Best Time of Year to Visit Montenegro
Montenegro has become a popular tourist destination, with bustling summers and frequent cruise ships docking at Kotor. It’s easily accessible by car from Dubrovnik, Croatia, making it a great day trip option. A few summers ago, we spent several weeks in Dubrovnik and hired a taxi to take a group of us to Kotor for the day. This time, we will be staying in Montenegro for two weeks, and it will be our first trip there with our dog, Pedro.
As the summers are hot and crowded in Montenegro we would strongly discourage travelling with a dog during the peak summer season (July and August).
Travelling to Montenegro with a Dog
We are driving to Montenegro in May from Bosnia and Herzegovina, where we have been staying for six weeks. We crossed the border leaving the European Union in Croatia when we drove from Austria. I cannot comment on the requirements if you fly into Montenegro, but I assume they are similar. We were not asked to produce any documentation for our dog, Pedro, at the Croatia border, but we had everything in place. We strongly recommend always travelling with the necessary documentation and vaccinations and not leaving anything to chance.
Travelling with a Dog from a Country Outside the European Union (EU) - Non EU Residents
Animal Health Certificate
If you are travelling to Montenegro with your dog from a country outside the European Union, such as the UK, USA, or Canada, you must ensure you obtain an Animal Health Certificate documenting your dog’s microchip and vaccinations from your country of departure. The Animal Health Certificate must issued by an official State vet in the country of departure not more than 10 days before your dog arrives in the European Union (EU).
If you are planning to be away for an extended period, ensure that you check the validity of the Animal Health Certificate, especially if traveling to other countries. If your dog’s rabies vaccination expires during your journey, it is necessary to get a booster shot before obtaining the Animal Health Certificate. The rabies vaccination must remain valid for the entire duration of your trip.
Microchipping
The microchip should comply with the ISO standard 11784.
Vaccinations
Rabies Vaccination
A rabies vaccination is mandatory for travelling with your dog to Montenegro. You need to make sure that your dog is vaccinated against rabies at least 3 weeks before your scheduled travel time. You don’t have to wait for the full 21 days if your pet has had yearly booster shots. Your dog needs to get a rabies vaccination every 12 months in Europe. If they have a 3-year vaccination, you will need to get them a rabies booster if the vaccination is older than a year.
Important Notes:
Please note that according to EU regulations, a rabies vaccination is not considered valid unless the animal is properly identified at the time of vaccination. In other words, it is essential that the microchip is implanted before the rabies vaccine is administered to ensure that your pet is identified prior to vaccination. A rabies vaccine given before microchip insertion is invalid.
Tapeworm (Echinococcus) Treatment
A few websites that we have found indicate that a tapeworm (Echinococcus) treatment is required upon entry or exit from Montenegro. Our understanding is that Montenegro treats this requirements the same as the EU and that it is not required.
From all the information we have found, only dogs travelling to Finland, Malta, the Republic of Ireland, and the United Kingdom require treatment for echinococcus within a period of not more than 120 hours and not less than 24 hours before the time of scheduled entry of the dogs into the EU.
Rabies Titer Test (Blood Sample)
There is a lot of misleading information on the web about the requirements of the titer test and we are not able to locate an official government website for Montenegro regarding this. It may not be checked when you enter Montenegro, but from everything that we understand, it is definitely required to re-enter the European Union (EU). Montenegro is considered a high-rabies country listed and classified by the European Union (see below).
The rabies titer test is also known as the rabies neutralizing antibody titer test. It checks for the presence of the antibody that neutralizes rabies in your pet’s blood. If the antibody is present in sufficient amounts, it signifies that the pet has been vaccinated and is immune to rabies. This test measures the effectiveness of the rabies vaccine on your pet.
- The rabies titer test cannot be done until 30 days after the rabies vaccination.
- It takes approximately 10 days for the laboratory to mail out the certification letter.
- You must wait for 3 months from the date of the rabies titer test before returning to the EU and UK.
- The EU will consider your pet’s titer test valid for the life of your pet as long as its rabies vaccination does not expire.
Important Notes:
Travelling with a Dog from a Country within the European Union - EU Residents
EU Pet Passport
The easiest way to travel through Europe with your dog is with an EU pet passport. EU Pet Passports can only be issued by an authorized veterinarian in the EU. When we initially travelled to Europe with our dog Pedro in April of 2023, we entered the EU with an Animal Health Certificate issued by our veterinarian in Canada. As Josef is an EU citizen we were able to register Pedro in the EU and get him and EU Pet Passport.
An EU pet passport is valid for life as long as your pet’s rabies vaccination is up-to-date. Only an authorized veterinarian located in the EU can record vaccinations in the EU pet passport with the exception of the Tapeworm (Echinococcus) Treatment, which can be recorded by a veterinarian outside the EU.
