How to Travel Croatia like a Local
The smell of salt and seaweed wafting in the window suddenly wakes me. My fellow travelers are fast asleep, but I pull off my eye mask to see that our bus is consumed in mist. It´s five AM, we are still on Highway 8, and just entered a town called Komarna. I´m exhausted and I have never heard of this place. Seven hours earlier we had boarded this bus in Zagreb and I was struggling to sleep. Sleeping on a bus is never glamorous or extremely comfortable, but so far Croatia Bus had been better than I had originally expected. Most travelers on board were Croatians and they all seemed to have been serenaded to sleep by the bus driver´s choice of traditional Dalmatian Folk Music. As I struggled to properly wake up, the mist had dissipated and where it once stood sat a series of green gems nestled among the glistening clouds and water as the sun began to rise, we were approaching the border to Bosnia and Herzegovina, and soon we would finally reach Dubrovnik.
As shocking as it may seem I would have never been able to see some of the beautiful countryside, admired so much of the coast, or met so many locals if I had not taken the bus. Also since my goal was to see the entire country within three weeks I had to be careful with how I budgeted my money! Although many people opt for traveling Croatia by sea, this tends to be more expensive in the end than if you do a mixture of bus, train, and ferry rides.
View from our bus window as we neared Bosnia and Herzegovina
So here are all of your available modes of transportation
Bus
Train
Ferry
Rental Car
Plane
Private Boat
Yacht Week
Day Tours
Cruises
Rental boat
BUS
As mentioned the bus is proably the most affordable way to travel Croatia. A ticket from Zagreb to Dubrovnik on the overnight bus was 150 HRK so about 20 Euros, more than reasonable for traveling most of the length of the country. The buses also run between all major cities and even many minor ones so if you are on a budget and want to travel like a local than either go to your closest bus kiosk or book online! Not all bus companies that run allow you to book online, but a few groups do which makes planning transport a little easier. Make sure though if you are going on the bus to or from Dubrovnik that you have your passport on hand! You will need to show it at the border of Bosnia and Herzegovina (and even get a stamp too).
http://www.buscroatia.com/
The interior of one of the more common bus companies, Croatia Bus
CAR
Renting a car is not cheap! The best price you are likely to get is 15 euros a day not including gas when dropping off the car at the original location. If you are planning to drop your car off at a different spot be prepared for prices to start around 25 euros a day before gas. This actually may be a very good option for those who want to travel a little faster, tailor your own schedule, and see things off the beaten path.
There are numerous companies that you can find that rent cars in Croatia. Sixt is a good go to company that will provide competitive prices, quality cars, and has an array of locations around the country.
The view of Klis Fortress on our drive up the mountain from Split
TRAIN
Although we were not aware at the time of our visit, Croatia has a pretty nice network of trains! Most trains originate from Zagreb and then go West, South, or East. The trains are kept in good condition and are actually quite comfortable.
The link below is from the official train website and lists a number of discounts for the next year!
Get 50% off train tickets until 31th March 2017
Zagreb – Split and Split – Zagreb from HRK 75.00
Zagreb – Rijeka and Rijeka – Zagreb from HRK 55.60
HRK 75 is only 10 euros or 12 dollars!!! That is a crazy good deal for a roundtrip ticket in second class without any add-ons. If you don't book through a promotion the ticket would probably range from 20-30 euros to travel from Zagreb to Split one-way. The best part of taking the train is that you can book your tickets online up to two months in advance and use the HZPP website to see if your train is on-time. Also you can opt to purchase other special tickets and take advantage of the HZPP services on-board. They offer sleeping cars/couchettes (on select routes), snacks and beverages for purchase, transportation for bikes, and even for pets.
Note: there are NO LINES that run to Dubrovnik, this would require passing over Bosnia and Herzegovina and thus there are no lines going this route.
http://www.hzpp.hr/en/get-discounts-on-rail-journeys?m=2815&mp=2790
The station locations and lines for HZPP that run through Croatia
PLANE
All aboard Croatia Airlines! The only within country carrier. Flying obviously is never the cheapest option, but if you book far enough in advance you can get one way flights as cheap as 80 euros from Zagreb to Dubrovnik. You could also fly Zagreb to Pula, but since this is a less popular route there are not as many dates available. However the one-way price for this flight is arond 50 euros. All of these flights usually include a short stop, so if you want non-stop you will probably have to shell out another 20 to 40 euros. Flights from Dubrovnik to Split start around 80 euros one way, so I would not recommend doing any flights except out of Zagreb.
After you finish your inland journey, you will need to get on the water!
