Driving from Tivat to Podgorica
The Tivat to Podgorica run is the reverse of the popular airport transfer, taking you from the coast up to the capital in about 90 minutes over 90 km. It suits travellers who land at Tivat but base themselves inland, or who are catching a flight or train out of Podgorica. If you are still deciding, start with renting in Podgorica.
Up from the bay
The drive climbs away from the coast at Tivat and heads inland toward the capital, the scenery shifting from the bay to the open Zeta plain. It is the same road as the transfer down, just in reverse, and none of it is difficult.
Where to collect
You can collect at collected at Tivat Airport or in Tivat town and return the car in Podgorica on a one-way, or keep it for the trip. If you would rather start inland, collecting in Podgorica itself is the alternative.
Ending in the capital
Podgorica is easy to drive into and to park in, with paid central zones and free streets beyond them. It is also the country's rail and long-distance bus hub, so the drive up works well if you are moving on from there.
Timing the run inland
The reverse direction is the easier one to time, because the slow part comes first and the fast part last. You clear the bay while the day is still young, and once past the coastal towns the road opens out and the final approach across the Zeta plain is quick. That makes an early start worth more here than on most routes: leave the bay before the coaches are moving and the ninety kilometres behave like ninety kilometres. In the other direction, an afternoon departure runs into everything coming the other way. If the drive ends at Podgorica Airport for a flight, allow an hour of slack in summer rather than trusting the map, since the bay stretch is where any delay happens.
What the drive is actually like
Three quarters of it is straightforward main road, and the character changes twice. The first section around the bay is scenic and slow, with towns strung along the water and limited overtaking. The middle climbs away from the coast and is the part where an underpowered car with four people and luggage feels underpowered. The last stretch into the capital is flat, fast and unremarkable, and it is where tired drivers speed without meaning to. Fuel is easy along the whole route, so there is no need to plan around it, but filling before the handover saves a detour in Podgorica if your rental is returned full. Traffic inside the capital is ordinary city traffic and the parking is easier than anywhere on the coast.
Where you collect and where you leave it
This direction starts at the coast, so the handover is either at Tivat Airport, where the car is brought to arrivals rather than reached by shuttle, or at an address in Tivat itself if you have been staying on the bay. Finishing in Podgorica means dropping at the airport for a flight out or in the city if the trip carries on by rail or bus. Search with Tivat as the pickup and Podgorica as the drop-off and the list narrows to the cars that permit it, with any one-way fee shown before you pay rather than added at the desk.
What to book for the reverse run
Ninety kilometres of main road, most of it fast, so the class is about what you are carrying rather than what the route demands. A compact is ample for two with luggage; a standard estate or a crossover makes sense for four, and the listing shows the exact model and its own photographs so the boot is a known quantity. Most of the pool is automatic. Cover works the same way in either direction: free Minimum third-party liability on every booking, with Basic, Full and the no-deposit Full Plus available as paid tiers at checkout, a refundable deposit held on a card at pickup on most cars, and no credit card needed on any of them. A licence and a passport or ID are what you bring. Because this direction usually ends at an airport or a station rather than at a hotel, leave a little more room at the end than you would at the start: the return check takes a few minutes and the deposit is released once the car is confirmed undamaged. Doing that with twenty minutes in hand is straightforward, and doing it with five is not. Fill the tank before you reach the capital rather than after. Stations are easy on the approach and less convenient once you are into the city one-way system, so fill up before the last few kilometres and follow whatever the fuel terms on your agreement ask for. If the drop-off is at Podgorica Airport, the same applies with less margin, since the terminal is twelve kilometres south of the city and doubling back for fuel is a twenty-minute detour nobody plans for. Leave the return check itself a few unhurried minutes: the car is looked over with you, and the deposit is released once it is signed back in undamaged.
Live prices and availability for your exact dates.
Free cancellation available on many cars
