I'm planning my trip in Aug. and I feel like I'm wasting time taking a train from Lake Bled to Split it's a long journey. I can get in to Zagreb at 10:35am but then have to wait for a 2:00train to go to Split and don't arrive until 8:40 at night. We planned only a short stop there before we rented a car to go down to dubrovnik for the last 3days of our trip. When I looked into just renting a car from Zagreb I saw that a car ride is only 3hours. I'm wondering if that is the better route? I heard that it is pretty easy to get from point a to b but still it makes me nervous. Has anybody done this?
Posted by
Jenison, Michigan, USA
13 posts
ShellyMy wife and I drove up and down Croatia by car and I can safely say you'll have no problem. The highway system from Zagreb to Split is all divided highway and brand new...fabulous tunnels, by the way. They've also begun upgrading the section from Split to Dubrovnik to a divided highway. Croatia seems to have emerged from the war years in much better shape than Bosnia. Enjoy! Mike
Posted by
OP
Rancho Santa Margarita, CA, Us
2 posts
Mike,
I really appreciate the response. If I may....Did you have to pay toll from Zagreb to Split? Did you find it took about 3hrs or so and lastly is it true even if driving from Split to dubrovnik that at some point you have to use a ferry to get into dubrovnik with the car? What car rental.com did you use? Did you find it a pain to rent? You have no idea how much I appreciate you taking the time to give me input. Also, on a side note, I'm originally from Walled Lake, Michigan and I am a graduated a Spartan (MSU). I thought that it was interesting the one who responded was from my home state! Thanks again, Shelly
Posted by
Jenison, Michigan, USA
13 posts
Shelly, Being from Walled Lake you must have run across your share of Big Blue fans. I'm a Michigan fan some days, but I'll cheer Izzo no matter who he's playing. We cheer for both teams because we've got grads from both schools in the family. Anyway, to your questions: I seem to recall a toll or two in the run from Zagreb to Split, but they couldn't have been too much. The drive was actually more like 4 or 5 hours. We did stop in Zadar for lunch. The waterfront there was worth a visit. *No, there's no ferry required to get into Dubrovnik, but the town itself is small enough that parking could be an issue on a busy day. You may find it better to park outside the town and grab a bus. Dubrovnik is a very popular cruise ship stop. The day before we got arrived there were three cruise ships docked and 11,000 cruisers in town. There were two boats in while we were there and it was still pretty busy.
*Even though ours was a pleasure trip, our company lets us use the corporate travel discounts, so we went with Hertz in Zagreb and got a good deal. We did a one-way rental from Zagreb to Zadar and had no trouble. Good luck planning your trip. Let me know if you have more questions. We had a blast in Croatia. We hit the island of Hvar off Split for several days. Beautiful island and super nice people.
Posted by
columbus, nc
294 posts
Don't know who you will rent from in Zagreb, but I rented from Active Rent a Car. They offered to pick me up at the train station and take me to their office at no cost. No extra charge for drop off in different city in country. They have offices through out Croatia.