Practical

The Tourist Tax Nobody Explains at Check-In

You will be asked for about a euro per person per night, in cash, usually at check-in or check-out. It is not a scam and the slip you get for it matters more than the money.

Updated · 2 min read

What it is

A municipal tourist tax — *boravišna taksa* — levied on every overnight stay by a non-resident. Every coastal and mountain municipality charges it and the rate varies slightly between them and between seasons.

Typical rate, high season€1.00 – €1.50 per person per night
Typical rate, low season€0.70 – €1.00
Children under 12Usually exempt
Children 12 – 18Usually half
Paid toYour accommodation, in cash
Included in the booking price?Almost never

Why the slip matters more than the tax

When your host takes the tax, they register you with the local tourist organisation and the police. That registration is a legal requirement within 24 hours of arriving in the country, and the small white slip you get back is your proof of it.

Most visitors never need it. The people who do need it are the ones stopped at a border crossing or asked by police, and by then it cannot be obtained retrospectively. Fines start around €100.

The situation that catches people

Staying with friends or family, or in an unregistered private room. Nobody is collecting the tax, which means nobody is registering you either. In that case the obligation falls on the host to take your passport to the police station, or on you to go yourself.

The same applies to camping outside an official site, and to anyone sleeping in a van. The rule does not distinguish between a hotel and a driveway.

Why it is cash

Because the host pays it onward to the municipality in cash and does not want it going through a card terminal that charges them a percentage. Have a few euro coins on arrival — a family of four for seven nights is around €28, and being asked for it in exact change at eleven at night is common.

How to tell it apart from a scam

  • It is small. A euro a night per person, not ten.
  • You get a printed slip, usually with a stamp, with your name and dates on it.
  • It is asked for once, not repeatedly.
  • The host will explain it without being pushed — they deal with this every day and expect the question.

If someone asks for a large "city tax" in cash with no paperwork, that is a different thing and worth querying. In three thousand euros of accommodation on this coast the tourist tax will be about thirty of them.

Book locally

Run by a licensed operator in Žabljak. Send a request, pay the operator on the day.

Tara Rafting 14 km — Durmitor National ParkRafting · ŽabljakTara Rafting 14 km — Durmitor National ParkThe shortest Tara section Tara Kula runs: a half day on the river inside Durmitor National Park, passing under the Đurđevića Tara bridge.from €60 Jeep Safari — Tara Canyon ViewpointsJeep safari · ŽabljakJeep Safari — Tara Canyon ViewpointsA short off-road loop to look down into the canyon, with a monastery and a spring on the way.from €60 Green Zip Line at the Tara BridgeZip line · ŽabljakGreen Zip Line at the Tara BridgeNinety seconds over the canyon on a 740 m line next to the Đurđevića Tara bridge.from €45

More in Practical

PracticalMontenegro Uses the Euro but Is Not in the EUHow a country outside the eurozone ended up using the euro, where cards stop working, and what the cash machines charge you. PracticalEight Mistakes First-Time Visitors MakeUnderestimating driving times, arriving without cash for the north, missing the registration slip, and five other things that go wrong on a first trip. PracticalChoosing a Base in MontenegroSix towns compared on price, noise, and how far everything else is. Pick the base that matches the trip you are actually taking.