Podgorica

Day One: Apr 7, 2024

We arrived in Podgorica early in the morning, initially planning to take the Aerodrom train to the city centre. However, with trains running every 2 to 5 hours, we would have faced a long wait. Since our flight had landed just after the previous train's departure, we had little choice but to take a taxi, which cost us €15. If our flight had arrived just an hour earlier, we would have caught the train!

After arriving in the city, we had a few hours to kill before we could check into our apartment. Fortunately, the apartment owner, Petar, was incredibly accommodating and kindly arranged for us to check in earlier than planned at no extra cost.

With about an hour to spare, we found a café just beneath the apartment to wait. We'd wandered around for a while beforehand trying to find a place that accepted card payments, but they were few and far between. Luckily, this café did! The ATM fees for currency conversion were quite steep, so we were glad to avoid that. We also popped into a shop and bought an M:Tel SIM card, giving us internet access for the trip.

When the apartment was ready, we took the lift up but immediately regretted it as it seemed like it was falling apart! It was our last time using it. Upon entering the apartment, we were greeted with one of the best views we’ve ever seen: mountains in the background, the Millennium Bridge, and an Ottoman-style mosque all in one panorama. Absolutely stunning.

After dropping off our bags, we ventured into the old town, amazed by how few tourists there were. It felt like we had the place to ourselves! We also checked out the Millennium Bridge up close and found some much-needed shade in a nearby park to escape the intense heat.

Later, we returned to the apartment for a bit of rest before heading out in the evening for some traditional Montenegrin food, recommended by Petar. Unfortunately, the restaurant was packed with tourists, this must have been where they were all hiding! In honestly it felt like a bit of a tourist trap—prices were on the high side, with our meal costing £50 for starters, drinks, and mains. In the UK, that would be a good deal, but in the Balkans, especially after having a feast in Bosnia for just £15 a few months prior, it seemed steep. The waiter was also a bit pushy, trying to upsell us to the pricier dishes, but we stood our ground and ordered what we wanted.

Despite the price, the portions were generous, so much so that we ended up taking the leftovers home with us. We then called it a night, ready to explore the beautiful town of Kotor the following morning.

Day Two: 8 Apr 2024

The following morning, we headed to Podgorica Bus Station, with tickets already booked for Kotor. Like always, we had them saved on our phones, ready to show the driver. However, when we got to the station, we were a bit puzzled—there was a barrier but no way to scan our QR codes. So, we headed to the counter to ask about the process and were told something rather unexpected. Not only did we need physical tickets, but there was also a station fee, and the drivers didn’t accept digital tickets.

This was surprising, as it hadn’t been an issue in Bosnia, another Balkan country. And it was the first time we had encountered a station fee anywhere. It was unclear what the fee was for, considering it clearly wasn’t going towards improving the station!

The fee was only €1 each, plus another €1 to print our tickets. However, they didn’t accept card payments, so we had to withdraw €10 from an ATM, which of course incurred another conversion charge just for an unexpected €3 expense.

The printed tickets came with another twist. Since Tammy had sent both our outbound and return tickets in a single file, they printed the tickets double-sided—one side for Podgorica to Kotor and the other for Kotor to Podgorica. This would soon become a bigger problem than we anticipated.

After paying the station and printing fees, we headed to the platform, waiting for about an hour before our bus finally arrived. When it did, it was much smaller than we expected—more of a minibus, seating around 10 people, including the driver. We handed over our tickets and sat down. But then, it hit us: we wouldn’t have a ticket for our return journey since it was printed on the reverse side! With no idea if Kotor had printing services, we decided not to take any risks and got back off the bus to ask the driver for the return ticket back. Unfortunately, he refused, explaining that he needed it for his records. He suggested we might be able to print a new one in Kotor, but couldn’t guarantee it.

With Kotor being two hours away and all of our belongings back in the apartment, we didn’t want to chance it. So, we hurried back inside the station to print a separate return ticket. By the time we got back, the bus had already left!

We pleaded with the station staff to see if we could swap to a different time, but this particular bus service didn’t have any more departures for the day. Our only option was to buy a new ticket for €8. Considering it was a two-hour journey, we felt this was reasonable and headed back to the ATM to withdraw more money—incurring yet another charge.

Once we had printed our tickets for Kotor and secured our return tickets, we were at least reassured that we wouldn’t face further issues getting back to Podgorica.

Our new bus arrived and was a proper, full blown coach with aircon and plenty of seats, turns out this mistake was probably for the best, we set off to Kotor for the 2 hour trip through some of the best scenery we had seen since we took the trip from Croatia to Bosnia a few months back.

Want to see how the trip to Kotor was? You can find it here!

Day Three: 9 Apr 2024

Arriving back in Podgorica the next day, we prepared to head to Tirana, Albania. With a few hours to spare, we decided to explore the more modern part of the city. On our bus ride to Kotor, we had passed through the Kruševac area and were struck by how modern and upscale it appeared, which is quite uncommon for Balkan countries, so we wanted to capture it on camera before continuing our journey.

We grabbed a meal at a huge mall in that district, but unfortunately, Bob started feeling the onset of a cold, which ended up lingering with him for the rest of the trip and even into our return to England.

Luckily, it was still mild enough that he had the energy to vlog and document the modern side of Podgorica before we made our way to the bus station. Having learned from our previous experience, we were much better prepared this time, getting our station fee paid and tickets printed in advance.

The bus ride to Albania, however, was less than ideal. There was an English couple onboard who vaped throughout the trip, which was not only annoying but also didn’t give the best impression of us Brits. Still, we pushed through the four-hour journey. The border crossing was thankfully smooth, and after that, we finally made it into Albania, en route to its capital, Tirana.

Want to follow the Albanian leg of the journey? You can find it here.

Day Four: 12 Apr 2024

It was our final day in Podgorica having arrived back the previous evening from Tirana, it was an early warm morning and the birds chirped outside, we were due to go back to England today so decided to take the train rather than a taxi there, especially as we hadn't managed to take the train into the city when we first arrived.

The train station, as it turns out, was right next to the bus station, but it was surprisingly difficult to find. It was tucked away in a little hidden underpass, and we actually walked past it a few times before stumbling across it by chance! The station was unmarked, so without that lucky discovery, we might have missed it entirely.

We went to the information centre to buy tickets and check which platform the train would depart from. Oddly enough, while they sold us the tickets, they couldn’t tell us the platform number until the train was actually arriving. Very strange, but we eventually found our train. It was a close call as we almost missed it, but we ran and made it just in time!

The train fare was just over €1 each, making it the cheapest train journey we’d ever taken in Europe. It was amazing to compare it to back home, where a similar length journey would cost around €15 per person!

When we got to the airport station, we were surprised to find it was nothing more than a small, graffitied hut! From there, it was a 15-minute walk to the airport. Upon arriving, we reflected on our time in Montenegro. It wasn't a country we’d initially considered, but when we found a cheap flight, our curiosity about another Balkan country got the best of us. And we're so glad it did—it turned out to be such a memorable experience!