Travel and accommodation in Croatia

The three major airports in Croatia are Zagreb International Airport, Split and Dubrovnik and low cost international flights are available into each of these destinations, as well as good domestic links.

The flying time is just over two hours from London. Zagreb International Airport is about 10 miles from the centre of town and there are regular bus services into the centre. Alternatively, a taxi from Zagreb airport to the city centre will cost approximately 150 Kuna. Split airport is about 15 miles from the centre of town and there are regular buses and Dubrovnik is located 11 miles from the city centre and a 20 minute bus journey.

Scheduled airlines flying to Croatia include British Airways who flies to Split from London Gatwick and to Dubrovnik from London Gatwick and Manchester. The flights from London Gatwick are operated by mainline BA and the Manchester to Dubrovnik flight is operated by their franchise partner GB Airways. Fares cost from £138 return including taxes fees and charges for London Gatwick and Manchester to Dubrovnik and to Split from £128 including taxes, fees and charges.

Croatia Airlines also offers return fares from £148 and flies from Gatwick to Split, Pula and Dubrovnik, from Heathrow to Rijeka, Split and Zagreb, from Manchester to Split, Pula, Dubrovnik and from East Midlands to Split and Dubrovnik.

Budget airline Wizzair has remarkable return flights from as little as £39 from London Luton to Zagreb. Look out for their promotional deals which are from a staggering 2 pence! Plus taxes. (From May 1^st 2006 flights will be available from Luton to Split from £39 return).

Easyjet flies from Luton to Rijeka (starting June 30^th 2006), from Bristol to Rijeka (starting July 22^nd 2006) and from Gatwick to Split (starting May 2^nd 2006). FlyGlobespan flies from Glasgow and Edinburgh to Pula with fares from £79 return and other budget airlines include Holiday Options who offers fares from £99 return including all taxes, flying from Gatwick to Split, Pula and Dubrovnik, from Manchester to Split, Pula, Dubrovnik, from Birmingham and Norwich to Split and Dubrovnik and from Bristol to Split.

Thomsonfly flies from Doncaster Sheffield, Gatwick, Manchester, Birmingham Bristol and Bournemouth to Pula, then from Gatwick and Manchester to Split, from Gatwick, Manchester and Glasgow to Dubrovnik. Fares from £149 return and Palmair flies from Bournemouth to Dubrovnik with fares from £229 return including all taxes. Other airlines flying to Croatia in 2006 include Thomas Cook Airlines, Air Adriatic and Excel Airways.

Schedule airlines include Lufthansa, Austrian Airlines and Air France

Arriving by train / boat

It is also possible to travel to Croatia by train, enquiries can be made at Rail Europe, telephone 0870 584 8848 or visit European Rail. One possible route is to catch the Eurostar from London Waterloo to Paris Gare du Nord then from Paris connect with one of the two daily departures to Zagreb. The overall journey will take around 30 hours. See SNCF for connections from Paris. An alternative is to go via Zurich.

Other journey options are to take a low cost flight with Ryanair who flies to Ancona on the Italian Adriatic coast and from there take a ferry over to the Dalmation coast, or to Triest in the north of Italy which is very close to the Istrian border. From here you could connect with a train into Croatia, or hire a car as the Istrian Peninsula is less than an hour’s drive from Italy.

You can also fly to Italy and take an international ferry over to Croatia. The main Croatian maritime company is Jadrolinija which has ferry connections with the Italian ports of Trieste, Ancona, Pescara and Bari.

Driving in Croatia

There are plenty of car hire opportunities in Croatia either at the airport or in major towns, but be aware that a) car hire is quite expensive in comparison with some other countries and b) the roads are not especially good in Croatia, though new motorways are under construction and roads are being improved, for example in 2005, the new A1 autocesta (motorway) from Split to Zagreb opened to provide a fast direct route from Dalmatia to Central Europe.

If you do have wheels then one of the most scenic roads in the country is the Jadranska Magistrala (E65) which winds along the Adriatic coast south to Dubrovnik, and north to Rijeka, passing through Sibenik and Zadar en-route. But be warned that it does get incredibly busy in the high summer months.

Visit the National Auto club of the Republic of Croatia for useful information about driving in Croatia. Cars drive on the right.

Getting around Croatia

The buses are the best form of public transport in Croatia and there is a good network of daily intercity and regional services.

The rail network in Croatia connects all major Croatian cities, except Dubrovnik and there are direct trains to Slovenia, Hungary, Italy, Greece, Austria, Switzerland, Germany, Bosnia-Herzegovina and Serbia and Montenegro as well as indirect lines to almost all other European countries. Train travel within the country isn’t as popular or as well developed as in other European countries.

Zagreb, however, has a good public transport system with a choice of trams, buses and a funicular railway. Taxis in Croatia are run on meters.

As for accommodation hotels in Zagreb cost around £30 per person per night and in Rovinj £25 per person per night.

The currency is the Kuna and 1 kuna = 100 lipa. £1 = approximately 10.5 HRK Croatia Kuna.

Photos courtesy of the Croatian National Tourist Board.

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