Road map recommendations?

Do you have a smart phone or tablet? A smart phone with Google Maps is a really easy way to navigate. You don't even need phone service to use your phone (and some tablets) as a GPS in Europe - you can download the maps "offline" ahead of time and still get real-time driving directions. You can try this at home if possible to see how it works.

The first time I drove in Croatia, I drove from Zagreb to Plitvice to Mostar and to Dubrovnik. I bought some big fancy road map (no GPS or phone at the time) which I really didn't need - the drive was very easy and the roads well marked. I may have looked at the map once or twice but it didn't really help me. When I drove in Slovenia two years later, I didn't even bother buying a map - I checked out my driving routes ahead of time and printed out some point-to-point directions from Google Maps. The only paper map I had was a free tourist paper map. That too was before I had a GPS or phone.

Now I use my Android phone. Last year I used to drive in Slovenia with the "offline" maps option so didn't need any phone service, and it worked fine. I still check out my driving routes ahead of time and even print out a page or two sometimes from Google Maps just to have some reference. But I have found driving in both Slovenia and Croatia (and even Bosnia) pretty easy. The most important thing is knowing the towns on your route, because unlike where I live in the US, roads in Slovenia/Croatia aren't so well marked with big prominent "You are on this road." Rather, there are directional signs to the next towns, and I learned to follow them, knowing which towns I'd be passing through to get to my destination.

You will probably wind up driving on some very modern fast highways as well - like the road from Zagreb to Split to (most of the way to) Dubrovnik is a modern multi-lane super highway (a toll road), in better condition than the roads where i live in the US!

We are planning a trip to Croatia, Slovenia and Italy in Sept & Oct. We went to a nearby major book retailer were able to get a good fold-out map for the Croatia & Slovenia, which covers 95% or our trip (doesn't show Venice, where we finish). WE have found that having a map shows us routing options as well as some tourist sites that might be good options, other than what we identify before we go. We've also had some slip ups using our GPS where place names or hotel names are similar or duplicated, particularly if we've miss-spelled something which can be so easy to do. Our map cost us about $12 (CAD) .

Freytag & Berndt make some of the best maps of the area. I don’t know about the print size, though, as I haven’t bought a new one in a while.