Copenhagen <-> Budva (western Montenegro) weekend commuting?
Jan 23, 2015, 7:12 am
#1
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Join Date: Jan 2015
Posts: 234
Copenhagen <-> Budva (western Montenegro) weekend commuting?
I want to travel to Budva, Montenegro, frequently on weekends from Copenhagen (CPH) or Malmo (MMX), that is, fly down there on Friday afternoon/evening and return on Sunday evening or Monday morning. I can be at Copenhagen airport at 2:00 PM at the earliest or at Malmo airport at 4:00 PM at the earliest on Fridays. I need to arrive at Copenhagen airport no later than 11:00 AM or at Malmo airport 09:00 AM on Mondays.
The airports closest to Budva are Tivat (TIV) and Podgorica (TGD), but there are also (slow!) buses from Dubrovnik, Croatia (DBV). Maybe some of the members here know of other ways to go there. I would like to spend as much time as possible in Budva and I want to minimize the TOTAL cost of flights, airport transfers, hostel stays (if applicable), rental car (if applicable), buses (if applicable), taxis (if applicable), etc. The only option I've found is SAS/Lufthansa to Belgrad via Frankfurt/Munich and then spend the night in Belgrade and continue to Tivat or Podgorica with Montenegro Airlines and bus or taxi from there. However, it is quite expensive (>500 Euros). Any help is greatly appreciated and creative suggestions are welcome (by the way, anybody know if it's safe to set up a tent outside of Belgrade airport?). WizzAir flies from Malmo to Belgrade on Friday evenings, if that can be of any help.
The airports closest to Budva are Tivat (TIV) and Podgorica (TGD), but there are also (slow!) buses from Dubrovnik, Croatia (DBV). Maybe some of the members here know of other ways to go there. I would like to spend as much time as possible in Budva and I want to minimize the TOTAL cost of flights, airport transfers, hostel stays (if applicable), rental car (if applicable), buses (if applicable), taxis (if applicable), etc. The only option I've found is SAS/Lufthansa to Belgrad via Frankfurt/Munich and then spend the night in Belgrade and continue to Tivat or Podgorica with Montenegro Airlines and bus or taxi from there. However, it is quite expensive (>500 Euros). Any help is greatly appreciated and creative suggestions are welcome (by the way, anybody know if it's safe to set up a tent outside of Belgrade airport?). WizzAir flies from Malmo to Belgrade on Friday evenings, if that can be of any help.
Feb 2, 2015, 4:05 am
#3
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I think the budget travel forum is a bit wrong for this topic, as traveling on budget airlines will not get your weekend plans realized. I checked around a bit and here's the conclusions:
- CPH-TGD: impossible. You'd arrive Saturday afternoon when leaving Friday evening and you have to return Sunday afternoon to arrive Monday morning
- CPH-TIV: same story.
- CPH-DBV: Possible. There's a combination of SAS and Croatia Airlines that'd take you from CPH 15:10 and deliver you in DBV 22:10. It requires 2 plane changes though. The return leg departs 06:40 in the morning and arrives 10:40, 20 minutes ahead of latest time of arrival. I checked prices and it seems less than 250 euro return for for example 13 to 16 March. Not sure how you'd get to Budva from here, though.
- MMX-TGD: impossible. It'd require at least 2 plane changes and 10 hours to get from A to B. Plus that I didn't find prices lower than 400 euro.
- MMX-TIV: not impossible if you can change your time framework. However, it'd be well over 500 euro and requires two changes of aircraft.
- MMX-DBV: impossible. Only found possibilities that'd take 16 hour from A to B and cost you over 3000 euro.
The trouble with W6 to BEG is that you'll be needing a one way ticket on your way back. Except from an evening flight on Mondays by W6, you'd be spending over 300 euro and arrive way too late if you need to return to MMX. Even for CPH, there will not be any aircraft landing on time according to your framework.
In addition, I have been on the bus from Belgrade to Budva when I was a student and I'd like to keep it a once in a lifetime experience... It took forever (especially at the border) and it was an overnight bus, which means I was quite groggy on arrival. Not sure if things would get better on Montenegro Airlines and an overnight in Belgrade.
- CPH-TGD: impossible. You'd arrive Saturday afternoon when leaving Friday evening and you have to return Sunday afternoon to arrive Monday morning
- CPH-TIV: same story.
- CPH-DBV: Possible. There's a combination of SAS and Croatia Airlines that'd take you from CPH 15:10 and deliver you in DBV 22:10. It requires 2 plane changes though. The return leg departs 06:40 in the morning and arrives 10:40, 20 minutes ahead of latest time of arrival. I checked prices and it seems less than 250 euro return for for example 13 to 16 March. Not sure how you'd get to Budva from here, though.
- MMX-TGD: impossible. It'd require at least 2 plane changes and 10 hours to get from A to B. Plus that I didn't find prices lower than 400 euro.
- MMX-TIV: not impossible if you can change your time framework. However, it'd be well over 500 euro and requires two changes of aircraft.
- MMX-DBV: impossible. Only found possibilities that'd take 16 hour from A to B and cost you over 3000 euro.
The trouble with W6 to BEG is that you'll be needing a one way ticket on your way back. Except from an evening flight on Mondays by W6, you'd be spending over 300 euro and arrive way too late if you need to return to MMX. Even for CPH, there will not be any aircraft landing on time according to your framework.
In addition, I have been on the bus from Belgrade to Budva when I was a student and I'd like to keep it a once in a lifetime experience... It took forever (especially at the border) and it was an overnight bus, which means I was quite groggy on arrival. Not sure if things would get better on Montenegro Airlines and an overnight in Belgrade.
Feb 2, 2015, 4:59 am
#4
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Isn't CPH-TGD loaded to have seasonal non-stop service on Montenegro's flag carrier? Now it seems to be just a Saturday flight.
Flights via Rome, Vienna or Frankfurt would be what I would default to checking, but I'll ask what my Yugoslav acquaintances around here do for those kind of trips.
Flights via Rome, Vienna or Frankfurt would be what I would default to checking, but I'll ask what my Yugoslav acquaintances around here do for those kind of trips.
Last edited by GUWonder; Feb 2, 2015 at 5:05 am
Feb 2, 2015, 5:07 am
#5
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Feb 3, 2015, 3:53 pm
#6
Original Poster
Join Date: Jan 2015
Posts: 234
Thanks everyone so far.
Why didn't I think of overnight long-distance buses? Brilliant idea, it would save me the cost of accomodation and it would open up cities like Sarajevo, Sofia, Skopje, etc. And maybe the Bari-Bar ferry would open up possibilities... I'll start googling right away.
Why didn't I think of overnight long-distance buses? Brilliant idea, it would save me the cost of accomodation and it would open up cities like Sarajevo, Sofia, Skopje, etc. And maybe the Bari-Bar ferry would open up possibilities... I'll start googling right away.