Changes

|hitch = from {{Average}} to {{very good}}<rating country='hr' />|BW = HR

'''Croatia''' is a country in [[Southern Europe]]. It is a member state of the [[European Union]] and is preparing to join the [[Schengen Agreement]] by 2017.Croatia can be great for hitchhiking. It is quite easy to hitch along the coast, and waiting time rarely exceeds 20 minutes. [[File:Croatia_minefields.png|thumb|left|Minefields in Croatia]]Some routes, however, might appear to be more difficult to hitch but with some portion of patience one can get a ride almost anywhere in this Balkan country.

Almost everyone except for When going out of the older generation speaks English country you can choose either to go out at least the weekend or not. When choosing the weekend, on a basic levelone hand it is absolutely one of the best ways to hitchhike. Croatians The columns sometimes are also extremely open, friendly, more than 10 km long and hospitablethe cars barely go, although there are known accidents the most of nationalistic hatred being directed onto foreign travelersthe time they stand. It So it is nonetheless definitely easy when you have a must-see ride to get out of the car and walk between the cars in the lines and ask maybe directly for your destination. There are at least columns before every toll and before some tunnels that go only one way and before the border. ''[[User:Amines | Amines]] was hitchhiking at Saturday towards the coast at the A1 highway on a petrol station after [[Zagreb]] but gave up after 4 hours, walked across the road where there was a column and got a ride directly to [[Bratislava]] within 5 minutes.'' On the other hand it takes time to get out of the country with beautiful landscape, islands, because you will wait in this columns for hours and warm seahours.

'''WARNING'''Aside from Croatian, Italian is widely known in some areas. Croatians are also extremely open, friendly, and hospitable, although there are known accidents of nationalistic hatred being directed onto foreign travelers. It is nonetheless definitely a must-see country with beautiful landscape, islands, and warm sea. The coastal road is beautiful, however be careful of where you are dropped off. You may find yourself with a mountain on one side and sudden drop on the other.  ===Dangers===There are some landmines left in Croatia. [[User:Whisperingofthestars|Jason]] and Kelsey stumbled across signs in the middle of the night in central Croatia. Ask locals about this if you're sleeping out. It is advised to ask to stay in people's gardens or in the truck. However with the exception of some areas outside of- specifically just south of- [[Zadar]], the coastline is completely clear. Please be aware of this and be careful![https://misportal.hcr.hr/HCRweb/faces/simple/Map.jspx Map of marked minefields] ===Phrasebook=== * Hello '''Dobar dan'''* Good bye '''Doviđenja'''/'''Bok (casual)'''* Please '''Molim'''* Thank you '''Hvala'''* Direction '''Smjer'''* Highway '''Autocesta'''* Are you going to...? '''Idete li do...?'''* I'm going to... '''Idem do...'''* Could I get a lift to...? '''Mogu li dobiti prijevoz do...?'''* Yes '''Da'''* No '''Ne'''* To the next petrol station '''Do slijedeće (slijedeche) benzinske stanice'''* I will get down here '''Ovdje ću izaći'''* Could you stop here? '''Možete li ovdje stati?'''* Do you speak... (english)? '''Govorite li... (engleski)?'''* My name is... '''Moje ime je...'''* What is your name? '''Kako se zovete?'''  ===License plates===The two letters on the left of the license plate tell you the city where the vehicle was registered: {| class="wikitable"!Code !!Region !!Code !!Region|-|'''BJ''' ||[[Bjelovar]] ||'''OG''' ||[[Ogulin]]|-|'''BM''' ||[[Beli Manastir]] ||'''OS''' ||[[Osijek]]|-|'''ČK''' ||[[Čakovec]] ||'''PU''' ||[[Pula]]|-|'''DA''' ||[[Daruvar]] ||'''PŽ''' ||[[Požega, Croatia|Požega]]|-|'''DE''' ||[[Delnice]] ||'''RI''' ||[[Rijeka]]|-|'''DJ''' ||[[Đakovo]] ||'''SB''' ||[[Slavonski Brod]]|-|'''DU''' ||[[Dubrovnik]] ||'''SK''' ||[[Sisak]]|-|'''GS''' ||[[Gospić]] ||'''SL''' ||[[Slatina, Croatia|Slatina]]|-|'''IM''' ||[[Imotski]] ||'''ST''' ||[[Split]]|-|'''KA''' ||[[Karlovac]] ||'''ŠI''' ||[[Šibenik]]|-|'''KC''' ||[[Koprivnica]] ||'''VK''' ||[[Vinkovci]]|-|'''KR''' ||[[Krapina]] ||'''VT''' ||[[Virovitica]]|-|'''KT''' ||[[Kutina]] ||'''VU''' ||[[Vukovar]]|-|'''KŽ''' ||[[Križevci, Croatia|Križevci]] ||'''VŽ''' ||[[Varaždin]]|-|'''MA''' ||[[Makarska]] ||'''ZD''' ||[[Zadar]]|-|'''NA''' ||[[Našice]] ||'''ZG''' ||[[Zagreb]]|-|'''NG''' ||[[Nova Gradiška]] ||'''ŽU''' ||[[Županja]]|}

Now that Slovenia had joined the [[Schengen]] agreement, and thereby becoming the external border of the E.U, less drivers are willing to drive strangers into Slovenia. It can be difficult to get a ride from Zagreb to Slovenia. To avoid troubles and good chances of getting stuck while hitchhiking in this direction, some Some hitchhikers chose to go to Zagreb train station, buy a ticket till Sutla (1.5 Euro), and stay on-board after the train passes Sutla up until the Slovene village of Dobova (these are 5 minutes of a voyage with no ticket check) - from there it's easy to hitch further towards [[Maribor]] or [[Ljubljana]]. * ''[[User:ChrisHitTheRoad|ChrisHitTheRoad]] Had many problems getting out the country in the direction of Slovenia with a very long waiting time twice at petrol stations on the highway. (over 4 hours each). It seems that people are scared to take you to the border as you are entering the Schengen area again.''*''Hitchhiked from Zagreb to Ljubljana and I had to wait for about 3h for the car to stop me. It was a holliday and the gas pump was quite empty, but I didn't have a feeling that hitchhiking would be hard on normal days. After 3h I got a direct pick.'' === To [[Bosnia and Herzegovina]] === From [[Županja]] exit (off of A3 / E70) toward [[Tuzla]]. Bosnian driver offered ride at beginning of ramp, insisted on trying border crossing in car. Ca. 400m between checkpoints. Traffic is good.

=== To [[Montenegro]]===[[Image:DSCI0111Near the Croatian city of Imotski there are two border crossings into Bosnia.JPG|left|thumb|[[User:Quarim|Quarim]]'s backpack with a [[Montenegro]] [[sign]] in front of The southern one (at the historic old town village of Dubrovnik]]Hitchhiking out Gorica and Grude) sees quite a lot of Dubrovnik - which traffic and walking across is the last major town in the south of Croatia - does not seem that difficultallowed, although it might require quite some luck. Just climb up just walk to the costline road and hitchhike on the E65 to same booth for which the South. Most drivers, though, cars are heading mainly towards either airport or the small town of Grudawaiting. It is still about 10 km When going from there Croatia into Bosnia and carrying an EU passport/ ID card you will be able to the cross this bordervery smoothly. Border guards are relaxed and nice. Since Once in the traffic is pretty low on that roadBosnian side, you will need some luck walk to find someone crossing the outskirts of the border town and willing to take you. Most probably you will it won't be picked up by some tourists. If you wait considerably long, you will probably need hard to walk to the bordercatch a ride further.