Some thoughts about driving in Montenegro:

  • The lines in the middle of the road are merely a suggestion.
  • The roads are rarely wide enough for two cars, much less a truck or bus.
  • Montenegrins know no fear of heights and many roads are at the edge of cliffs, and, if you’re lucky, they might have guard rails.
  • Locals obviously know the roads better, but are more than likely to pass on blind curves, leading to near heart attacks on the part of unsuspecting foreigners like ourselves.

With all that said, I did finally get comfortable enough driving around to tackle the Serpentine Road from Kotor to Cetinje. 8.3 kilometers with 30 hairpin turns. As described on one website: “This narrow road can be treacherous. With inward-leaning concrete barriers on one side and jagged rock on the other, multiple vehicles may have to reverse their way back up the road when meeting a bus or construction vehicle coming the other way.” I thought we were going up early enough in the season, and early enough in the day to avoid such traffic, but within minutes I found myself backing down a road to let a truck through (impatient, but friendly enough). While pulled over and admiring the view, we watched one poor cement truck driver have to back up three times to let oncoming traffic come through.

Our friend Kathy on our switchback drive up above Kotor

P.S. I highly recommend the Citroën C3 Aircross. It looks like a bloated Mini Cooper, but it sat low to the ground, handled well, and comfortably sat four. Woohoo!