Montenegro for Australian Drivers — The Side Switch, Narrow Coast Roads & Winter Tyres

Montenegro packs an enormous amount of dramatic driving into a small country, and the first thing for an Australian to absorb is that it all happens on the right. You have spent your life on the left, so the wrong-way reflex is the risk, and the coast is where it bites. The roads around the Bay of Kotor and along the Adriatic are narrow, threaded with tunnels and hairpins, and often without a shoulder. In July and August, summer traffic jams the coast road, so plan shorter days than the map suggests and spend your first hour somewhere quiet before tackling the climb above Kotor.

Documents

Carry an International Driving Permit with your Australian licence and passport. Australia and Montenegro are both parties to the 1949 Geneva Convention, the format of the permit Australian motoring clubs issue, so it gives police and rental desks a recognised translation of your licence. It cannot be issued once you have left, so arrange it at home and sanity-check your case on the driving permit checker.

Winter tyres and kit

Seasonal rules surprise most Australians. From 15 November to 1 April, on roads in winter conditions and on the sections the government lists, cars need winter tyres with at least 4 mm of tread, and studded tyres are banned. Canada’s travel advice lists a reflective vest, spare bulbs, a first-aid kit and a warning triangle as compulsory in the car.

Alcohol, speeds and fines

The alcohol limit is 0.03%, below Australia’s 0.05%, so there is no comfortable margin: treat it as zero. Limits are 50 km/h in towns, 80 outside them and 130 on the motorway, though most of your driving will be on slow coast and mountain roads. UK travel advice says police can fine you for 10 km/h over, that traffic penalties run from EUR 20 to EUR 6,000 or prison, and that a fine may have to be paid at a bank or post office within 8 days or before you leave. The speeding fine calculator gives an estimate.

The emergency number is 112, and offline maps earn their keep where signal vanishes in the mountains. The Montenegro driving guide covers the rest.

Sources

• Government of Montenegro, winter season notice (15 November-1 April, 4 mm, studded tyres banned): gov.me
• GOV.UK foreign travel advice, Montenegro: safety and security (fines from 10 km/h over; EUR 20-6,000 penalty range; payment within 8 days): gov.uk
• GOV.UK foreign travel advice, Montenegro: getting help (112): gov.uk
• Global Affairs Canada, Montenegro travel advice (compulsory equipment): travel.gc.ca
• UN Treaty Collection, 1949 Convention on Road Traffic (Australia and Montenegro parties): treaties.un.org
• WHO Global status report on road safety 2023, Montenegro profile (50/80/130 km/h; 0.03 g/dl): who.int
• WHO Global status report on road safety 2023, Australia profile (0.05 g/dl): who.int