Budva ↔ Kotor

From Budva to Kotor by coach

The coaches leave from Budva’s main bus station on Popa Jola Zeca, behind the shopping centre about ten minutes’ walk uphill from the Old Town. It’s a different place from the Mediteran Express terminal on Mediteranska — the local buses don’t go to Kotor, so don’t wait at the roundabout for one.

In season there’s a departure roughly every 30 to 60 minutes from early morning until about 23:00, run by a couple of dozen different carriers. Tickets cost €3.50–7 depending on the company, and the station adds a small entrance fee (about €2) when you buy at the counter — cash. You can also book online at busticket4.me, which shows the live timetable for any date.

A direct coach takes 30–45 minutes. Some runs go “via Tivat” and can take 75 minutes or more in summer traffic, so ask at the counter, or check the route on the ticket, if you’re in a hurry. You arrive at Kotor bus station in Škaljari, a five-minute walk from the Sea Gate into the Old Town.

From Kotor back to Budva

The same coaches run the other way from Kotor bus station, from around 05:00 until about 22:00, at a similar frequency. The last departure is the thing to remember: if you’re staying in Kotor for dinner, plan on a taxi back or check the evening times before you sit down.

Tickets are sold at the counter or online, again €3.50–7, and some carriers charge €1–2 per bag for luggage in the hold. Ask for Budva “autobuska stanica” and you’ll be dropped at the main station; from there it’s the ten-minute walk down to the Old Town, or a Mediteran Express local bus onward to Bečići, Sveti Stefan or Petrovac.

Taxi between Budva and Kotor

A taxi costs about €30–45 each way and takes 30–40 minutes on the direct road over the hill. Official taxis have plates ending in TX; agree the total in euros before the car moves, or ask for the meter. From Budva you can pick one up at any rank or have your accommodation call one; in Kotor they wait outside the Old Town gates and at the bus station.

For three or four people the taxi works out at €8–12 a head — close to the coach once you add the station fee — and it drops you at the door, which matters late in the evening when the coaches have stopped.

Kotor by boat, or on a day trip

If Kotor is one stop on a bigger day, look at the organised trips from Budva: a coach-and-boat tour that does Kotor and Perast with the island church of Our Lady of the Rocks, or a full-day cruise up the bay. They cost more than the coach, but they solve the bit the coach can’t — Perast and the islands aren’t on a bus line — and you don’t have to think about the last departure.

Which should you pick?

Take the coach if you’re on a budget or making a full day of it: it’s cheap, frequent and drops you a short walk from the walls. Take a taxi if there are three or four of you, if you’re coming back after dinner, or if you just want to be there in half an hour. Book a tour if you want Perast and the bay as well as Kotor, or you’d rather not plan anything at all.

Whatever you choose, give yourself time in Kotor: the Old Town is small but the climb to the fortress above it takes an hour or more, and the walls are best in the late afternoon once the cruise-ship crowds have gone.