Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Planning Your Time
Assuming you have your own car, for a straightforward one-day plan, drive to Kotor and
back(figureabouteighthours,includingdrivingtimeandsightseeingstops).Toextendyour
time, you can add as much Montenegro as you like. Get an early start (to avoid lines at the
border, I'd leave Dubrovnik as early as 7:30 in the morning). It takes about two hours to
drive from Dubrovnik to Kotor (add about 1.5 hours if you stop in Perast for the boat trip
out to the island). Kotor is worth two or three hours. From Kotor, you can return directly to
up to Njeguši and Cetinje in the Montenegrin interior, or a half-hour to the Budva Riviera
(from either place, figure about 2.5-3 hours back to Dubrovnik). To cram everything into
one extremely long day, you can do Dubrovnik-Kotor-Cetinje-Budva Riviera-Dubrovnik.
If you're taking the bayside road home (not the ferry shortcut) and don't mind getting to
Dubrovnik late, consider stopping for dinner at the recommended Konoba
Ć
atovi
ć
a Mlini
or Stari Mlini restaurants.
Helpful Hints
Border Delays:
The main Croatian-Montenegrin border is at
Debeli Brijeg.
When it's
not busy, this border is relatively straightforward—just stop and show your passport
(and potentially your rental car's proof of insurance, called a “green card”). However,
Montenegro is an increasingly popular side-trip destination for Dubrovnik vacationers,
and—since Croatia joined the EU in 2013—this border is now also the border of the
EuropeanUnion,whichhastightenedthingsupabit.You'llmostlikelyencounterlong
waits (of an hour or more) on Saturdays and Sundays in August, and to a lesser degree
in July and early September. To avoid these long backups, you have two options: Get
an early start (locals suggest reaching the border by 8:00—leaving Dubrovnik around
7:30 or 7:45 to beat the tour buses), or use a different crossing.
A secondary crossing, called
Konfin,
rarely has a line (because big buses are not al-
lowed). While this can save you time on a busy day, it's a bit less straightforward (with
afewturn-offsratherthanastraightshotonthemainroad)andtakesafewmoremiles.
I've narrated a scenic route (“Konfin Border Detour”) in my self-guided driving tour,
later.
Afternoon Delays:
The Debeli Brijeg border crossing can also be severely delayed
coming back to Dubrovnik in the afternoon. (Lines are worst in summer around 16:00
or 17:00—when a long chain of excursion buses all head back at the same time.) If this
happens, bail out and use the secondary (and much less crowded) Konfin border cross-
Local Guide:
While many Dubrovnik-based drivers/guides can bring you to Montenegro,
if you really want the Montenegrin perspective, consider hiring a local guide here. I
