We are renting a car in Split and driving to Kotor. Would like some advice on entering Montenegro from Croatia and then returning to Dubrovnik.
I saw Rick Steves said we needed a green card if we were driving in with a rental card. Can anyone elaborate on this? And if we do what exactly is for and how do we apply?
Thank you all
I would ask/tell the rental car company what you want to do and then follow their direction. Then you have nothing to worry about. Driving from Split to Kotor and back in a day, even returning the next day isnt my idea of a great holiday. But each to their own. (I say this loving anyplace in Montenegro better than Split by a very wide margin).
Yes we are doing a sailing trip out of Split. We arrive back in Split at the end of the week for a night. Leaving for three nights in Kotor after that. Back to Dubrovnik then home. So do you recommend another travel option for getting to Kotor from Split?
Meantime I’ll contact Hertz to see what they say. Thank you.
Since you are spending several nights in Kotor, be aware of a road that some love, and some don't.
It is the P1 Mountain Road. The views from the road are spectacular. However, it has 25 numbered 180 degree turns and about 75 other switch back turns. Very small (in my opinion) guard rails on the drop off side, but large busses do travel the road so it's not mission impossible. But if any in your party are subject to motion sickness or have a fear of heights, you might want to skip this road. A Google search will yield a number of videos of the road.
Don't mean to be Debbie Downer, just offering food for thought so you don't unknowingly get into a situation you didn't anticipate.
With three nights I would look at stops or night in these places. Where to sleep and how many nights in each stop is up to what you enjoy. I wish you had four as I think that works better, but … so look at the videos then look at google maps and make your decision. You really can’t do wrong.
Then the big stretch destinations requiring a 4 night stay all doable from Budva with a guide are:
Wow. Thank you so much. I have some homework tonight and a lot to consider. Sure appreciate it.
We are renting a car in Split and driving to Kotor. Would like some advice on entering Montenegro from Croatia and then returning to Dubrovnik.
Let me ask, is your intent above to drive from Split, past Dubrovnik and on to Kotor. Then see Dubrovnik when you return the car in Dubrovnik? Is Dubrovnik your final stop before flying home?
If you already have your flights, then what day do you depart Split and what day do you fly out of Dubrovnik.
If you don’t already have flights, do you know that Montenegro has two international airports? What day would you like to leave Split and what day do you need to be on your flight home? In other words, you see Dubrovnik on the way to Kotor, and you fly home from Podgorica or Tivat. No back tracking.
Do you like prosciutto and olive oil and oysters and muscles and wine?
Traveling as a couple or single or with kids? Travel style over 45 years of age or under 35?
With those questions answered I love to play with things like this, and I will give you what I would do … which you can ignore, but I had the fun of working it out.
Some comments on how to get around. Nothing pre-conceived. I bet you can pull 25% out of the numbers below with careful planning.
RENT A CAR: If you love the idea of driving yourself and if that adds to the wow of the trip for you, then that’s what you should do. Assume 30 minutes each time you need to find a place to park and another 30 minutes’ walk to and from the car park (round trip). So, every stop has a one-hour loss. If you price it, if it were me, I would load up on all the insurance and figure not less than 35€ a night to park it. Then gas is about $8 a gallon and that 50mpg car isn’t going to get that on this sort of driving, so figure maybe 20mpg at the most. You are going to be driving at least 300 miles so I guess I would budget 100€ + 100€ for three nights of parking + a wild guess of 300€ for the drop off fee cause you get it in Split and drop it in Dubrovnik. Then 300€ for the actual car rental = 800€. Check me and see it my seat of the pants guess is anywhere close to correct.
BUS If you want to do this simple, just go to Kotor and check-in and walk when you can and take a taxi when it’s too far, then a bus might work for you. But you are going to miss all the stuff on the way in and on the way out. I would have to check bus prices from Split. But that’s a long hard ride. Better to stay in Dubrovnik to break it up. If I had to make a wild guess I would thing 100€ for the bus for two folks and another 100€ for taxi and transfers in Kotor. I think that’s maybe high, but … guessing at this point. So maybe 200€ to 300€. Just for pricing: https://www.omio.com/buses/dubrovnik/kotor
PRIVATE TRANSFERS. You will get dropped off at the gate and picked up at the gate … no lost time. No lost time lost, although getting lost can be fun. And a good driver will have some other ideas for stops. With a driver you can mix the use of a bus one way or the other and save some money and you can supplement it with taxis. I would do a bus to Dubrovnik spend a few nights, then use the transfer service to kotor with a few stops along the way. That by my recoining would be about 500€, then the bus back to Dubrovnik is another 100€ + some local transfers in and around Kotor maybe another 100€ adds up to 700€ or maybe we just say the same as the rental car cost but you get picked up at the front door of every sight. But no thrill of driving yourself and I do understand that. Just for pricing: https://daytrip.com/ (I have a better source ... maybe)
We do have our flights booked already. Really not interested in the bus route at all. Like the idea of driving but worried about some of the hassle associated with driving ourselves. Will probably park the car once when we get there and not use it too much other than an afternoon trip to Perast. This was a last minute addition to our Italy Croatia trip already planned. We started hearing so much about Montenegro we decided we had to carve out a couple of days to visit there. In hindsight we should have skipped Italy and just done Croatia and Montenegro but the other couple with us have not been to Venice and really wanted to make that part of the trip. We are also going up into the Veneto wine region north of Venice. We finish an almost month long trip in Dubrovnik.
Thank you for the advice
We are all different, I wouldnt do the bus either, but had to throw it out.
If you have a fair budget, if I were you and I wanted to walk away from this with the impression I did something really special as opposed to feeling like I hadnt given it enough time; I would use a transfer service to Kotor and I would make a few high impact stops along the way. I love Perast but for this staying in Kotor would be better. Get the best you can afford, with a terrace and a view. Then using private tranfers try and do 2 or 3 high impact things each day even if that means driving past without stopping all the standard tourist stuff. Skip the "usual" and going for the one-off experiences. They are there.
Here is how the conversation when you return home should go:
Ann "You went to Montenegro? We went 2 years ago. It was lovely. Did you see the cute island in the center of the bay?"
OP, "No. Missed that."
Ann, "But every one must ..."
OP, "Did you drive to a 500 year old village perched on the side of a mountain and visit the winery tucked amoung the abandoned buildings? Meet the owner, talk about life and look down on the valley below?"
Ann, "oh, look! Charles is here. I have to go ..."
I just booked my hotels for my return trip in September. I am really looking forward to it because each stop is dang near perfect and almost nothing is on a major tourist trail.
