How much a trip to Montenegro really costs

Montenegro has a reputation for being cheap, and it’s partly deserved. Anything run by public bodies, transport, parks and taxes, costs little. What isn’t regulated, above all seaside accommodation in summer, can be expensive. Here are the prices that have an official source, the only ones I’ll quote, and how I’d budget.

Getting around

Montenegro is one of the cheapest countries I know for transport. A standard ticket from Bar to the capital costs €2.80, Nikšić €3.20 and the sleeper to Belgrade €23.80. The Kamenari to Lepetane ferry charges €5 a car and nothing on foot, according to its operator. Along the Budva Riviera, a local bus to Sveti Stefan comes every ten minutes in daytime. If you’re driving, the Smokovac to Mateševo motorway costs €3.50 and the Sozina tunnel €2.50. Intercity coaches and taxis have no official prices, so agree fares before you travel. Each option is covered in getting around Montenegro.

Entry fees and activities

The five national parks charge €3 to €5 per adult per day, according to their state operator. Durmitor and Lake Skadar are €5, Biogradska Gora €4, Lovćen and Prokletije €3. To me it’s some of the best value of the trip, and they’re all in Montenegro’s national parks. The Kotor cable car is €20 return on the 2026 off-season fare, a treat I’d happily pay for on a clear day. For activities, the National Tourism Organisation gives undated indicative figures, such as around €70 for a day’s rafting on the Tara. I couldn’t find an official price for Kotor’s city walls or Cetinje’s museums.

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

The beach, taxes and what isn’t in the booking price

On the beach, the National Tourism Organisation mentions around €10 a day for a parasol and two sunbeds in Ulcinj and Igalo, around €20 at Bajova kula in Kotor, and €3 to €4 for the boat to Sveti Nikola island off Budva, all undated. Then there’s the tourist tax, set by each municipality and collected by your accommodation. The three towns that publish it charge adults a euro a night, teenagers 50 cents and children nothing. How it ties in with registration is in tourist registration in Montenegro.

Money, cards and shopping

Montenegro uses the euro, so leave the pounds at home. According to the National Tourism Organisation, most restaurants, hotels, bars, petrol stations and supermarkets take Visa, Mastercard, Maestro and American Express, and there are cash machines in every town. gov.uk advises using machines inside banks and keeping your card in sight when paying. Shops open 9am to 9pm and supermarkets 7am to 10pm, most of them closed on Sundays. If you buy something pricey, visitors flying out of Tivat can get VAT back on any single receipt over the €100 mark. More in Montenegro’s currency.

The VAT refund is worth knowing about if you shop for anything substantial. At Tivat airport, according to its procedures page, you show your passport, boarding card, the shop’s stamped refund form and the untouched purchase at customs, before the bag goes into the hold. Alcohol and tobacco are excluded, so it’s no help with duty free. Two other small savings with an official source, children under 12 pay no tourist tax in Tivat or Ulcinj, and the cable car’s upper car park costs nothing, unlike the lower one.

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

What has no official price

Here’s what’s missing, plainly, so you know where my figures stop. I haven’t found official prices for accommodation or restaurants, which vary by business. Nor for intercity buses, taxis, Kotor’s city walls, Cetinje’s museums or the Njegoš mausoleum, nor ski passes for the 2026-27 season. When a website gives you those numbers as fact, ask where they came from. In this guide you’ll only see them once there’s a source.

How I’d budget

I’d split the trip in two. A fixed, cheap part, transport, entry fees and taxes, which you can cost to the euro from this page. And a variable part, accommodation and food, which makes the difference between a pricey trip and a cheap one. For me the lever is the calendar. In June or September the coast is quieter and, with demand lower, accommodation should logically cost less. Ideas for spending less are in Montenegro on a budget.

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