Traveling to Montenegro and Albania June/July
 

Hi everyone. My wife, 14-year old son and I are planning for a trip late June to mid-July to Montenegro and Albania. I’d welcome any feedback from anyone. I’m planning to drive in Montenegro and then rely on bus/private car in Albania. Fly Florida to Tivat , rent car at Airport, goto Kotor- Day 1

Kotor (Days 2-4)

Durmitor/Zabljak - Days 5-7, including 2.5-3 hr drive from Kotor

Budva - DAYS 8-10, including 1/2 day visit to Cetinje (maybe)

Lake Skadar - Days 11-12, hope to dropoff car rental and get transport to Albania.

Bus or Private Car to Albanian Riviera - unsure still where to stay / which town, but considering Dhermi, Ksamil, Sarandë.







Albanian Riviera - Days 13-17 - Day 17 Car to Tirana for flight home.

Albanian Riviera Suggestions mid July
 

Hi, we are a family of 3 and coming to the Albanian Riviera for 4-5 days mid July. Our son is 14. Looking for a nice beach and hotel / resort to relax at the tail end of a vacation. Researching Ksamil, Sarandë, and others. If anyone has any input….thank you.

We merged your two threads.

Kotor is rather close to Budva. May be it would be easier to stay at Budva all the time (before or after your tripo into the mountains).
The Montenegrinian side of Lake Skadar could be visited in a day trip from Budva.
Traansport to Shkodra (Albania). Either from Ulcinj or from Podgorica.
Albanian Riviera: you mentioned the best places, you could just add Himera.
But don't book accommodation too late. Everything will be full in July.
It would be easier to fly home from Corfu, just 30 min by hydrofoil from Saranda.
In July, there are direct flights from Corfu to almost all somewhat important Western European airports.

It makes more sense to visit Cetinje between Zabljak and Budva, since you have to pass right by it anyway. I was going to say it will be very hot and sticky in Budva, but coming from Florida you are probably use to that!

The journey from Montenegro to the southern part of Albania will take a really long time. You know that you are in for a long drive, right? Take whatever google maps says and double it, especially in summer. If you come in under that, consider yourself lucky.

For the transportation over the border, if you are not packed too heavy you can go in a Tesla but I have only gone as far as Tirana with them. You can download this app - https://teslaclub.me/en/teslagoapp/

I use two specific drivers from the company and I have their phone numbers but I don't want to put them on a public forum. If you cannot get the info from the app I am happy to give you their numbers via private message.

There is also a great driver in Tirana who can also do some guiding, he will even spend a few days with you and drive you around. But he gets booked up because he is very popular. He has a van, so maybe it would be more comfortable that all of you being in one car. Again, I do not want to give his info on a public forum but I am happy to provide by PM.

Thank you. I’m debating about doing Budva and Kotor before heading to the mountains since they’re so close but thought mountains to Albania was too far and going back through Budva would break up the distance. Ok good to know about Lake Skadar. I’ve thought about also skipping it since we will see lakes in the MN mountains.

I didn’t think about flying back from Corfu. I panicked at the price and few decent options left for flights and have already purchased Tirana-London-Ft Lauderdale. I regret not getting your advice sooner.

Ok this is also great info. I didn’t anticipate driving times taking 2x longer in Summer. We are used to the heat! I’ll look into the car info today. I was envisioning a nice charter bus but anything comfortable with AC is fine. I’ll see what I can find and maybe message you about the driver. I’m going to book AL Riviera lodging today if I can.

If you can find one extra day, maybe break up the journey in Tirana. Then you can get a Montenegro driver to Tirana and the next day a local driver for the rest of the way. And have an afternoon and evening to explore a Tirana just a little…

This is definitely a concern. I am driving in MN but don’t want to drive in Albania. If we stop and I can dropoff the car around Lake Skadar on the MN side after coming from Budva, we won’t have much time to rest before getting transport to the Albanian Riviera. And I really can’t settle on a place there or hotel .

Here’s an updated itinerary. Appreciate the feedback I’ve already had and welcome any further insight from anyone.


6/26 - Flights
6/27 - Arrive Tivat, Pickup Car & Drive to Kotor (6/27-6/30.)
6/30 arrive dinner - 7/3 - Durmitor / Zabljak
7/3-7/6 - Budva

7/6-7/8 - Dropoff car in Budva, Car/bus to Shkoder - this is the only part of the trip I haven’t really nailed down. Unsure if we should stop here, stop on the MN side or stop somewhere else to breakup the distance between Budva and Himare

7/8 - Bus/Car from Shkoder to Himare

7/8-7/13 - Himare - Sea View Hotel
7/13 - Bus to Tirana for flight home

Local Tour Guides
 

If anyone has any recommendations on a local tour guide for Kotor or Budva for a day, please share.

Mladen And his team…
https://www.mtours.me/about-us/