In this blog, I am going to tell you about our 7-day road trip in Croatia. This trip was a completely improvised and last-minute trip but it turned out to be an incredible one.
Most of the time, when you think about Croatia you think about Dubrovnik or its coast and beautiful beaches along the Adriatic sea. But Croatia is much more than that, it has really beautiful natural parks and it’s also a perfect destination for a more adventurous getaway. During our road trip, we visited a Unesco World Heritage National Park, enjoyed a couple of nice hikes, and of course relaxed on the coast.
Day 1: Arrive in Croatia and drive to Plitvice Lakes National Park
Route: From Slovenia to Plitvice Lakes National Park (Distance: 190 km; Driving time: 3h 30 minutes)
Hotel: B&B Vila Sumrak
On the first day of our 7-day road trip in Croatia, we arrived driving from Slovenia. It took us around 1 hour to cross the border as they were stopping every car to check their passports or identity cards and to ask the reason for the trip. The check itself was quite fast but we visited Croatia in August so it took us around an hour due to the high amount of cars.
Once we crossed the border, we set our destination on the GPS and started our way towards the Plitvice Lakes National Park. Driving in Croatia is quite easy since the roads are well maintained. However, there are many tunnels on the highway that have a speed limit of 100km/h which will slow you down a little bit. Another thing that will increase your driving time is the small roads to enter the park.
After three and half hours of driving, including a coffee break, we arrived at our hotel. We spent the rest of the evening enjoying a nice homemade dinner prepared by the owners of the B&B where we were staying, researching information about the Plitvice Lakes park for the next day and just relaxing after a long drive.
Day 2: Visit Plitvice Lakes National Park
Route: From the hotel to the parking near Port 2. From the parking to the supermarket and return to the hotel (Distance: 17km; Driving time: 35 min)
Walking: 15 km
Hotel: B&B Vila Sumrak
We spent our second day in Croatia visiting the Plitvice Lakes National Park. This park is the largest and oldest National Park in Croatia and its main attraction is the many beautiful lakes in it. The lakes are divided into two groups: the upper lakes and the lower lakes. The upper lakes are bigger and more open lakes with a lot of small waterfalls. On the other hand, the lower lakes are smaller lakes inside a deep canyon.
Tips for visiting the park:
- If you are thinking of visiting the park, plan to buy your ticket online ahead of time via their website. The number of visitors to the park per day is limited. Tickets can also be bought at the entrance of the park but only if they are not sold out!
- The park offers boat rides and bus rides to take you around the lakes included in the price of the entry ticket. However, I personally recommend using them as little as possible. The best views and the best way to enjoy the park is by walking.
- Be sure to get there as early as possible since the park can get very busy!
In our case, we decided to spend the morning visiting the upper lakes and the afternoon the lower lakes.
After we were done visiting the park and before returning to our apartment, we decided to go to a small market to buy some food for our hike the next day.
Day 3: Hike in Paklenica National Park
Route: From Plitvice Lakes National Park to Paklenica National Park and return(Distance: 217km; Driving time: 2h 50min)
Walking: 5 km
Hotel: Matija
The third day of our 7-day road trip in Croatia was a perfect example of how sometimes during a trip things don’t go as planned.
Things not going as planned
We had planned to do this Mala Paklenica – Velika Paklenica hike. However, everything that could have gone wrong, went wrong that day.
- On our way to the park, our GPS chose a small gravel road that could only be used with a 4×4 car. We tried to drive through it but we had to turn around.
- Due to this delay we only arrived at the beginning of the trail (Mala Paklenica entrance) by 11 am when it was already quite warm. We started our hike but the intense heat and almost no presence of any shadow were unbearable. We were carrying around 7 liters of water but after around 1h of the hike, we had almost drank half of it. The climbing was getting steeper and we still had more than three-quarters of the hike left. We decided it was safer to turn around and return to the parking.
- We went to the main entrance (Velika Paklenica Entrance) to try to do an easier and shorter hike from there. However, due to the intense heat, there was a summer storm.
In the end, we only did the Paklaric Education Trail with a viewpoint. This trail starts at the Paklenica Mill and takes you to the Paklaric Fort. It was a real pity that we could not complete our trail because the views from the part we did were amazing.
