Travel

The Rough Guide to Montenegro

Introduction

Airfares are highest from June to August, and drop during the “shoulder” seasons – March to May and September to October. The best prices are found during the low season, from November to February, excluding Christmas and New Year when prices are hiked up and seats are at a premium

You can often cut costs by going through a specialist flight agent, who in addition to dealing with discounted flights may also offer student and youth fares and travel insurance, rail passes, car rentals, tours and the like. Some agents specialize in charter flights, which may be cheaper than scheduled flights, but departure dates are fixed and withdrawal penalties are high.

Flights from the UK and Ireland

Flying to Podgorica from the UK takes approximately two and a half hours. Montenegro Airlines operates one flight a week from London Gatwick to the capital, Podgorica, and twice-weekly flights from London Gatwick to Tivat on the coast. However, as tourism takes off things are quite likely to change  during the summer months in particular the number of flights is likely to increase  so it’s always worth checking on the latest situation.

Expect to pay around £150–170 return in low season, £180–220 in high season. A good, and slightly cheaper, alternative is to fly into Dubrovnik, just across the border in Croatia, to which there are more frequent services; both British Airways and Croatia Airlines operate flights between London Gatwick and Dubrovnik, while Thomsonfly fly to Dubrovnik from London Gatwick, Luton and Manchester.

Doing it this way, fares can be obtained from as little as £100 in low season, rising to around £180 in high season. From Dubrovnik there are straightforward onward connections by bus into Montenegro. Another cheaper possibility is to fly with easyjet to Split, though this is about four hours (by bus) further up the coast from Dubrovnik. You could also fly into Belgrade in Serbia with either British Airways or JAT (Yugoslav Airlines), from where there are regular onward flights (with JAT) to both Podgorica and Tivat.

Flights from the USA and Canada

There are no direct flights from the USA or Canada to Montenegro, so you’ll have to use one of the national carriers to fly you into a major European hub and continue the journey from there. From the east coast of the US expect to pay around US$750 in low Getting there Flying is the easiest way to reach Montenegro, with direct flights from the UK, although there are presently no direct flights from North America, Australasia or South Africa.

Travelling overland from the UK is a long haul, and you’ll save little, if anything, by taking the train, although with a rail pass you can take in Montenegro as part of a wider trip. Driving there will involve a journey of some 2300km from Britain, an absorbing trip but one best covered slowly. Getting there 20 season and US$1100 in high season; and from the west coast around US$1000 in low season and US$1500 in high season.

An alternative is to fly with a European carrier into the capital city of a country close to Montenegro, such as Budapest, in Hungary, from where you can get a connecting flight to Podgorica. Malev, the Hungarian carrier, flies direct from New York’s JFK to Budapest, and offers similar fares. It also schedules direct flights from Toronto, with fares from around Can$900 in low season and Can$1300 in high season.

Flights from Australia and New Zealand

There are no direct flights to Montenegro from Australia or New Zealand so you’ll have to change airlines, either in Asia or Europe, although the best option is to fly to a Western European gateway city, such as London, Paris or Frankfurt, and get a connecting flight from there. A standard return fare from the east coast of Australia to Podgorica, via London with Qantas, is around Aus$2200 low season and Aus$2700 high season. The same routings apply for flights from New Zealand, with a standard return fare from Auckland to Podgorica, via London, from around

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