Dubrovnik to Kotor and the Montenegrin coast

Dubrovnik to the Bay of Kotor is a short hop on the map, but there’s a Schengen external border in between, and that matters more to your timings than the road does. It’s the route many people take when pairing Croatia and Montenegro, and to my mind it’s a lovely way to arrive, provided you avoid the busiest hours. Here are the official figures and my own estimates.

How far it really is

Kotor’s tourism board puts Dubrovnik airport 71 km from Kotor. From Dubrovnik city, my OpenStreetMap estimate gives about 48 km to Herceg Novi, about 78 km to Kotor and about 90 km to Budva. None of that includes the border, which is what really decides how long it takes.

The border at Debeli brijeg or Kobila

The Croatia-Montenegro border is only 20.04 km long, according to MONSTAT, and lies in the municipality of Herceg Novi. There are two road crossings, Debeli brijeg and Kobila, per the National Tourism Organisation. Montenegro isn’t in Schengen, so there are passport checks both ways. The Foreign Office flags summer jams at the border, closures at short notice and the EU’s Entry/Exit System slowing the check back into Croatia. Ask for an entry stamp, which gov.uk recommends. The other crossings are in Montenegro’s border crossings.

If you are staying the night, see the best hotel deals in Herceg Novi for your dates: the well-placed rooms go fast.

Driving via Herceg Novi and the bay

The first town over the border is Herceg Novi, with its fortresses and old town climbing the hillside, and it makes a good first stop before you carry on to Kotor. It’s covered in Herceg Novi.

From there you have a choice. For Kotor or Perast, follow the road round the shore of the bay. For Tivat or Budva, take the ferry across the Verige strait between Kamenari and Lepetane, where a car pays €5 and a motorbike half that on the official 2026 tariff. In summer it runs every 15 to 20 minutes, day and night, as explained in the Kamenari-Lepetane ferry.

Traffic keeps to the right, and if you hire the car in Croatia, check that the contract lets you take it out of the country. gov.uk points British drivers to the RAC’s Montenegro guide for the rules of the road and to its page on UK stickers.

The Kamenari ferry out of season

If you’re crossing in autumn or winter, the ferry is on its winter timetable, which started on 12 October 2026 and lasts until early May 2027. It sails every 20 minutes between 6am and midnight, then only once an hour from Kamenari through the night. According to the operator’s website, foot passengers and cyclists travel free, and you can buy a car ticket online for a set date and time.

So you do not lose the morning at the ticket office, browse tickets and tours in Herceg Novi on GetYourGuide.

What about the bus?

Yes, and more often than you might think. Kotor’s bus station, run by Autoboka, doesn’t publish its own timetable and sends you to the booking platform busticket4.me, so that’s where these figures come from, and I say so. Looked up on 12 October for Tuesday the 20th, Dubrovnik to Kotor had four coaches a day, at 07:15, 11:00, 15:00 and 17:30. Reckon on two to two and a half hours with the border, and €29 to €36 for the ticket, plus a €1 station fee and €1 booking fee online.

They’re long-distance services coming from elsewhere in Croatia or running on to Budva and Podgorica, with operators such as Jadran Ekspres of Kotor, Croatia Bus, Globtour, Touring and Božur, and all of them call at Herceg Novi, 60 to 90 minutes from Dubrovnik for €24 to €30. Budva is about three hours away for €30 to €38. Going the other way, Kotor to Dubrovnik departures were at 08:30, 10:10, 14:40 and 18:00.

With those times, a same-day return trip by coach isn’t worth it. And at the border the whole coach waits while passports are checked. No direct service from Dubrovnik airport to Kotor showed up, so you’d need to get to the city bus station first or take a taxi.

The car and ferry costs

By car, the journey’s own costs are small. The Kamenari ferry is €5 for a car and saves the drive round the bay if you’re heading for Tivat or Budva, and the tourist tax, collected by your accommodation, is €1 per adult per night in Herceg Novi. What really costs you is the border, which is why I’d cross early and never at midday on a Saturday in August.

If you are staying the night, see the best hotel deals in Herceg Novi for your dates: the well-placed rooms go fast.

How I’d do it

I’d cross early, sleep in Herceg Novi or Kotor and give the bay at least two days. A return day trip from Dubrovnik is possible, but with two borders and the bay road in high season you’ll spend much of it in the car. If you’re flying home from Dubrovnik, don’t put the border and the flight back to back without plenty of slack. To split a holiday between the two countries, see Montenegro and Croatia, and for what to see once you arrive, Kotor.