Driving and Parking in Podgorica: What to Know |

Driving in Podgorica is manageable once you know where to leave the car. The centre is compact, and the airport is a 15-minute run south of town. This page covers where to park, how to pay, what happens if you get it wrong, and the tolls and ferries you will meet once you head out of the city.

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Parking in the centre

Central Podgorica parking is metered in the blue-line zone from 08:00 to 20:00, Monday to Saturday, at 0.50–1.00 EUR per hour. Check the sign at the bay for the hours and price that apply where you park, since the zone boundaries are not always obvious.

Payment is usually at a machine on the street or by phone or app where the zone offers it. Buy the ticket for the time you need, display it clearly on the dashboard and keep the receipt. If you are staying overnight, check whether your hotel has its own parking: a private space saves a lot of circling in the evening.

Blue-line bays are the ones you are meant to use. Bays in other colours, bus stops, loading bays and pavements are best left alone, however convenient they look, and the city’s traffic wardens know the centre well. For a longer stay, look for a public garage on the edge of the centre and walk in.

Parking at the airport

At Podgorica Airport parking costs 1.50 EUR per hour, 8 EUR per day or 80 EUR per month, and the expanded lot has 384 parking spaces. That is handy if you are meeting a flight or leaving a car while you travel, but check the current rates on the airport’s pages before you rely on them.

Fines and towing

Parking penalties in Montenegro are handled locally, and the charge for a ticket or for collecting a towed car can change. The safe approach is simple: pay for the bay you are in, keep within the marked lines, and never leave a car where it blocks a crossing, a bin lorry or an entrance. If you do get a ticket, pay it through the official channel shown on the notice rather than to anyone who offers to sort it out for you, and tell your rental company straight away. If the car is removed, call the number on the parking sign or ask the police, then contact the rental company before you collect it.

Traffic in the city

Podgorica’s rush hours are short and busy rather than gridlocked. The bridges over the Morača and the roads around the centre fill up when offices open and close, and a journey that takes ten minutes at midday can take twice as long then. If you are heading south to the airport or the coast, leave a little earlier than you think you need to.

One-way streets and no-turn junctions in the centre mean it is worth setting your parking destination in your phone before you set off, rather than trying to read street signs while driving. Pull over properly if you need to check the map.

Tolls and ferries

Two tolls you are likely to meet: the Sozina tunnel costs 2.50 EUR for cars, and the Morača–Kolašin–Mateševo motorway costs 3.50 EUR. Keep some cash in the car for both, even if you mostly pay by card.

The Kamenari–Lepetane car ferry across the Bay of Kotor costs 4.50 EUR for a 10-minute crossing and runs every 15 minutes in summer and every 30 minutes in winter. It is the quick way to cut the corner of the bay on the road to the coast.

For Italy, a regular ferry runs from Bar to Bari all year, with several crossings a week in summer; the crossing takes around 8 hours. Bar is 55 km from Podgorica, so it is an easy drive down if you are taking a car across the Adriatic.

Day trips from the city

Budva: 65 km, a 50-minute drive via the 4.2-kilometre Sozina tunnel.
Kotor: 90 km, about an 80-minute drive.
Ostrog Monastery: 45 km, a 50-minute drive, with the final 8 km on a narrow mountain road.

The monastery road is the one to take slowly, and it is worth checking the weather before you go. For longer trips, the E65, E80, E762, E763 and E851 routes connect Montenegro by road with Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia, Kosovo and Albania, but check your rental agreement before you cross a border: permission is not automatic.

Practical tips

Photograph the car inside and out before you drive away, and again when you return it.
Keep the rental agreement and the company’s phone number in the car, not in your suitcase.
Carry some cash for tolls, the Kamenari ferry and small car parks.
Fill up before long mountain drives, so you are not hunting for a station on a quiet road.
Do not leave bags or valuables on show, especially at trailheads and monastery car parks.
If you have an accident, call the police and get an official report. Zeta, for example, requires one in case of accident, theft or vandalism.

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