For more information on bringing your dog to Montenegro, please see:
Returning to the EU with a Dog from Montenegro
As mentioned above, a rabies titer test is required to enter Montenegro and to re-enter the EU and UK. See the information above for more details.
The rabies titer test must be performed in an approved laboratory in a Member State of the European Union. In other words, you should get the test done before you leave the EU.
High Risk Rabies Countries in Europe
High-risk rabies countries in the Balkans as classified by the European Union are:
- Albania
- Montenegro
- Serbia
For more information please see:
If you are returning from Montenegro to a country outside of the EU, such as the USA or Canada, please check the links below for any additional requirements:
Important Notes:
For more information please checkout the posts below or leave us a comment.
Related Posts:
Rabies Titer Test: Travelling Through Europe with a Dog
If you’re planning a trip to Europe or relocating with your dog, it’s important to plan ahead to ensure they have all the required documentation
EU Pet Passport, Required Vaccinations, and Documents Needed to Travel with Your Dog
If you’re planning to travel with your dog to the EU, you need to plan ahead and make sure that they have all of the
12 Responses
Our dog has an EU Pet Passport, he has a two year rabies jab which is valid until Nov 25.
He does not have a titre test certificate in his passport, can we take him in our motorhome to Montenegro and Slovenia this year? I look forward yo your reply, kind regards lee.
Hi Lee
Slovenia is no problem at all as there are no borders to cross as it is in the EU. I am assuming that you are a resident of the EU if your dog has an EU pet passport. In regards to the rabies vaccination we get our dog vaccinated every year. Some countries allow a 3 year vaccination but as we travel to many countries we always do this on an annual basis. In regards to Montenegro it is listed as a high risk rabies country by the European Union and therefore you need to get a rabies titre test done in advance. Seeing how you are not travelling until November I would definitely get the titer test done by a vet in the EU and they will send it away for validation. Once the test returns then the vet will update the EU pet passport with the information. The titer test is valid for the entire life of you dog as long as the rabies vaccination is always kept up-to-date. You can take a chance and not do the test as many borders returning into the EU do not check the dog’s papers but I would strongly recommend that you have everything in place.
See the link for more info ules when travelling with your dog, cat or ferret to Montenegro
As per Europa.eu
In addition to the standard requirements (microchip, anti-rabies vaccination, anti-Echinococcus treatment where necessary, EU health certificate), your pet must have a rabies antibody test 30 days after their rabies vaccination and not less than 3 months before travelling to the EU. An authorised vet must take the blood sample for testing by an EU approved blood-testing laboratory.
Please let us know if you have any other questions.
Natascha & Josef
PS…check back to Pedro’s blog soon as we have exciting news…we purchased a home near Kotor, Montenegro so we will be spending lots of time there and will soon welcome AirBnB guests (must love dogs).
Hi thanks for your story. But I didn’t understand is my tiger test will be valid. 29 June vaccinated. 1 August will make titter test. 10 August I will take titter test result. 12 August I will enter Montenegro from Croatia and 23 August will enter EU ( Croatia) from Montenegro. Help me please 🙂 it’s too difficult with this titters.
Hi
From all of the information that I have it states that you must wait for 3 months from the date of the rabies titer test before returning to the EU and UK. We have travelled multiple times and no one checked when we returned to the EU but if they do check this is the requirement. So if you do the titer test on August 10 then you can return to the EU 3 months later. When you enter into Montenegro no one will check for a titer test as it is not required but when you return via Croatia they are supposed to check.
I hope this helps!
Thank you !!
My pleasure!
Hello!
We love your website! Your travels with Pedro look amazing and your website and advice have inspired us to plan our own journey with our dog Barney. We are also fans on Instagram and TikTok! In 2025 we will be going on a European adventure with Barney in our camper van!
We are from UK but plan to obtain an EU pet passport when we arrive in the EU. We were hoping to travel to Montenegro but understand to return to the EU that a rabies titre test will be required. I am wondering did you do your rabies titre test AFTER obtaining your EU pet passport?
We are wondering if you have any insight if this order would be acceptable:
UK – rabies vaccine & titre test
Arrive in EU, obtain pet passport and subsequent rabies vaccine
Or, do you think this will be a problem as the titre test was done before the issuance of the pet passport (even though our dog was vaccinated against rabies)?
Thanks in advance for your help, I cannot find this information anywhere!! Look forward to seeing your next adventures!
Hi
I replied to your other comment in detail! Thanks again for the lovely feedback!
