Montenegro and the Balkans: building a route through five neighbours

Montenegro is small, 13,883 km² according to MONSTAT, yet it touches five countries, which makes it the natural hinge of a Balkans trip. I’d always put it in the middle of a longer route, because within a few hours you go from the Adriatic to canyons and mountains that carry straight on across the border. Here are the pieces, with the official figures.

Five neighbours, every crossing checked

MONSTAT measures 716.02 km of land border. Bosnia and Herzegovina accounts for the most, 257.62 km, ahead of Albania with 189.69, Serbia with 170.76, Kosovo with 77.91 and Croatia with a mere 20.04 km by the entrance to the Bay of Kotor. The National Tourism Organisation lists eight road crossings into Bosnia, five into Serbia, four into Albania, two into Croatia and a single one into Kosovo, at Kula. They’re all in Montenegro’s border crossings.

The thing to plan around is that Montenegro isn’t in Schengen. Every crossing is a real passport check, and gov.uk points out that queues into a Schengen country may grow under the EU’s new entry and exit checks. I’d never put a border and a flight on the same day.

Serbia, from one state to a long train ride

Until 2006, Montenegro and Serbia were the State Union of Serbia and Montenegro. After the referendum of 21 May, Montenegro’s parliament declared independence on 3 June 2006 and the UN admitted it on 28 June. The longer story is in the history of Montenegro.

What links the two today, for a traveller, is the railway. ZPCG runs one train a day from Bar to Belgrade, 10 h 58 min, at €23.80 in second class and €35.60 in first on its timetable checked 04-10-2026. From Podgorica it takes 9 h 48 min and from Bijelo Polje 6 h 58 min. It’s slow, but you see the whole country from the window. Details in Belgrade to Montenegro.

Once your dates are set, check which hotels are still free in Kotor before prices climb.

Bosnia via the mountains, Croatia and Albania via the coast

The Bosnian border is almost all mountain. The Tara rafting run described by the National Tourism Organisation ends at Šćepan Polje, which is also a border crossing, so the canyon doubles as a gateway to Bosnia. On the coast, Croatia is a short hop from Herceg Novi, covered in Montenegro and Croatia. Southwards, Albania is reached through Sukobin or Božaj, while up in Prokletije the Peaks of the Balkans trail strings Montenegro, Albania and Kosovo together, with a prior application to the border police for any section off the official crossings. That’s in Montenegro to Albania.

How I’d link it up

With ten to twelve days I’d do three countries, not five. My favourite version is in through Croatia, down the Bay of Kotor, up to Durmitor and the Tara, and out to Albania past Lake Skadar, or the same in reverse. If you’d rather go by rail, arriving or leaving on the Belgrade line is a very different way to see the country.

Two practical points for a British driver. Check before you book that your hire contract lets you take the car into each country on the route, and that you’ll keep right on every road of the trip. Montenegro also requires you to be registered within 24 hours, which your hotel handles; in a private rental the job is yours.

If you would rather have a local show you round, book a guided tour in Kotor and choose by the reviews.

Once your dates are set, check which hotels are still free in Kotor before prices climb.