They reckon that Romania is going to be the ‘hot’ spot for 2016, but I’m going to throw my hat in for Croatia. Croatia has a number of advantages over Romania: it has some well developed infrastructure specifically for tourism and there really is a lot to see, in comparison to Romania.
On our driving tour, we came down the highway from Budapest, around Lake Balaton and crossed the border near Varadzim. The border crossing here seems to be very interested in checking cars over for obvious damage and the proper insurance certificate. One Hungarian registered car was turned back due to collision damage that wasn’t covered by a police report. The border guard told us it was official policy that people should get a police report covering any damage to cars.
Once inside Croatia it is an easy run into Zagreb. Our hotel of choice is the Dubrovnik Hotel (www.hotel-dubrovnik.hr). It’s a nice 4 star hotel right on the edge of the town square. One thing to be wary of in Zagreb is that the streets around the town square have all been converted to one way streets on pedestrian malls. This was done prior to 2008, yet no GPS reflects this change, even as late as 2012. On the north side of the square is the ‘old town’ where you’ll find lots of cafes and restaurants as well as one of the oldest public transportation systems in the world: a rack railway to the look out at the top of the cliff overlooking Zagreb.
To see the rest of Croatia, especially the Dalmatian Coast, you need to head SW from Zagreb. There are two options: you can take the new EU funded tollway directly to Zadar and areas beyond (the highway is planned to reach Dubrovnik eventually), or you can turn off the tollway at Karlovacs and take the old Highway 1 to Zadar. By far the most interesting is Highway 1. Karlovacs is the start of the old highway and the brewery for Croatia’s favourite beer is here (tours are available). Two other things to take note of are the fact that the road is only a two lane road winding through small villages, with every village a hangout for the local Polizia with their radar guns. The other thing to note is that there are a lot of landmines left over from the civil war. The areas are well signposted, but it pays to be careful.
The best reason to go on Highway 1 is Plitvice National Park. A park with 16 or so connected lakes, with waterfalls, boat rides and hiking trails. Plitvice also has accommodation at the park entrances. See the photo below of the first section of the park. The rest of Highway 1 is also scenic and a relaxing drive. Highway 1 rejoins the tollway near Zadar and our tour goes there.
You can carry on further to Split or Dubrovnik, but we find Zadar to be fine. Tour de Europe uses the Hotel Kolovar in Zadar (www.hotel-kolovare.com). The hotel is located on the beach and is just outside the walls of the old town. Zadar as a significant town, dates to the 13th century and was subservient to the Doge of Venice. The town was occupied by Italian forces during the reign of Mussolini and became part of Yugoslavia at the end of WW11. Roman ruins have also been discovered in the boundary of the old walled centre of town. The old walled centre is a maze of small streets with shops and restaurants aplenty. We recommend the Restaurant Fosa, which is just outside the town wall on the south side. Zadar is also home to a number of large distilleries making very excellent Cherry Brandy.
On the tour that visited Zadar, we then went north along to coast on Croatia’s own version of the Great Ocean Road. The road is numbered E65 and takes you as far as Rijecka. With traffic and lots of small villages it can be slow going but is definitely worth it if it is a sunny day.