Tips for visiting the Paklenica National Park:
- To visit the park, you can either buy your tickets online at their website or at any of the 2 park entrances.
- If you enter the park through Entrance 2 Mala Paklenica, you don’t have to pay for parking but if you enter through Entrance 1 Velika Paklenica you have to pay a small parking fee.
- However, please keep in mind that all trails starting from Mala Paklenica are advanced trails for experienced hikers.
Day 4: Visit Zadar
Route: From Gospic to Zadar and return (Distance: 200km; Driving time: 2h 30min)
Hotel: Matija
After 2 days in the nature, we felt that it was time to change and visit the city of Zadar. Zadar is a coastal city bathed by the Adriatic Sea in the Dalmatian region.
We spent the day visiting the old town of Zadar which has a perfect mix of historic sites and modern attractions. The most important places to visit in Zadar are:
- St Anastasia’s Cathedral and its belltower
- Sea Organ
- Greetings to the Sun
Day 5: Relax on the beach in Ugljan
Route: From Gospic to Ugljan and return (Distance: 250km; Driving time: 2h 50min)
Hotel: Matija
On every travel, we always like to take at least one day to relax and slow down so on our 5th day, we decided to relax on one of the many islands of next Zadar.
There are plenty of travel agencies in Zadar that offer organized day trips to one of the islands. However, we wanted to have a bit more freedom and to bring our car. Jadrolinija offers daily ferries to the islands and after checking the timetables, we decided to go to Ugljan, You can find all the information about their prices and timetables on their website.
The island of Ugljan is not very big and you can easily get from one point to the other in 15 minutes by car. We spent the morning relaxing on the beach, had an amazing lunch in the town of Preko, enjoyed an afternoon at the “urban” beach of Ugljan town, and watch a beautiful sunset from the ferry.
Day 6: Drive to Fuzine
Route: From Gospic to Fuzine (Distance: 179km; Driving time: 1h 50min)
Hotel: Lovacki dom Arnika Fuzine
With our energies fully charged, it was time to leave the coast and go back to the mountains. On day 6 of our 7-day road trip in Croatia, we spent the morning driving to Fuzine.
Fuzine is a small town in Croatia surrounded by mountains and beautiful lakes which is also close to the Rinsjak National Park.
We spent a lovely afternoon walking around the lake following the Bajer Lake Trail. This is a very easy and short trail, around 6km long.
After the short walk, we took a refreshing swim in the lake and enjoyed the sun until it set behind the mountains.
Day 7: Big Risnjank Hike
Route: From Fuzine to Risnjak National Park and return (Distance:60 km; Driving time: 1h)
Walking: 19 km
Hotel: Lovacki dom Arnika Fuzine
We spent our last day in Croatia hiking in the beautiful park of Risnjak. This park is situated in the most mountainous region of Croatian and it will not leave you indifferent.
The Big Risnjak hike is a trail that takes you from the main entrance to the park all the way up to the hut on top of the mount Risnjak. It is a quite challenging hike with an altitude gain of 1200m but the views from up there are worth it.
Tips for visiting the park and Big Risnjak Hike:
- The park has an entry fee that needs to be bought in the small hut at the main entrance. It is not possible to buy it online. All information about the prices can be found on their website.
- This hike is a challenging hike so if like us, you are going to be doing it in the warm summer months, start it as early as possible.
- Bring enough snacks and water for the trail. You can buy drinks at the hut on top but they only accept cash.
Hope you enjoyed my 7-day road trip in Croatia!
The following day we left Croatia and started driving back to Belgium.
Just a few notes about this trip:
- For this trip, we drove our car. If you are flying to Croatia, you can always rent a car at the airport you land. I usually book my car with RentalCars.
- This trip was a last-minute decision during August so there were not that many hotels available last minute. All of the places we stayed at were really good and I totally recommend them. However, if you are planning your trip in advance, I would suggest that you book some accomodations closer to the places we visited to reduce the time in the car a little bit.
MAP WITH OUR COMPLETE CROATIA ROAD TRIP
Other articles about Croatia
Enjoyed this guide? Pin it for later!
I love reading an article that will make people think. Also, many thanks for permitting me to comment!