Croatia Renting a Car Tips

Hi Sydney,

1. Pula itself has a very well preserved Roman amphitheater. I'd personally rather stay in Rovinj, a charming town on the coast. If you are staying in Pula, you can easily drive up for a day trip. I'd also check out the hill town of Motovun.
2. See www.autoeurope.com for car rental options. They buy in bulk from other major carriers, so are usually cheaper.

In addition to Rovinj, Porec is a nice destination for a day-trip from Pula, and there's also the tiny Vrsac. Definitely see some of the interior since you'll have a car. I liked both Groznjan and Motovun.

Also, look at sixt. There are 4 couples here in Colorado who have all rented from them on different trips and have been pleased. At the time, they had the lowest rates, but their customer service was impeccable.

I would suggest checking out Autoeurope - they go through a number of local & international companies and it all seems to be very reasonably priced. I booked a car to drive from Zadar Airport to Dubrovnik (port area) on 9-10 June for $36 (plus 87 euro one-way fee which I have to pay locally either when I pick up or drop off the car). I originally had it booked for just a long day one 10 June but I emailed the other day to ask about picking it up the night before so we could get an early start and they said that there would be no extra charge (I'm confirming the earliest time I can pick it up at the moment before I change my reservation).

Please note that I haven't actually ever used them in the past but so far so good - the prices are very reasonable and it seems very straight-forward.

Pula is the largest and least beautiful of the Istrian coastal towns. Rovinj is the most beautiful, but I really like Porec. My overall favorite, however, is Novigrad. When in Pula, be sure to drive down the Kamenjak peninsula and find a secluded beach. There is a ton to do in Istria, both on the coast and interior. I have found this website to be absolutely invaluable in our numerous trips to Istria. Read up here:

http://www.frankaboutcroatia.com/best-restaurants-in-istria/

We rented directly with Oryx in Rijeka and dropped off 10 days later in Dubrovnik. We had a virtually brand-new car that worked perfectly and we rented a wifi hotspot to go with the car that was the best. I would highly recommend Oryx. We ended up skipping Pula, though originally we thought we might go see the amphitheater. We visited Porec just to see the basilica (it was very crowded), then drove around inland to see Groznjan and Motovun - both lovely and uncrowded - and spent the rest of our time where we were staying in Rovinj which was wonderful.