Hello! We love your website! Your travels with Pedro look amazing and your website and advice have inspired us to plan our own journey with our dog Barney. We are also fans on Instagram and TikTok! In 2025 we will be going on a European adventure with Barney in our camper van! We are from UK but plan to obtain an EU pet passport when we arrive in the EU. We were hoping to travel to Montenegro but understand to return to the EU that a rabies titre test will be required. I am wondering did you do your rabies titre test AFTER obtaining your EU pet passport? We are wondering if you have any insight if this order would be acceptable: UK – rabies vaccine & titre test Arrive in EU, obtain pet passport and subsequent rabies vaccine Or, do you think this will be a problem as the titre test was done before the issuance of the pet passport (even though our dog was vaccinated against rabies)? Thanks in advance for your help, I cannot find this information anywhere!! Look forward to seeing your next adventures!
Hi
Thanks for your comment and lovely feedback! I need to get busy and do more posts soon! We have some exciting news to announce! We loved Montenegro so much on our travels this past May that we purchased a home near Kotor and will be splitting time between Italy and Montenegro. I will post an update in the next while with more info and links to our new adventure!
Your planned trip sounds very exciting and I am sure Barney will love. If we are there at the same time you definitely need to drop by!
In regards to your questions, my understanding is that you can only get an EU Pet Passport for your dog if you are a resident of the EU. For residents of the UK you must obtain an EU animal health certificate from your vet in the UK. You do not need to obtain any other vaccinations once you arrive in the EU provided that all of Barney’s vaccinations are current and update to-date and that he has a microchip that is ISO compliant. It is very important to make sure that the rabies vaccination does not expire while you are away, otherwise you should get the rabies vaccination done again before you leave the UK. Important note: If your pet needs a rabies vaccination, you must wait 21 days after the vaccination date before you can get an animal health certificate. Day 1 is the day after vaccination. Animal health certificates are valid for entry to the EU within 10 days of the date of issue and can be used for travel inside of the EU, as well as your return trip to the UK, for 4 months.
For more info on the UK Animal Health Certificate:
https://www.gov.uk/taking-your-pet-abroad/getting-an-animal-health-certificate
EU animal health certificate
An EU animal health certificate is another type of document, which contains specific information about your pet (identity, health, rabies vaccinations) and is based on an EU standard model.
If you are travelling from a non-EU country or territory, your pet must have an EU animal health certificate issued by an official State vet in the country of departure not more than 10 days before your pet arrives in the EU. The certificate is valid for travel between EU countries for 4 months from this date or until the anti-rabies vaccination expires, whichever lapses first.
As you are returning to the EU from Montenegro the following rules will apply:
https://food.ec.europa.eu/animals/movement-pets/eu-legislation/entry-union_en
So in short you need to get the Rabies Titer test done in the UK before you leave and it needs to accompany the Animal Health Certificate from the UK.
The rabies titer test cannot be done until 30 days after the rabies vaccination.
It takes approximately 10 days for the laboratory to mail out the certification letter.
You must wait for 3 months from the date of the rabies titer test before returning to the EU and UK.
The EU will consider your pet’s titer test valid for the life of your pet as long as its rabies vaccination does not expire.
The rabies titer test must be certified from the official laboratory and a copy of this report must be attached to the animal health certificate accompanying the animal. All of this should be done through vet in the UK.
When you return to the UK you must go to a vet in the EU to get the tapeworm treatment as required by the UK. The vet in the EU can record this information in the Animal Health Certificate that you brought with you from the UK at the start of your trip.
I do not believe that you indicated how long you would be travelling for. All of the info that I gave you applies to travelling and returning to the UK within a 4 month period.
Let me know what other questions you have and please do stay in touch!
Best Regards,
Natascha
Hi. I noticed a few errors and I hope you don’t mind me pointing them out! You don’t need to be an EU citizen for your dog to get an Eu passport, you just make an appointment at the vet and pay for it. Where I live (Spain) they do a passport, microchip and rabies jab for 60 Euros which is loads cheaper than the UK! I advise all of my friends to get a Spanish passport for their dogs when they bring them on holiday. Also, some Spanish vets vaccinate yearly for rabies, but it is definitely not a requirement for the EU, at least not all of it. I have travelled to Spain, France, Portugal, Italy and Germany with my dogs and they are vaccinated against rabies every 3 years.
Hi
I think that it really depends on the country in the EU. In Austria you definitely need to be an EU Citizen and have your dog registered to your home in Austria to get an EU Pet Passport. I am glad to hear that in Spain there is no issue. Travelling with your dog should not be difficult to do. You are correct about the rabies vaccination and I will update the post accordingly. Thanks so much and sorry for the delay in replying. Happy travels!