Renault Clio

1 / 3

At a glance

Who is this car for?

Couples landing at Tivat with cabin luggage and a hotel in Kotor, Budva or Porto Montenegro, the most practical small car on the airport rank.

• First-time TIV arrivals
• Couples
• Bay of Kotor short stays

On the road from Tivat Airport

Behind the wheel

The Clio V is the small hatch you most often see being rolled out of the shared rental lot 200 metres from the Tivat arrivals doors. Most examples carry the 1.0 TCe 100 hp three-cylinder petrol, thrummy at idle and smoother once it is awake; a few run the 1.5 Blue dCi 85 diesel, which idles noisier but suits the Sozina motorway run. Both pair to a long five-speed manual that is honest rather than precise. The cabin is the polished part of the package: soft-top dash, portrait screen, a driving position that feels grown up. After a four-hour flight that matters more than horsepower.

On Tivat Airport routes

Out of the TIV access road and onto the bay corniche, the Clio settles into its natural pace. The 12 km hop through the Vrmac tunnel deposits you at Kotor's Tabačina lot in eighteen minutes, and the chassis swallows the patched approach surface without nervousness. Right at the Jaz junction takes you down the Adriatic coast road to Budva in thirty summer minutes, twenty-five in shoulder season. The light steering matters most at the Kamenari ferry queue, where eight kilometres from TIV you slot into a five-euro ten-minute crossing to Lepetane and skip an hour of the around-bay drive to Herceg Novi.

Space and load

The 391-litre boot is a class best, and the square shape matters as much as the number when you are loading off a Tivat baggage trolley in the kerbside handover lane. Two medium hard-shell cases plus a pair of cabin bags slide in without rearranging. Fold the rear bench and a week of Lustica beach kit, parasol, fold-out chairs, snorkels, cool-bag, makes the eight-kilometre drive south to Plavi Horizonti without the rear seats getting buried. It is not a four-up family rig, but for two passengers off a single flight it covers most realistic TIV packing lists.

Best journeys from TIV

The Clio fits the broadest TIV use case on the rank. A couple basing in Kotor for a Bay of Boka loop, a solo traveller booked into Porto Montenegro for the week, two friends collecting on a Friday evening for a Budva weekend; in each case it is the pragmatic first pick. It also covers the one-day cross-border sprint to Dubrovnik via the Kamenari ferry and the Debeli Brijeg crossing, seventy kilometres from TIV in roughly an hour and forty-five minutes with the green card already in the glovebox. It is less compelling for a family of four with full luggage or a winter Žabljak base.

Practical notes

Real-world petrol consumption settles near 5.8 L/100 km in mixed coastal driving, the diesel closer to 4.5. The 42-litre tank gives genuine range, and the petrol station on the Tivat ring road two minutes from the airport gate makes return-day topping a quick stop. At 4.05 metres the Clio parks easily in the long-stay lot off the airport access road at five euros a day, in the Tabačina bays below the Kotor bastions, and along the free Pine Walk in Tivat town. AC pulls the cabin temperature down quickly, which matters when the car has been sitting in 32 to 35 degree summer sun.

The verdict

Pick the Clio from the Tivat Airport rank when you want a small car that disappears underneath you and lets the holiday happen on the bay roads. Two arrivals with sensible packing, a Kotor or Porto Montenegro base, mostly coastal kilometres with the occasional Sveti Stefan or Petrovac day-trip; this is the brief the Clio answers best, and the kerbside handover makes it the fastest car off the rank too. Skip it only if you specifically need more boot, more height, or the diesel torque of a proper mid-size for a Žabljak base or a four-up motorway week to the Adriatic south coast.

Inside the car

• Bluetooth Audio
• USB Charging
• Central Locking
• Touchscreen Display