Originally Posted by
paulaf
Hopefully within 2 miles of Kotor, Google maps says it takes 1 hour 45 mins, so by the time we've picked up the hire car that's probably over 2 hours so a very late arrival say about 10pm and driving a hard route in the dark. I just asked about airports and lounges so I knew what to expect. I asked about views on montenegro airlines as they land at Tivat in the afternoon and it's closer.
Tivat would really make a lot more sense then ... It's super close to Kotor .. Driving down from Podgorica and arriving at midnight trying to find your hotel isn't impossible, but if it's easily avoided then I certainly would choose to avoid it .. the main road (E80) with the tunnel and then up the coast is okay, but it's a ~90 minute drive and you won't see any of the nice views anyway at that hour .. there is no merit to staying in Podgorica anyway, it's a singularly uninspiring place ( but the rest of the country is lovely, good choice !)
If you do go to/from Podgorica definitely avoid the switchback road up the back of Kotor .. It looks shorter but it really isn't and would be quite dangerous at night. The switchbacks are okay and definitely good to drive up for a sunset view from Kotor, but the bit on the plateau after them is really narrow and slow and quite dangerous even in daylight.