Something interesting is happening on the Adriatic coast this year. While Croatia, long considered the crown jewel of Mediterranean tourism, is grappling with rising prices, overcrowding, and a noticeable dip in visitor numbers, its smaller neighbor to the south is quietly stealing the spotlight.
Montenegro, a country you can drive across in just a few hours, is experiencing a surge in tourism that shows no signs of slowing down. And for travelers who have been to both, the reasons are becoming hard to ignore.
This isn’t a story about one country being better than the other. Croatia is beautiful, and it always will be. But if you’re planning an Adriatic trip in 2026 and weighing your options, there are a few things worth knowing.
The price gap is real, and it’s growing
Let’s start with the elephant in the room: money.
Over the past three years, tourism prices in Croatia have risen by roughly 50%, while most other Mediterranean countries saw increases of only 15 – 20%. In the summer of 2025, Croatia lost an estimated 745,000 overnight stays in July and August alone compared to the year before, a staggering figure that even Croatia’s own tourism minister called a wake-up call.
Croatia has become the second most expensive Mediterranean destination after France, and travelers are feeling it. A coffee in Dubrovnik’s Old Town now costs more than it does in Rome. Sunbed rentals along the Croatian coast can run €30 – 40 per day. A simple dinner for two in Split or Hvar will often exceed €80.
Montenegro, meanwhile, offers a remarkably different experience for your wallet. Here’s a rough comparison of what everyday costs look like.
Dining out: A full meal at a good restaurant in Budva or Kotor will typically cost €10 – 15 per person. In Dubrovnik, the same meal runs €25 – 40. Seafood in Montenegro, fresh, local, and grilled to order, is often half the price of what you’d pay across the border.
Accommodation: A quality apartment on Montenegro’s coast during peak season averages €60 – 90 per night. In Dubrovnik or Split, comparable accommodation easily starts at €120 – 180.
Car rental: This is where the difference really shows. Renting a car in Montenegro typically costs €30 – 50 per day in summer, with full insurance included at many local agencies. In Croatia, similar rentals often run €50 – 80 per day, with insurance extras that can double the final bill.
Coffee and drinks: An espresso in Montenegro runs about €1 – 1.50. A local beer is €2 – 3. In Croatia’s tourist zones, you’re looking at €2.50 – 4 for coffee and €5 – 7 for beer.
The math is simple: a week-long trip in Montenegro can cost 30 – 40% less than the same trip in Croatia, without sacrificing quality. For budget-conscious travelers, families, and couples looking for value, this matters.
Less crowded, more authentic
If you’ve visited Dubrovnik in July or August, you know the feeling. Cruise ships unload thousands of passengers into an Old Town that was built for a few hundred residents. The streets become a slow-moving river of people. Restaurants are packed, wait times are long, and it’s hard to find a quiet moment.
This kind of overtourism is something Croatia has been struggling with for years, and it’s now reaching a tipping point. In 2024, Croatia welcomed over 21 million tourists in a country of less than 4 million people.
Montenegro had about 2.6 million visitors in the same year. That’s a fraction of Croatia’s numbers, and it shows. Even Kotor, Montenegro’s most visited town and a UNESCO World Heritage Site, feels manageable. Yes, it gets busy when cruise ships are in port, but by late afternoon, the crowds thin out and the town belongs to the travelers who are actually staying there.
Beyond Kotor, places like Perast, Herceg Novi, and Ulcinj feel wonderfully unhurried. You can still find empty beaches in Montenegro. You can still walk into a restaurant without a reservation and be greeted like a guest, not a number.
That’s the thing about Montenegro right now: it’s at that perfect sweet spot. Developed enough to be comfortable and accessible, but not yet overrun. It feels like Croatia did fifteen years ago, before the Game of Thrones effect, before the Instagram crowds, before the €15 gelato.
You can actually see the whole country by car
Here’s something that surprises most first-time visitors: Montenegro is tiny. At about 13,800 square kilometers, it’s roughly the size of Connecticut. You can drive from the northern mountains to the southern coast in about three hours.
This makes Montenegro one of the best road trip destinations in Europe. In a single week, you can explore medieval coastal towns, hike through a UNESCO-listed national park, swim in a glacial mountain lake, drive along Europe’s deepest canyon, and end your day with fresh seafood on the Adriatic. All without a single flight or train transfer.
Croatia offers incredible road trips too, but the distances are much greater. Driving from Dubrovnik to Zagreb takes six to seven hours. Getting from the Dalmatian coast to Plitvice Lakes is a full day. And Croatia’s island-hopping, while beautiful, requires ferry schedules and additional planning.
In Montenegro, everything is close. The Bay of Kotor, Lovćen National Park, Durmitor, Lake Skadar, the Budva Riviera: these are all within a few hours of each other. A car gives you total freedom, and the driving itself is part of the experience. The serpentine road climbing from Kotor to the Lovćen summit is one of the most dramatic drives on the continent, with 25 hairpin turns and views that keep getting more ridiculous with every bend.
Renting a car here is straightforward, affordable, and, if you choose a trustworthy local agency, comes with full insurance, no hidden fees, and personal service that the big international chains simply don’t offer in this part of the world.
The landscapes rival anything in the Mediterranean
This is where Montenegro punches well above its weight. For a country this small, the diversity of landscapes is almost absurd.
