Pickup across the Bay of Kotor and both airports, with free hotel delivery on most cars and insurance tiers chosen at checkout.
Popular rental cars in Kotor
Starting daily rates, refreshed daily from live availability. Your final price depends on your dates and the season, and is confirmed at checkout.
Where to pick up your Kotor rental car
Most Kotor rentals start in one of two places: a Tivat Airport car rental, eight kilometres and about 25 minutes from the Old Town walls, or a handover in Kotor itself for anyone arriving by ferry, cruise tender or transfer. In town you can collect at the Kamelija shopping centre, the bus terminal, Hotel Forza Mare in Dobrota or the cruise port, or take free city delivery to your hotel, apartment or marina on most cars. Paperwork is the same as anywhere in Europe: passport, driving licence, and a card for the refundable deposit on the lower insurance tiers.
Where you collect changes your first morning more than the daily rate does. The right pickup drops you ten minutes from your accommodation; the wrong one costs an hour in arrival-day traffic around the bay. Pick the point closest to where you are staying and let the car sit until you want to drive out to Lovcen, Cetinje or across the border.
Choose a pin on the map below for the full pickup guide, or jump straight to a region. Most fly-in visitors pick up at Tivat Airport, the closest gateway to the bay; if your flight routes inland instead, you can collect at Podgorica Airport, a 75-minute drive to the coast over the Sozina tunnel.
Tivat, Podgorica and Dubrovnik airport pickups
Tivat Airport car rental is the default for the Bay of Kotor. The terminal handles around 1.4 million passengers a year and is small enough that the walk from arrivals to the rental car park takes under five minutes; Kotor is 25 minutes away, Budva about 20. For winter arrivals or a cheaper connection through Belgrade or Istanbul, Podgorica Airport car rental is the inland alternative, a 75-minute drive to the coast over the Sozina tunnel.
Flying into Croatia is common in peak season. Dubrovnik Airport car rental works well too: the terminal sits just north of the border, and from there it is roughly a 90-minute drive to Kotor along the Adriatic coast road and over the Kamenari ferry. It is the busiest international gateway in the region, with the widest choice of direct flights from the UK and Western Europe, so it is often the cheapest way in even with the short hop across the frontier. The coastal approach through Herceg Novi and the Verige strait is also one of the most scenic arrivals anywhere on the Adriatic.
Bay of Kotor pickup points
The Bay of Kotor is a UNESCO-listed fjord ringed by medieval towns, and a car is the only practical way to move between them once the day-trip boats stop running. Pickup and free in-town delivery on most cars are available at the cruise port, the bus terminal, the Kamelija shopping centre and the Dobrota waterfront hotels.
Most travellers collect by the Kotor waterfront, where a Kotor car rental sits a short walk from the Old Town and the Dobrota apartments. Those based at the baroque waterfront for the Our Lady of the Rocks boats can pick up in Perast, and picking up a Tivat car rental puts Porto Montenegro and the Lustica beaches on the doorstep without the airport detour.
Beyond the bay: Budva
South of the Vrmac tunnel the coast opens into the resort strip, with Budva the natural base for the beaches between Jaz and Becici, the walled old town and the short hop to Sveti Stefan. It is about 20 minutes from Tivat Airport and 40 from Kotor, so a car collected anywhere in the bay reaches it comfortably in a morning.
A Budva car rental makes sense when the riviera is your main stay rather than a day trip. One-way pickups between Budva and the bay are straightforward, and the same fleet, insurance tiers and free in-town delivery on most cars apply wherever you choose to start.
Beyond the bay: Podgorica
The capital, Podgorica, is the inland gateway to Lake Skadar, Ostrog monastery and the mountain north. It is a useful pickup when a flight lands inland, and it shortens the run to Durmitor and the Tara canyon.
From Podgorica the Sozina tunnel drops you to the coast in about 75 minutes, so picking up a Podgorica car rental and driving to a Kotor base is a common off-season route. Plan the longer mountain legs with the Montenegro driving guide before you set off.
Before you book at any pickup
Three things work the same way at every pickup point: how insurance and the deposit are handled, where free delivery is offered, and what a cross-border trip requires.
Insurance and deposit
Every booking includes free Minimum third-party liability cover. At checkout you can add Basic, Full Coverage, or Full Coverage Plus, which removes both the excess and the deposit.
The refundable cash deposit on the lower tiers is usually around €100 and comes back when you return the car. Most cars in the fleet can be collected without a credit card, and cash, card or crypto are all accepted for the rental itself.
Delivery and airport pickup
Delivery to your hotel, apartment, ferry terminal or marina is free on most cars within town limits at coastal pickups, so you can skip the car-park queue and have the keys brought to you. Airport pickups are met in arrivals with no extra meet-and-greet fee.
Cross-border and one-way trips
Driving into Croatia, Bosnia, Serbia, Albania or Kosovo needs a paid permit arranged before pickup, and the Green Card is included on the upper insurance tiers. Our border crossing guide lists the documents and the rules for each country. One-way rentals work right across Montenegro too, picking up in the bay and dropping off at another town or airport; see our one-way car rental guide for routes and pricing.
Frequently asked questions
These cover what comes up across the Bay of Kotor pickups rather than at any single point: payment and the deposit, age and licence requirements, and what changes between an airport pickup and an in-town handover.
Where do most people pick up a car in Kotor?
Tivat Airport for fly-in visitors, and a handover by the Kotor waterfront or in Dobrota for everyone arriving by ferry, cruise or transfer. Both include free in-town delivery on most cars.
Can I collect at Tivat Airport and drop off somewhere else?
Yes. One-way rentals between pickup points are possible; tell us the drop-off point when you book so it can be priced and confirmed.
Do I need a credit card to rent?
Most cars in the fleet can be collected without a credit card. A refundable deposit of around €100 applies on the lower insurance tiers, or none at all on Full Coverage Plus.
How far is Tivat Airport from Kotor?
Eight kilometres, about 25 minutes by road on a clear day. Budva is roughly 20 minutes from the terminal.
What if my flight lands in Podgorica instead?
Podgorica Airport works as an inland pickup. It is a 75-minute drive to Kotor over the Sozina tunnel, the option to use when winter weather diverts coastal flights.
Choose a town and see what is available to drive away on your dates.
Pickup in Kotor, across the bay and both airports
