Renault Clio

The low-maintenance coast-runner for a fortnight-long Podgorica base

Economy

Light on fuel, cheap to park at the pickup location, and comfortable on the motorway push to Podgorica or Žabljak.

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Overview

Seats

Transmission

Manual

Fuel

Petrol

Luggage

2 bags

Boot size

391 L

Consumption

53 mpg

Who it suits

A pair settling in Podgorica for ten to fourteen days, with regular day-trips out to Cetinje, Risan and the Lake Skadar shore, simple to park, forgiving on petrol.

Couples on a two-week stay
Day-trippers to Cetinje and Njeguši
Shoppers at Risan Roman mosaics

On Montenegro roads

Handles the Podgorica to Cetinje climb in third gear without drama, threads the narrow waterfront through outlying villages, and the 5.3 L/100 km petrol keeps the fuel bill predictable over a multi-week hire.

About this car

Behind the wheel

Clios on Podgorica plates are usually the 1.0 TCe petrol paired with a five-speed manual, and on a fortnight rental that combination is the calmest one to live with on the capital's wide grid. The three-cylinder is breathless when you push it, but nobody rents a Clio to push it; the appeal is a gearbox light enough that the morning crawl on Bulevar Svetog Petra Cetinjskog never bothers the left leg, a dashboard that reads clearly under the July glare that regularly tips 40 °C, and seats that stay comfortable after four straight days of single-day return runs out of the city.

On Montenegro roads

From a Podgorica base the Clio handles the standard day-trip roster without grumbling. Skadar Lake at Virpazar sits 30 km south on the M-2 and takes 30 minutes door to door, and the short-geared first and second ratios are useful on the unmarked Plantaže vineyard turn-offs along the way. The 60 km push north to Ostrog Monastery via the M-3 then the cliff-side M-9 spur takes an hour, with the final ramp up to the upper church demanding a calm clutch foot rather than power. Nikšić is 55 km west on the M-3 and reaches you in 45 minutes on the new dual carriageway sections.

Space and load

Two adults with hard-shell cases fit in the 391-litre boot without folding the rear seats, which matters when you are collecting a passenger from Podgorica Airport (TGD) 13 km south of the centre. Fold one seat and a folding chair plus a cool-box for a Skadar boat afternoon fits alongside the weekly shop from Voli on Cetinjski Put. On a month-long rental the square boot shape is more useful than the raw litre count; the Clio swallows awkward items like camera tripods and walking poles without rearranging the back seat each morning.

Bay of Kotor coastal road near Dobrota — The Dobrota to Prčanj stretch at a steady 50 km/h, the Clio’s natural cruising pace on a multi-day bay stay.

Best for

The Clio's natural Podgorica customer is the long-stay visitor who has anchored in a city flat for ten nights or more and wants a car that disappears between trips. It suits the couple alternating Skadar mornings with Gorica Hill walks and Hercegovačka café afternoons, and the solo traveller using the capital as a staging point for week-long loops out to Ostrog, Kolašin and back. Remote workers on long-stay flats around Preko Morače rate it for the same reasons: cheap petrol bills, parking size that forgives the tightest residential bays in Stara Varoš around the clock tower.

Practical notes

Petrol economy hovers near 5.8 L/100 km once you fold the Ostrog climb into the weekly mix, and the 42-litre tank delivers around 700 km between fills at the INA station on Cetinjski Put. The Clio's length of 4.05 m slips into the free outer-block bays north of Hercegovačka without trouble, and Podgorica's paid inner zone runs at €0.60 per hour and turns free on Saturday and Sunday. Front-wheel drive and all-season tyres are fine for year-round flat-city use, though winter visitors targeting Žabljak should ask for chains; they are legally required on the M-18 above Šavnik between November and March.

Verdict

Pick the Clio if your plan is a long Podgorica stay with a loose schedule of single-day return excursions out to Skadar, Ostrog and Plantaže, and you want the car to cost as little as possible in fuel and parking anxiety on the inner paid grid. Skip it if your week is weighted toward four-adult motorway cruising up to Žabljak via the Smokovac route or a serious Durmitor run with full hiking kit on board, where the 308 or Golf earns its rental premium back inside the first two days. The Stonic is the better answer if a Doclea-and-Gorica unsealed brief features instead.