Thursday, April 11 – transit from London to Podgorica, Montenegro

I’m back to Heathrow this morning, so you know what that means. The SL9! I have a 9am departure; that required a little bit of an early wake up to get out of the flat by around 6:30. Not terrible though.

I’m on Austrian Airlines again, connecting through Vienna to Podgorica, Montenegro. The price of the one-way fare was $176. So, the connection is going to be interesting because I only have a 30 minute layover. I normally avoid this big time, but the next flight wasn’t until later in the evening. (And knowing me, I’m sure cost was a major driver in the decision as well! I can’t remember exactly?) Plus, Austrian allowed me to book the itinerary, so it must be legit, right?

And it’s not starting off well because we already have a 10 minute delay departing Heathrow. We can make this up in the air, right? Yes, we did! Also helpful was the fact that the plane was only half full. That should make deplaning quicker. But wait, the plane isn’t pulling up to a gate, we’re stopping on the tarmac. Another bus to terminal transfer. I’m doomed!

Just as I’m mentally preparing to camp out at Vienna Airport, and for a late night arrival in Podgorica, a lifeline appears as I exit the aircraft in the form of a special mini van at the ready to take me and four other Podgorica passengers directly to our plane, which also happens to be parked on the tarmac. Brilliant! Thank you Austrian Airlines! (Fortunately I didn’t have any checked bags; not sure if they would have made the connection!)

The flight to Podgorica took one hour and the A320 was about 3/4 full.

And here are a couple views from the flight into Podgorica…

Another quick transit through immigration; not a single question from the officer. Where were these people last year when everybody in the Caribbean had these big concerns about my return or onward ticket (out of their country)?!?

And I hate to say it, but I took a taxi from the airport to my hotel. It killed me! It was basically the only option. There is train service to the Podgorica city center, but the stop was a 20 minute walk from the airport. I know, I wimped out. The 15 minute taxi ride cost me €15.

The research I did about Podgorica indicated it wasn’t a place really worth visiting. I had some time to kill though, so I absolutely had to get out and roam a bit!

Travel Note: The Europe eSIM data plan I have doesn’t include Montenegro and Albania, so I bought a Europe Extended eSIM with 3Gb of data for $19. Its validity is 15 days. The nice thing is that the two eSIMs can run concurrently, without having to manually switch back and forth between them.

Friday, April 12 – transit from Podgorica to Kotor

I have a busy day of travel ahead of me. But first…

So, today I’m going to take a train from Podgorica to Bar and then catch a bus from Bar to Kotor. Now, I could have just taken a bus from Podgorica to Kotor, but I read that the train ride is pretty nice. Plus, I’m a sucker for trains! There are multiple train departures to Bar, so I chose to leave at the not-too-early time of 11:35am.

The train cars were configured with a corridor on one side and enclosed, 6-seat compartments on the other. In the scrum of boarding the train, I was able to snag a window seat in a compartment. Sweet!

That was fun! The train was packed upon boarding in Podgorica, but was only about 1/3 full by the time we reached Bar. Now I’m off to the Bar Bus Station!

The ride lasted a little over 2 hours. There were some pretty views of the Adriatic Coast along the way; it’s tough though to get decent pictures from a bus (reflections, generally blurry). Plus, I sat on the wrong side of the bus for the direct views! (I’m an idiot!) I technically could have switched to the other side of the bus, the seats weren’t reserved. I liked where I was sitting though; in the back row, which had extra legroom due to the emergency exit door. And there was already someone sitting on the opposite side window when I boarded the bus.

My hotel in Kotor is located in the Old Town and is only a 10 minute walk from the bus station. No taxis today people!

Here are a few photos from the walk…

I was kind of tired after my day of traveling, but I did go out for a short walk around…