Taking The Bus From Dubrovnik To Kotor Is Super Simple!
Lots of people wonder about the different ways to get from Dubrovnik to Kotor. We thought the same thing… and then we did the trip ourselves! In short, it’s really simple by bus but there are other ways.
You can go from Dubrovnik to Kotor by car – it would be along the same route the bus takes! Because it’s so close, lots of people take the bus to do a Dubrovnik to Kotor day trip. Not a bad idea!
For the most part, however, travellers had large bags so it’s definitely a one-way route into Montenegro to Budva, Ulcinj, and beyond as well!
Here’s our guide to the bus stations, where you buy bus tickets for the trip from Dubrovnik to Kotor, the cost, and what you can expect based on our experience of the journey!
Table of Contents
General Information on the Bus From Dubrovnik to Kotor
There are several different buses throughout the day. Generally, the frequency increases in the summer months. You can check the timetable on Bus Croatia and getbybus.com.
We bought the tickets a couple of days before departure at the bus station in Dubrovnik to make sure we had tickets for the day and time we wanted.
- Price: 135 kuna/person (just over 20 USD)
- Time it Takes: Approximately 3 hours, but expect delays at the border in the high season.
Since it is a pretty popular route we would recommend that you also buy the ticket in advance to make sure that you get the bus at the time you want.
It was one of the most crowded buses we had been on in the Balkans and it wasn’t even high season yet. You could also consider a beautiful guided day trip from Dubrovnik to Kotor if you didn’t want to bus it on your own!
We read on another website after we had done the trip (not a blogger, but a transport site) that the buses on the Dubrovnik-Kotor line have “air conditioning, wifi, plugs, and televisions”. Don’t rely on that!
CroatiaBus had a tv on the bus, but it sure wasn’t turned on. Nor was the wifi. The air vent was working and was quite nice but don’t expect luxury. These are just normal coach buses – which suited us just fine.
To be honest, saying the buses have wifi is a little dangerous because if a traveller reads that and then thinks they can plan ahead while on the bus to find, for example, their accommodation they won’t be able to.
We always screenshot the directions and Google Maps before we start any transition – just in case. In conclusion: Don’t expect wifi on Balkan buses and don’t believe everything that is written online. There are so many different bus companies.
Getting Onto The Bus
As is the norm in Croatia, you’ll have to put your bigger bags in the storage rooms underneath the bus.
This is not free – when we took the Bus from Dubrovnik to Kotor it cost 1 Euro (or 10 Kuna) per bag. The kuna amount might vary with the euro exchange rate and the bus driver, though.
You’ll get a piece of paper with a number for your luggage. Now, we thought that you get it so that at the end of the journey they can make sure that people collect the right luggage and nothing gets stolen.
Honestly though, nobody has ever checked or asked for this piece of paper at the end of a trip. Just in case, be sure to keep it anyway!
It was very busy since lots of people wanted to get on the bus and not everyone was willing to wait in an orderly line.
Don’t let that get to you – just wait your turn to hand in your bags. You should have a seat reservation anyway (although sometimes people don’t really care too much about that).
Crossing the Border
You won’t drive long from Dubrovnik until you hit the border from Croatia to Montenegro since the city is so far south. As you probably know, Dubrovnik is part of Croatia while Kotor is part of Montenegro.
Since Montenegro is currently not part of the EU nor the Schengen Zone you’ll actually have to go through a border check.
The few times we crossed the border into Montenegro were always been pretty straightforward. On the bus from Dubrovnik to Kotor we didn’t even have to get off the bus.
A police officer came on and collected the ID cards/passports. We then waited until they got checked, redistributed to us, and we then continued our journey.
You’ll actually stop at two border crossings and get your passport checked twice – one time for leaving Croatia and one time for entering Montenegro. You’ll even get a stamp in your passport!
Lisa was very happy about that since usually, she doesn’t get a lot of stamps when travelling on the European continent (while Eric with his Canadian passport gets them all the time).
Driving Through Montenegro
You’ll get a beautiful view of the Bay of Kotor. The mountains reach the coast in a stunning drop in elevation and it’s really something to see.
It seems like you’re getting close to Kotor but the bus has to drive around the bay which ends up taking a while – so just enjoy the ride.
The roads can be quite small and curvy at times, but the drivers know the area quite well since it’s a popular route. Lisa felt a little unwell but that’s nothing new – the curvy roads just don’t agree with her stomach.
Arriving in Kotor
After driving along the Bay of Kotor and being in awe the entire time, you’ll come to the end of your journey. The bus station in Kotor is super close to the Old Town.
You’ll actually pass it and then have to walk back up the main road a bit to enter the Old Town.
It’s very straightforward. Just leave the station onto the main road, then turn right at the roundabout and walk a few metres past a supermarket until you see the wall of the Old Town!
If you’re staying outside the Old Town you might find it easy to grab a cab. If you want to learn about what to check out while you’re in Kotor, we wrote a whole Kotor guide for you to read. Kotor was awesome for hiking and old towns!
And there you have it – our journey on the bus from Dubrovnik to Kotor. It’s honestly a really straightforward route with few surprises.
We had a nice ride back into Montenegro and we hope that you do too! If you do this route, let us know about it. We’d love to hear about your experience!
As always, Happy Bus Ride Waddlin’,
– L&E
Related Articles
We sort of accidentally became well-versed in how to get around the Balkans because we did it for a few months.
If you’re looking for information about other buses or trains between big cities, we’ve written a few guides on our experiences travelling the Balkans!
Pin it for later!
