Tivat sits on the Bay of Kotor, five minutes from Porto Montenegro and twenty from Kotor. Podgorica is inland, in the capital, and is the bigger airport with more year-round routes. Which one is correct depends entirely on where you sleep the first night.
Driving times that are actually true
These are real times in summer traffic, not what the mapping app promises at four in the morning. Add thirty minutes in July and August for anything that passes through Budva.
| Where you are going | From Tivat | From Podgorica |
|---|---|---|
| Kotor | 25 min | 1 h 30 |
| Budva | 35 min | 1 h 10 |
| Herceg Novi | 50 min | 2 h |
| Sveti Stefan | 45 min | 1 h 15 |
| Ulcinj | 1 h 45 | 1 h 20 |
| Podgorica city | 1 h 20 | 15 min |
| Žabljak / Durmitor | 3 h | 2 h 15 |
| Kolašin | 2 h 30 | 1 h 15 |
The rule of thumb
- Bay of Kotor, Budva, Tivat itself — fly into Tivat.
- Anywhere north or east: Durmitor, Kolašin, Lake Skadar, Ulcinj — fly into Podgorica.
- Not sure yet, or travelling outside summer — Podgorica, because it has more flights and fewer cancellations.
The thing nobody mentions
Tivat's runway sits between a mountain and the water, and the approach is visual. In heavy cloud or strong wind, some flights divert — usually to Podgorica, occasionally to Dubrovnik. It is not common, but it is common enough that a tight connection out of Tivat on a stormy day is a bad plan.
Dubrovnik is the third option
Dubrovnik airport in Croatia is 40 minutes from the Montenegrin border and often has cheaper flights from Western Europe. Herceg Novi is about 90 minutes away, Kotor about two hours. The catch is the border: in July and August the queue at Debeli Brijeg can add an hour or more, and it is unpredictable rather than steadily bad.
If you rent a car in Croatia to drive it into Montenegro, tell the rental company. You need a green card for the insurance to be valid across the border, and some companies charge a cross-border fee or refuse outright. Turning up at the border without it is the point at which a cheap flight stops being cheap.
Getting from the airport without a car
Neither airport has a train. Tivat has a bus stop about a kilometre from the terminal on the main road, which is less useful than it sounds with luggage. Podgorica airport has a shuttle to the city and the railway station, from where trains run north to Kolašin and Bijelo Polje.
Taxis are metered but agree the price before you get in, especially at Tivat in season. A transfer booked in advance usually costs less than the airport rank and someone is holding a sign with your name on it, which matters at one in the morning.
