Croatia

From Hitchwiki
Revision as of 18:15, 23 February 2011 by Dlhitch (talk | contribs)

Earth > Europe > Southern Europe > Balkans > Croatia
Jump to navigation Jump to search
Flag of Croatia Croatia
Information
Language: Croatian
Capital: Zagreb
Population: 4,440,690
Currency: Kuna (HRK)
Hitchability: from Average.png (average) to Verygood.png (very good)
Meet fellow hitchhikers on Trustroots
<map lat='44.7' lng='16.5' zoom='6' view='0' float='right'/>

Croatia can be great for hitchhiking. It is quite easy to hitch along the coast, and waiting time rarely exceeds 20 minutes.

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.

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.

WARNING There are some landmines left in Croatia. 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!

Cities

Border Crossings

To Slovenia

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 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.

To Montenegro

Quarim's backpack with a Montenegro sign in front of the historic old town of Dubrovnik

Hitchhiking out of Dubrovnik - which is the last major town in the south of Croatia - does not seem that difficult, although it might require some luck. Just climb up to the costline road and hitchhike on the E65 to the South.

Most drivers, though, are heading mainly towards either airport or the small town of Gruda. It is still about 10 km from there to the Montenegro-Croatian border crossing. Since the traffic is pretty low on that road, you will need some luck to find someone crossing the border and willing to take you. Most probably you will be picked up by some tourists. If you wait considerably long, you will probably need to walk to the border.

Some Croatian drivers apparently still have strong feelings about Montenegro. Be aware that putting the name of a city in Montenegro on your sign might distract some Croatians from picking you up.

More information

  • Hitchhiking in Croatia, a CouchSurfing group
  • When travelling to the islands, you can use the katamaran. It is a faster and cheaper passenger ferry than the car ferry.

trash:Croatia