rental cars – If you’re willing to put up with the crazy dodgem car city traffic which seems to be a sport unto itself then renting a car around town and beyond can be a pretty cheap option.
We could hire a 5-seat diesel near new car for just 14.35 euro a day! (we added the full insurance pack for 20 euro though). If you would like to book a car in Podgorica or any of the 22 locations in Montenegro then click here to find your id
Hope you find some of these tips useful!
Read my blog – Is Montenegro a great place to live in 2023
