Renault Clio

The low-maintenance coast-runner for a fortnight-long Herceg Novi base

Economy

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

1 / 3

At a glance

Seats

Gearbox

Manual

Fuel

Petrol

Luggage

2 bags

Boot

391 L

Economy

53 mpg

Who is this car for?

A pair settling in Herceg Novi 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

Best regional use

Handles the Herceg Novi–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.

On Montenegro roads

Behind the wheel

Clios on Herceg Novi plates are usually the 1.0 TCe petrol with a five-speed manual, and on a fortnight rental that combination is the calmest one to live with on this stretch of the coast. The three-cylinder is breathless when pushed, but no one rents a Clio at the entrance of Boka Bay to chase pace. The appeal is a clutch light enough that the Topla promenade traffic never bothers the left leg, a dashboard that reads under hard Adriatic glare bouncing off the marina at Skver, and seats still comfortable after a slow afternoon loop out to Igalo and back through the Stari Grad lower bypass.

On Montenegro roads

From a Herceg Novi base the Clio handles the cross-border roster without grumbling. The 35 km hop north to Dubrovnik via the Debeli Brijeg crossing takes about 50 minutes when the queue is short, and the Clio's short first and second ratios pay back when the border line crawls forward in stop-start increments. The 45 km run to Kotor via the Kamenari-Lepetane ferry costs five euros for the car, ten minutes on the water, and the Clio rolls on and off the deck without the awkward overhang issues a longer car gets from the loading ramps. Trebinje, 60 km east via the Lastva crossing, is also single-tank easy.

Space and load

Two adults with hard cases fit in the 391-litre boot without folding the rear seats, useful when collecting friends off the cruise tenders below the Forte Mare ramp for an afternoon run along the Topla seafront. Fold one seat and a pair of folding chairs plus a cool-box for a Zanjice beach day fits alongside the weekly Voli shop from the Igalo store. On a long stay the boot's square shape matters more than the raw litres; the Clio swallows awkward items like camera tripods and snorkel fins for a Mamula boat day without the Tetris a Fiesta forces.

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

Best journeys for this car

The Clio's natural Herceg Novi customer is the long-stay visitor who has anchored in Topla or Igalo for ten nights and wants a car that disappears. It suits the couple alternating Topla seafront mornings with afternoon drives over the ferry to Perast, and the solo traveller using Herceg Novi as a Dubrovnik-airport-adjacent base for cheaper Montenegrin nightly rates. Spa-stay visitors at Igalo's mineral-mud institute rate it for the same reasons, low fuel cost on the flat 4 km Topla to Igalo run, and a footprint that forgives the tight residential bays behind the Sava church.

Practical notes

Petrol economy hovers near 5.8 L/100 km once the Vrbanj village climb up onto the Orjen flank is in the weekly mix, and the 42-litre tank delivers around 700 km between stops at the INA forecourt on the Igalo magistrala. The Clio's 4.05 m length slips into the metered Skver bays at two euros an hour and into the free three-hour Topla strip without question. Front-wheel drive on all-season tyres is fine year-round at sea level, where the subtropical climate keeps frost rare even in January; renters pushing inland to Niksic or Zabljak in winter should ask for chains, which are legally required on several mountain passes November through March.

The verdict

Pick the Clio if your plan is a long Herceg Novi stay built around a loose schedule of Dubrovnik day-trips, ferry hops to Kotor, and Lustica beach afternoons, and you want fuel and parking costs to stay invisible. Skip it if your week leans on four-adult border-runs to Mostar with full luggage, where a 308 or Megane is the better tool.