Car
hire and driving in Croatia
Hiring
a car in Croatia is pretty straight forward - there are many
well-established, major car hire companies with offices in Croatia,
such as Europcar, Hertz, Avis, Dollar and many others, as well
as many smaller, local companies. Most of the major companies
have offices in all major cities, towns and airports. Car hire
can be arranged directly with those companies, or search for
the best deals and latest offers through one of the UK-based
car hire agents – see links on the right - such as Travelsupermarket,
HolidayAutos, Atlaschoice, AutosEurope and many others.
These car hire agents often act as price consolidators and discount
resellers and offer better value than if you were to book your
car directly with the car hire company. Searching for best deals
and hiring a car through one of those agents can also save you
time as they automatically search through latest offers of more
than one company.
Do
not expect fantastic discount prices though, as car hire in
Croatia is on the whole not cheap – in fact it is quite a bit
more pricey than in the rest of Europe (due to higher insurance
costs) – expect the price to be some 20-30 percent higher than
for example in Italy or France.
If
trying to save money and if you do not mind some extra driving
involved, it is possible (and usually cheaper) to fly to Italy
and hire a car there to take it into Croatia . Be careful though,
as not all car rental companies allow you to do this. We have
listed the car rental companies and agents that have in the
past allowed cross-border entries, but please double-check with
them both when booking and when collecting the car - the intention
to enter Croatia must be marked on the hire documents, or the
car may be refused entry at the border. Also, even if you do
succeed in getting across without the appropriate authorisation,
your insurance may well be non-existent: Autos Europe (for cars
collected from the following offices: Treviso, Venice Marco
Polo, Trieste and Rome), Lastminute.com, Holiday Autos, Avis,
Europcar, Hertz (only if booking through Ryanair website and
only for cars collected from Trieste and few other airports).
If
flying to Ljubljana , Slovenia , most car hire companies automatically
allow you to drive in Croatia (but do double-check with the
agent or the hire company). Click here
for list of car hire companies with offices at Ljubljana airport.
Driving
in Croatia
Petrol
is easily available in Croatia , whether you require Regular,
Premium or Unleaded. Diesel is also available. Petrol prices
are at present similar, or marginally lower than UK prices.
For the latest information on prices of petrol and on the list
of petrol stations visit www.ina.hr,
and www.hak.hr
Another
great site, offering an English-text version, is www.hac.hr.
This is the official site of the Croatian Motorways and
offers up to date information on toll charges (and ways of payment),
latest completed sections of the motorway (or due for completion
in near future), as well as up to date information on road conditions
and weather forecasts for Croatia. Another useful addition to
this site are printable PDF versions of detailed maps of some
of the recently completed sections of the motorway network.
- If using an older road map of Croatia, do remember that it
might be slightly out of date, as the new sections of the roads
and motorways are being opened on a daily basis – another reason
why we strongly recommend visiting this website if you intend
to drive in Croatia .
As
previously mentioned, the new extensive Croatian motorway
network is currently under construction. The Zagreb-Split
section, with connections to Zadar and Sibenik, was opened in
2005. There is major road-building going on in Istria that will
connect Croatia to the Italian motorway system. Work has also
started on certain sections of the motorway between Split and
Dubrovnik.
Some
of the other roads in the country have recently been improved,
or are currently undergoing improvements, and the standards
and road quality on the whole are slowly approaching those of
the rest of Europe.
Another
thing to take into consideration when planning your route is
the scenery along the way. The most scenic drive in Croatia
is definitely the old Jadranska Magistrala ( Adriatic Road ),
which follows the coastline from Rijeka in the north to Dubrovnik
in the south. Some stretches of this road are truly stunning
and definitely worth adding a few more hours to your journey.
The most highly recommended of those stretches of the road is
the one where it runs under the Velebit Mountain , especially
with Pag Island in view. The following routes are also recommended:
inland Istria (the peninsula in the northern part of Croatian
coast), it is often rightly compared to Tuscany, Pag Island
(linked to the mainland by ferry service on its northern end
and a bridge on its southern end), Neretva River Delta, as well
as parts of Jadranska Magistrala that run around Sibenik, and
under the Biokovo Mountain towards Peljesac and Dubrovnik
