Peugeot 308

Diesel mid-size for the Herceg Novi → Dubrovnik and Herceg Novi → Durmitor runs

Mid-Size

Long-legged BlueHDi + auto box built for the 3-hour push up to Žabljak or the cross-border drive to Trebinje and Mostar.

1 / 3

At a glance

Seats

Gearbox

Automatic

Fuel

Diesel

Luggage

3 bags

Boot

412 L (1,309 L seats folded)

Economy

64 mpg

Who is this car for?

The mid-size diesel picks for anyone pairing a Herceg Novi base with multi-day drives inland, auto gearbox and cruise control earn their keep on the Podgorica motorway.

Cross-border road-trippers
Durmitor weekenders
Four adults with full luggage

Best regional use

Cruises the Smokovac–Mateševo motorway section effortlessly, swallows a week of hiking kit bound for Žabljak, and covers the Herceg Novi → Dubrovnik via Debeli Brijeg run on half a tank.

On Montenegro roads

Behind the wheel

The 308 Mk3 is a more grown-up proposition than anything in the B-segment renting out of Herceg Novi, a larger car, a quieter cabin, and a different priorities list. The 1.5 BlueHDi 130 diesel paired with the 8-speed EAT automatic is the common Montenegro spec and the combination every multi-day cross-border renter should look at first. Torque arrives at 1,750 rpm, which matters on the climb up out of the bay onto the Debeli Brijeg plateau before the Croatian frontier, the auto box shuffles invisibly in the Igalo seafront crawl on summer evenings, and the small i-Cockpit wheel makes the Vrbanj hairpins above town noticeably less work than a conventional layout.

On Montenegro roads

The 308 is the right tool for the Herceg Novi renter whose week extends well beyond the bay. Dubrovnik via Debeli Brijeg sits at 50 minutes northbound when the queue cooperates, and the diesel idles patiently in border-traffic bursts. Trebinje is 60 km east via the Lastva crossing, an hour on a cruise the 308 settles into at 1,800 rpm. Mostar at 130 km is reachable in 2 h 20 with one stop in Trebinje, and the Smokovac motorway into central Montenegro picks up cleanly after the Kamenari ferry crossing for renters pushing on to Zabljak or Kolasin from a Herceg Novi base.

Space and load

The 412-litre boot is the deciding spec for multi-day cross-border renters. Four adults' hard cases plus a weekly shop from the Aroma supermarket on the Igalo road fit without moving anything onto the rear seats, a set of hiking poles, two 50-litre packs and walking boots for an Orjen weekend travels alongside a toddler's pushchair and the family laundry bag. Fold the 60/40 bench and you have 1,309 litres for awkward cargo, a stand-up paddleboard fits, as does a folded patio parasol heading from the rental villa above Topla down to the Mirista beach turnoff on Lustica.

Smokovac–Mateševo motorway inland from Kotor — The Smokovac motorway toward Podgorica, the 308's BlueHDi settles into a steady 1,800 rpm cruise here.

Best journeys for this car

The 308 suits the family of four making Herceg Novi their base for ten to fourteen days. The brief is usually the same, three or four nights of Topla mornings and Old Town fortress walks at Forte Mare and Kanli Kula, then a two-night push north to Dubrovnik or east to Mostar via Trebinje, then back to the bay for the Tito-era Igalo spa wind-down. The 308 is also the correct car for older couples planning a Balkan loop out of Dubrovnik Airport, the quieter cabin and firmer seats are kinder on the cumulative motorway hours than a hatchback.

Practical notes

Real-world diesel consumption is 4.5 L/100 km in mixed Montenegrin driving and closer to 4.2 on the motorway, a 52-litre tank delivers over 1,000 km between fills. The 4.37 m length is the one caveat for a Herceg Novi rental, it fits the Kanli Kula amphitheatre overflow lot at three euros a day and the metered Skver bays, but the narrowest residential lanes climbing up the Stari Grad steps are off-limits to anything bigger than a Fiat 500 anyway. Diesel is widely available at Jugopetrol on the Igalo magistrala; AdBlue tops up every 8,000 km or so and is flagged on the dash well before it matters.

The verdict

Choose the 308 when the itinerary mixes Herceg Novi base-nights with serious distance legs, the Dubrovnik run, the cross-border to Bosnia, the Mostar weekend. Skip it if you are only moving inside the Bay of Boka and along the Adriatic magistrala, where a smaller hatch parks easier in the tight lanes behind the Topla promenade and costs a third less per week.