The Bay of Kotor is often described as the southernmost fjord in Europe, and it lives up to the comparison. Towering limestone cliffs rise straight out of the water, with medieval towns clinging to their base. It’s the kind of scenery that makes you pull over every few minutes just to look.
Then there’s the north. Durmitor National Park is home to the Tara River Canyon, which is deeper than the Grand Canyon in places, along with 18 glacial lakes, alpine meadows, and peaks that reach over 2,500 meters. In summer, you can raft the Tara River in the morning and sunbathe on an Adriatic beach by evening. That kind of contrast doesn’t exist in many places.
Lake Skadar, shared with Albania, is the largest lake in the Balkans and a paradise for birdwatchers and wine lovers alike. The tiny village of Godinje, perched above the lake, has centuries-old wine cellars that are just beginning to attract attention.
Croatia has Plitvice and the islands, and they’re stunning. But Montenegro’s northern wilderness, including Prokletije, Biogradska Gora, and the Piva Canyon, remains genuinely undiscovered by most international tourists. If you’re the kind of traveler who likes to feel like you’ve found something before everyone else does, Montenegro’s mountains are calling.
It’s easier than you think to get here
Montenegro has two international airports: Tivat on the coast and Podgorica, the capital. Both are small, efficient, and blissfully free of the chaos that defines larger European airports. Low-cost carriers like Wizz Air have significantly expanded their Montenegro routes, making the country accessible from dozens of European cities at budget-friendly prices.
Tivat Airport is just 20 minutes from Kotor and 30 minutes from Budva. You could land and be sitting at a seaside restaurant within the hour. Podgorica, while further from the coast, offers a scenic drive south through the Sozina tunnel or over the mountains past Lake Skadar.
Many travelers also enter Montenegro by car from Dubrovnik, which is just an hour from the Montenegrin border. This makes it easy to combine both countries on a single trip. Enjoy a day or two in Dubrovnik, then drive south into Montenegro where your budget goes further and the pace slows down.
Montenegro uses the euro, so there’s no currency exchange hassle if you’re coming from the EU. English is widely spoken in tourist areas, and locals have a well-earned reputation for hospitality that goes beyond professional courtesy. It’s genuinely warm.
The food scene is an underrated highlight
Croatian cuisine has gotten a lot of attention in recent years, and rightly so. But Montenegro’s food scene, while less publicized, is every bit as satisfying and significantly easier on the wallet.
The coast is all about seafood: grilled fish, black risotto, octopus salad, and mussels buzara. In the mountains, the menu shifts to hearty, rustic fare. Think lamb slow-cooked under a sač (a metal dome covered in hot coals), kačamak (a rich polenta-like dish with cheese and cream), and homemade bread that tastes like it belongs in another century.
Then there’s Njeguški pršut, Montenegro’s answer to Italian prosciutto, smoked over beechwood in the mountain village of Njeguši high above the Bay of Kotor. Paired with the local cheese and a glass of Vranac wine from the Crmnica region near Lake Skadar, it’s one of the finest simple meals you’ll have anywhere in Europe.
What makes Montenegro’s food culture special is its accessibility. You don’t need reservations at a fine dining restaurant to eat well. Pull off the road at a family-run konoba, order whatever the owner recommends, and you’ll pay €10 – 15 for a meal that would cost three times as much in Dubrovnik.
Who is Montenegro best for?
Montenegro isn’t trying to replace Croatia on your bucket list. It’s offering something different, and for certain types of travelers, it’s the better choice.
Road trip enthusiasts will find Montenegro hard to beat. The distances are short, the scenery is spectacular, and driving here is an adventure in itself.
Budget-conscious travelers will appreciate getting significantly more for their money without feeling like they’re compromising on quality or beauty.
Families benefit from the compact size, the safe and welcoming atmosphere, and the variety. Kids can swim in the morning and explore a medieval fortress in the afternoon.
Couples looking for romance without crowds will find it in places like Perast, Sveti Stefan, and the quiet coves of the Luštica Peninsula.
Adventure seekers can hike, raft, kayak, paraglide, and mountain bike, often in the same week, if not the same day.
And repeat visitors to Croatia who feel like they’ve seen the highlights may find that Montenegro offers a fresh perspective on the Adriatic, one that feels less polished, less commercial, and more genuinely exciting.
The window won’t stay open forever
Every travel destination has a golden era, that period when it’s accessible and comfortable enough to enjoy, but still unspoiled enough to feel special. Montenegro is in that window right now.
Tourism is growing steadily here. In 2024, the country welcomed 2.6 million visitors and recorded over 15 million overnight stays, and the numbers keep climbing. Arrivals from China grew by nearly 50% in 2025. Israeli visitors increased by 47%. New flight routes are opening. Hotels are being built. The word is getting out.
None of this means Montenegro is about to become the next Dubrovnik. The country is small, the infrastructure is developing thoughtfully, and the mountains ensure that half the country will always feel wild and remote. But the coastal towns are getting busier, and prices, while still very reasonable, are gradually rising.
If you’ve been thinking about visiting Montenegro, 2026 is a very good year to do it. The value is excellent, the crowds are manageable, and the country is putting its best foot forward. Rent a car, leave the main roads when something catches your eye, and give yourself permission to slow down.
You might just find that the smaller neighbor was the real hidden gem all along.
Planning a trip to Montenegro? Exploring by car is the best way to experience everything this country has to offer, from hidden coastal beaches to mountain villages that no bus route can reach. Browse our fleet and discover why travelers who rent locally never go back to the big agencies.
