Ferry or the Whole Bay
Tivat to Herceg Novi is the drive with a boat in the middle of it. The town guards the entrance to the Bay of Kotor at its far western end, and getting there is a choice: cross the Verige strait on the Kamenari ferry and arrive in about forty minutes, or drive the entire inner shoreline the long way round and make a day of it. Neither is wrong. One is a journey, the other is an itinerary.
The ferry way, which is the normal way
Head north from the terminal along the Tivat shore through Donja Lastva to Lepetane, where the ferry shuttles across the narrowest point of the bay to Kamenari. The crossing takes about five minutes, and the boats run frequently enough that turning up and waiting is the whole system; there is nothing to book. It is paid per vehicle, and in peak season the queue is the only real variable.
From Kamenari the coast road runs west through Bijela and Zelenika and into Herceg Novi. To be clear about what the ferry is not: it is not a border crossing, and there is no passport moment in the middle of the bay. It is simply the shortcut that cuts the top off the loop.
The long way round, which is the good way
Skip the ferry and the road traces the whole inner bay instead: through Kotor, along the shore past Perast and Risan, and around to the northern side. It adds roughly forty kilometres and turns a transfer into a day out, which is exactly how it is best used. Drive the loop out, see the bay, and take the ferry home when the light goes.
Shaping the day version
If the loop is the plan, drive it clockwise. Take the tunnel to Kotor early, before the buses, run the shore road past Perast while it is quiet, roll past Risan and around the top of the bay without a schedule, and land in Herceg Novi for the late afternoon, when the stone cools and the promenade fills. The ferry then takes the pressure off the clock: the way home is a five-minute crossing and a short shore road rather than a retracing of the whole day.
Out of season the calculation simplifies. The queue at Lepetane shortens, the loop empties, and the circuit that needs a full day in July fits a relaxed winter afternoon. The road stays low and coastal the whole way round, so the season changes the crowds here far more than it changes the driving.
Getting there without a car
Buses connect Herceg Novi with the bay towns, but from Tivat Airport to Herceg Novi by bus means thin connections and the same coast road on somebody else's timetable. For one trip, a taxi from the rank works. For a stay based this far west, with the bay behind you and Croatia over the hill, a car of your own is the difference between a base and a resort.
Arriving in a town built on stairs
Herceg Novi climbs from the water in terraces, and its old town is pedestrian, threaded together by long flights of steps rather than streets. The car therefore stops on the road levels above and below, in paid parking, and you walk; carrying a week's luggage up from the seafront is a mistake made exactly once. Igalo, the spa suburb immediately west, is flatter.
The reward at the end
Herceg Novi is the most vertical town on the bay, layered between two fortresses with a long seafront promenade at its feet and a reputation as the sunniest corner of the coast. It never draws Kotor's crowds, which is precisely its argument: the same bay, a fraction of the coaches, and the open Adriatic beginning ten minutes to the west.
Basing at the far end of the bay
Herceg Novi is at the far end of the bay, which makes basing here a daily arrangement rather than a one-off drive. Almost everything else in Montenegro is east of the strait: Kotor, Perast, Risan, and the airport itself. Each of those days starts with the same choice you made coming in, the five-minute crossing or the extra forty kilometres around the top of the bay. Once, that is a pleasure. Four times in a week in peak season, with a queue at the ramp each time, is a different proposition. So pick the base to match the trip. If the week leans west, towards the open Adriatic, Igalo and a run over the hill to Dubrovnik, this is the right end of the coast to sleep on and the ferry barely features. If it leans east, as most bay itineraries do, sleep nearer Kotor or Tivat and keep Herceg Novi as the long day out.
Croatia is over the hill
Herceg Novi is the last town before the Debeli Brijeg crossing, which makes it the natural base for a Dubrovnik day trip. Whether your hire car may cross at all is set per car by its cross-border tier, stated on the listing, and the paperwork side is a Green Card question rather than a mystery. Both are set out in what the border asks of a hire car.
Which car, and which cover
Nothing about this drive demands power, and the ferry charges by vehicle, so small and short is the sensible shape here too. Most of the pool is automatic, 314 cars against 66 manuals, and the model you book is guaranteed to be the model that arrives. Compare the cars class by class before you land.
On a shoreline road shared with buses, it is worth knowing that glass and wheel damage is only covered on the two Full tiers; the cover levels page sets out what each one leaves with you.
Herceg Novi arrival questions
How often does the ferry run?
Frequently enough that nobody plans around a timetable: you join the queue at Lepetane, wait for the next boat and roll on. In peak season the queue itself is the only real delay.
Does the ferry count as leaving Montenegro?
No. Both ends of the crossing are inside the bay and inside the country. The nearest actual border is Debeli Brijeg, on the road to Croatia beyond Herceg Novi.
Is the loop around the bay worth doing instead?
As a transfer, no, it roughly doubles the driving. As a day, absolutely: Kotor, Perast and the whole northern shore in one unhurried circle, with the ferry as the five-minute finish.
Where does the car go in the old town?
It does not. The old town is stairs and pedestrian lanes, so you park on the road levels in paid parking and walk down. Flatter Igalo next door is the easier base if steps are a problem.
Can you day-trip to Dubrovnik from here?
Yes, it is the closest Montenegrin base for it. Check the car's cross-border tier on its listing before you plan the day, and expect the border itself to add time in summer.
Is the coast road west of the ferry difficult?
No, it is ordinary two-lane shoreline road through Bijela and Zelenika. The only habit worth forming is patience behind local traffic; overtaking chances are short and rarely worth it.