Car hire in Podgorica is easy enough to organise, and a good idea, seeing as some of the major tourist attractions in this part of Montenegro are a little way outside of the town. The first one worth making a day trip of is Niagara Falls, although they’re not as high as the North America namesake. Dajbabe Monastery is another worthwhile site: a church built in 1897 inside a cave. The Petrovic Palace, which also houses the Montenegro Contemporary Art Centre inside its original 19th-century pink walls. The most prominent human-made structure in Podgorica is Millennium Bridge across the Moraca River, which you can marvel at as you drive across it.
You’ll arrive in the city at Podgorica Airport, which is well serviced by many of the largest car hire companies in Europe. You’ll see them all lined up ahead of you as you exit customs after the luggage carousel pick-up area, including Avis, Hertz or Europcar. You can then collect your vehicle from the opposite airport’s main terminal as you exit. Once you have your Podgorica car hire all sorted out, the centre of town is a mere 12.6 km (about 8 miles) drive away.
Most of the roads in and entering Podgorica are in very good condition and traffic is very light, but there are some local standards and regulations to which you should pay attention. Firstly, it’s mandatory to drive with your headlights dipped at all times of the day. You should also add a little bit of extra time to any trip, to cater for the occasional roadworks, detours around monasteries and narrow roads in the area. Budget for about 20 to 30min extra when you have car hire in Podgorica and are planning your sightseeing trips.
Rush hour is pretty much a foreign concept here, so you can relax completely on that front. Some roads can get at least a little busy at seemingly random times. These are especially the main ones through the centre of town in the area where Pete Proleterske Brigade becomes Bulevar Mihalia Lalica, and at the roundabout where four main road intersect: Bulevar Revolucije, Dr Ljubomira Rasovica, Cetinjski Put, and Bulevar Dzordza Vasingtona.
25% of our users found rental cars in Podgorica for C$ 55 or less
Book your rental car in Podgorica at least 1 day before your trip in order to get a below-average price
Off-airport rental car locations in Podgorica are around 16% cheaper than airport locations on average
Compact rental cars in Podgorica are around 78% cheaper than other car types, on average
FAQs about renting a car in Podgorica
Some car rental companies in Podgorica which have updated their car rental health and safety policies due to COVID-19 to make sure vehicles are clean and disinfected include Budget and Europcar
On average a hire car in Podgorica costs C$ 79 per day.
In the past 72 hours, the cheapest rental cars were found at SURPRICE CAR RENTAL (C$ 72/day), MTL Rent a Car (C$ 75/day) and Viaggiare Rent (C$ 80/day). In the last 72 hours the cheapest rental car price was found at MTL Rent a Car Bracana Bracanovića 40d, Podgorica 81000 (3 kilometers from city center).
Yes, automatic cars are available in most car renting companies in Podgorica. As cars with manual transmission are more common in many countries, you might have to pay an additional charge for renting an automatic car.
The average gas price in Podgorica is C$ 8.59 per litre over the past 30 days. Filling up a gas tank costs between C$ 103 and C$ 137, depending on the car size.
Compact (Hyundai Accent or similar) is the most frequently booked rental car type in Podgorica.
A Compact car rental in Podgorica costs C$ 10 per day, on average.
A Economy car rental in Podgorica costs C$ 33 per day, on average.
A Mini car rental in Podgorica costs C$ 60 per day, on average.
In Podgorica, cars are most frequently rented at Ace Golubovci BB (8 km from city centre ).
On average a rental car in Podgorica costs C$ 554 per week (C$ 79 per day).
On average a rental car in Podgorica costs C$ 2,375 per month (C$ 79 per day).
The areas just around Podgorica offers some of the best driving in the Balkans, so you are free to choose the car you’re going to enjoy the most. One hint is that it’s actually better to get a saloon rather than a 4WD or MPV, because the rural roads can become quite narrow and the area is mountainous. It will also help you to find parking more easily in the centre of town. In winter you’ll probably need to make sure that your hire car is equipped with snow chains as you may need them if it’s a severe season.
The local police enforce the speed limits very strictly, so take the signs very seriously. In the centre of town you can drive at a maximum of 50km/h (approx. 30mph) and on the highways around the rest of Montenegro you need to keep to 80km/h (just under 49mph). Be very careful though, because this can quickly change to as low as 20km/h (around 12mph) in some places where the roads are more narrow.
Street parking can be a bit hard to come by in Podgorica due to its small size. Summer is the season when it’s most difficult. Rather head for the parking lot in Ulica Svetlane Kane Radevic, or Bulevar Svetog Petra Cetinjskog Parking. In summer the prices range from around €0.5 to €2 per hour (about £0.40 - £1.75), settling at around €0.50 (£0.40) in winter.