The first step to my new life began with taking a flight from Budapest, Hungary to Podgorica, the capital of Montenegro.
It was a rainy day with a cold spell coming, but all in all, it wasn’t too much of a bumpy ride. The flight took a little over an hour.
Podgorica Airport is probably the smallest airport I have seen so far. [explain how small]
From there, you can either take an airport shuttle bus, a taxi or the train to Podgorica.
The train is probably the cheapest option, and this is what I chose. The train ticket supposedly costs €1.20 for the ride, which takes only minutes. Check out the timetable here.
You just have to walk leave the airport parking lot and follow all the cars leaving until you find a trail that leads to this slightly sketchy-looking train stop (named Aerodrom):
There is only a single train track here, so it’s important to know which direction you’re going.
To go to Podgorica, the train comes from the opposite direction of the railway overpass (this was a source of confusion among some fellow passengers).
Since there is no ticket booth at this train stop, you’ll buy your ticket on board if the conductor comes in time – but remember this is only a 7-minute ride! In my case, no one came and I rode for free.
Once in town, Podgorica bus station is conveniently located right next to the train station. You can pick up some snacks and maybe visit the public bathroom.
NOTE
A word of advice, especially to the lady travelers: if you don’t know what a squatting toilet is, get acquainted with the concept – you may have to use more in the southeast of Europe.
Kotor, an inlet on the Adriatic seacoast, is just two hours away from Podgorica. Buy your ticket either at a counter or one of the vending machines (out of order as of April, 2022, when I visited). The ticket costs around €6.50 and tells you which bus bay (‘peron’) your bus departs from. You can also check the timetables and buy tickets online here.
Driving out of Podgorica I thought it is a nice-looking town, with many green spaces and parks. It is fairly small for a capital city (but the whole country is not big either).
Our bus went on a highway to Cetinje, the old royal capital, then continued to Budva on the seacoast. From Budva, it was only about 30 minutes to Kotor.
So, that’s all there is to it!
If you want to see more of this trip, here is a video summary:
