ESSENTIAL MONTENEGRO TRAVEL TIPS YOU NEED TO KNOW

PLANNING YOUR PERFECT TRIP TO MONTENEGRO

We had the most incredible time exploring Montenegro as a family. I’ve been blogging our entire journey, this is my final post about all the Montenegro travel tips you need to know before you go. I’m going to cover all the things to know before visiting Montenegro and things we wish we had known before.

As we visited as a family, I’ve split it out into general tips (useful to everyone) and kid-specific tips.

We spent two weeks in Montenegro in April 2024. At this time, our boys were aged 4 and 14 months.

MORE DETAILS ABOUT OTHER PLACES IN MONTENEGRO WE VISITED:

TIVAT – KOTOR – BUDVA – LAKE SKADAR – NIKSIC – TARA CANYON – ZABLJAK

MONTENEGRO TRAVEL TIPS THAT YOU NEED TO KNOW BEFORE YOU GO

I’m going to dive straight into what to know before travelling to Montenegro here! Hopefully, these will help you have the most amazing trip!

THE WEATHER

The weather in Montenegro is insane, you can go from brilliant sunshine to a downpour of rain in a matter of seconds! Be sure to pack an umbrella and a coat for the kids. If you go to the North of Montenegro, the temperature there is much cooler than in the rest of the country. We actually had snow while we were there (in April).

PRICES / BUDGETING

Montenegro is still a reasonably priced country overall however, costs are rapidly increasing due to more tourism coming to the area. Most activities were a few Euros more than it said online and many restaurants had stickers over their prices to increase them without reprinting the menus.

The Bay of Kotor area was noticeably more expensive than the rest of the country. This is not surprising as Kotor is the most popular location for tourists to visit.

DRIVING

To explore Montenegro properly, it is best to hire a car. When renting a car in Montenegro, I think it’s fair to say it’s a less luxurious experience than renting in England or anywhere we visited while living in the USA. Cars are generally older and the car seats were not as new-looking.

The people of Montenegro are also not the safest drivers, they will often overtake on a bend or in a blind spot. We saw a couple of near crashes so leave plenty of space between you and the car in front.

Traffic in the Bay of Kotor area gets busy so it’s best to get out early, this is also helpful to find a parking space.

SAFETY

A lot of people have asked me if Montenegro is safe for tourists. We found it to be a very safe country (apart from the drivers). We had no problems and never felt unsafe throughout our trip.

SMOKING

People smoke everywhere, including inside bars and restaurants. This may or may not bother you but we tried to eat outside wherever possible.

GROCERY SHOPPING

There are many supermarkets/ grocery stores across Montenegro. They call them Markets, the main ones are called Voli and Idea. If you search Google Maps, you should find them. Note, that they all close on Sundays.

CASH vs CARD

Surprisingly, not everywhere will accept card payments. Everywhere we went in Tivat and Kotor did however around Lake Skadar and The Durmitor National Park, most places, including restaurants were cash only. So make sure to take some Euros.

KID-FRIENDLY MONTENEGRO TRAVEL TIPS THAT YOU NEED TO KNOW BEFORE YOU GO

HIGHCHAIRS

Restaurants and cafes do not have high chairs, which is strange as it is generally a very family-friendly country.

NAPPIES/ DIAPERS

One of my big questions was, will we be able to find nappies easily? Luckily yes, even the small markets usually had nappies. Most of the time they had Pampers and their own brand. My baby is no longer on formular but I noticed Aptamil and Hipp in some of the larger stores.

PACK WATER SHOES

Nearly all the beaches in Montenegro are pebbles. I’d recommend packing water shoes to protect their feet!

best things to do in Tivat Montenegro as a family - beach

Thank you for reading this guide on all the Montenegro travel tips you need to know before you go. I hope we’ve helped you prepare for your trip and you have an amazing time!