BOAT RENTAL
The prices range a lot in terms of renting a boat and it all depends on how long you need the boat, where you are renting the boat, and where you want to go. Of course you will need to pay for all the fuel you use, but the cheapest quote I heard for renting a boat for the day was in Vis for around 100 euros for the day without the deposit. Also many places will not rent to you if you do not have a sailing liscence, they may or may not accept one from the US or some other countries in Europe.
TOURS
There are hundreds of tours and cruises that operate from Dubrovnik and Split that hit a variety of the islands so it is possible for you to find one that hits all the spots you may want to see, but be prepared for it to come at a hefty price tag.
Tours really can drastically range in price dependent on the kind of boat you are on, the number of destinations you will go to, whether you order online or in person, and the extra amenities that you want included (e.g. lunch, dinner, drinks, snorkeling gear, etc). The cheapest tour I saw while in Croatia was a man renting his small motor boat to take people to see the Blue and Green caves in Vis for only 40 euros for the day including a light snack and water. Otherwise most Croatians are heavily involved in tourism so expect prices to be starting at 60 euros and above for even the shortest boat tour. Viator boat tours from Split or Dubrovnik to any mixture of islands tend to start around 70 euros, but most are over 100 euros. Of course there is a possibility to find a good price for a boat tour that may include a worthwhile mixture of food, drinks, and information, but for someone on a budget you will have to invest a lot of time to find one of these tours whether it is online or from a vendor on one of the harbor promenades.
Two examples of tour boats moored outside of Hvar harbor
CRUISES
Yacht week is also a popular way to see the coast of Croatia, but the cheapest package starts at 990 euros and that does not include all your dinners, your flight into the country, mooring fees, fuel, security deposit, or port fees. Thus, you will be likely paying more than 2,000 euros before even calculating in what you paid for a flight or your transportation to the departure area. Also yacht week has very specific routes and you will not be allowed to sail to any island other than those on the designated route. Yacht week is an extremely unique experience and if you have the money than this may be one of the most fun ways to enjoy sailing although it is not exactly ¨Croatian sailing culture¨.
There are a large range of cruises available for purchase both online and in person when in Croatia. The most popular method is purchasing online. Although I searched a great deal, I know I did not see every cruise available in Croatia. With that being said, out of all the cruise lines I searched the cheapest cruise I found was through tour radar for 320 euros for an 8 day cruise in a shared room (most likely a triple room) which includes all breakfasts, lunches, a tour guide, listed activities, and all sailing fees. Rooms are very basic and do not have air conditioning and these cruises tend to be party oriented. It has seven stops, but only three of them are islands. Honestly, for the price this is not a bad way to have a basic island experience in Croatia.
http://www.tourradar.com/t/6282
The infamous Yacht Week cruise boats moored at Vis harbor
FERRIES
If however you want to maximize what you are able to see in the time you have available I would recommend taking advantage of Croatia´s great ferry system.
Jadrolinija is the major ferry company that travels between many of the major coastal cities and between most of the islands on Croatia. If you want to see the islands you can either enter the ferries by foot or with your car. Prices are very reasonable for those on foot, with a high season ticket from Split to Vis costing only around 7 euros for a three hour trip. If you want to take a car be prepared to pay around 50 euros for the same trip! Consult the chart and map to determine which ship you will be curising on. All of the ships are quite clean, they have fairly comfortable seats, a snack bar, and serve alcohol. On most of the boats you will be allowed to go to the upper decks, enjoy the ocean air, and of course explore the ship, but if you are on the Catarman ferry you are required to stay within the interior of the ship during the cruise.
Do remember to check the ferry schedules before you decide to book certain days on certain islands. Generally ferries tend to run in multiple directions on most days, unless it is a Wednesday, in which case you cannot go straight from Hvar to Vis (we found this out the hard way).
A basic map showing the ferry lines between the mainland and the many islands of Croatia. Make sure to check the schedule in advance!
If you opted out of bringing a car and you are in the true backpacking spirit...this part is for you! If you want to explore each of the individual islands I would recommend renting a scooter and exploring the islands via land, we only paid around 40 euros including our fuel costs for a full day rental in Vis and we were able to see the entire island on our own time and at our own pace.
In the end for three weeks of traveling around the entire country and hitting all of the major cities and sights, we paid a total of 300 euros for all of our transport costs (half of that being our rental car which we used for the top half of our trip). You could for sure cut this further by solely taking buses, but we personally wanted to make sure to see the inland national parks and visit some historical sights along the way. Since our flights were only 200 euros each from Stuttgart this totaled to 500 euros for traveling the entire country of Croatia for three weeks! And when I mean the whole country I mean the whole country!
Come back next time to read about the best places we visited in Croatia and the places we definitely would not visit a second time.