Tour Guide Wanted Croatia

[Yorkydave]

Anyone any experience of camping in Croatia? We arrived today in Umag, found a car park with a Motorhome sign and an option for 24 hours, paid the fee direct to car park warden got a ticket so though all was well. Went to tourist info and told all wild camping illegal we must use a site if we do not register on a site then we will have to pay a fine to leave the country as we have to be registered each night. Checked with warden again who says not true and we are ok. One web site appears to agree with tourist info but says it’s ok to sleep in van in car parks with designated Motorhome areas which this has. Fine apparently €400 each so would like to avoid. Help please !

 

[Robert Clark]

Wild camping is illegal in Croatia
Best to use campsites or camperstops
Loads on Campercontact
It will be expensive to stay now as it’s high season until September

 

[DBK]

Take a photo of the sign and keep your ticket. According to Campercontact there are a very small number of free aires in Croatia and the ones I looked at just now are just parking areas.

 

[Yorkydave]

Thanks for the quick response, we sussed the expensive bit, camper contacts are showing the same type of site we are on carparks with designated Motorhome parking for 24 hours but we are being told it’s illegal to sleep in the van

 

[Robert Clark]

Thanks for the quick response, we sussed the expensive bit, camper contacts are showing the same type of site we are on carparks with designated Motorhome parking for 24 hours but we are being told it’s illegal to sleep in the van

There are lots of small informal camperstops attached to restaurants
You’ll spot them as you’re driving along the coast

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[Robert Clark]

One place not to miss

Broken Link Removed

 

[Figaro]

Or if kayaking is your thing, mreznica river waterfalls, stunning location and they will let you overnight on the land opposite. The wildlife was amazing.
Marco the guide, a real character !
Even if your not kayakers I'd recommend you give it a try, great day in lovely location, and on the way to Plitvice.
There are a few wild camping places and your unlikely to be asked to move unless your very inconsiderate.
As stated campsites are expensive now.
Croatia has a beautiful coastline but not much of it is accessible outside the areas that are developed.
Many of the online places to freecamp are not really places you'd want to be, in my experience.
We spent a lot of June in Croatia but heading north now as it's getting much to hot for us !

 

[Figaro]

Yorkydave
If you go to Plitvice I'd recommend you get as soon as the gates open and have some time in relative peace and quiet.
By 1100 there will be 400 tour coaches on the carpark having brought Japanese and Chinese tourists, all waving selfie sticks and posing to photograph each other, and walking against the flow on the boardwalks.
If you get what I mean !
I should add, not just Japs and Chinese but they're the worst offerders.

Great place but gets sooo busy

 

[Southdowners]

I expect the tourist info person was referring to actual wild camping, not paying to park in a designated motorhome bay. If you buy a ticket for a 24 hour stay then you clearly are allowed to sleep in the vehicle.

 

[Yorkydave]

That’s what I thought so checked with local police, response was no no no, after some pressing the desk copper said if we were passing through then they would turn a blind eye. In the event we stayed on the car park. No issues. I think the tourist info are very strict as the rules are set by the ministry of tourism and enforced by the police who have better things to do. They can’t be bothered filling forms in to fine English people. Every days a learning day! Many thanks for your help

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[Glas Robin]

I hope this is the point of these tour guide posts... if not, apologies for the long post!

We have been in Croatia for Just over a week now - and it’s a lovely country. Very friendly people, who are all multi-lingual it seems - or at least immune to my few words of Croatian!

We’ve barely scratched the surface - travelling through Istria, then hopping a few islands - Cres, Krk and Rab, before hopping back to the mainland to visit Plitvice Lakes National Park. Our plan was to get down to Dubrovnik and back in a 16 night trip from N Wales. Plitvice is as far south as we will get this time.

A few things we have learned:

Roads are good - even the back roads. Driving standards are good and progress is easy. Motorways are toll roads. Parking is cheap and easily available everywhere we’ve been. Diesel is about £1.20/l but sadly I’ve not needed to fill up yet, having filled up in Slovenia before crossing the border.

Two good supermarket chains, Plodine and Conzum, as well as Lidl. Food is generally cheap, meat and wine especially so. Eating out is cheap too - pizzas (and they are usually very good) for a fiver, fish dishes for around a tenner.

Camping is a bit mixed. Wild camping is illegal and heavy fines exist apparently. We wild camped one night in bushes by a beach, with no trouble though. Locals were encouraging of it.

Organised sites on the coast are mostly huge (hundreds of pitches squashed cheek by jowl), and all full in high season. Many don’t take reservations. We like a small site if we must, and to choose our own spot. High season is also silly prices - £50+ a night for a van, 4 adults (kids are adults unless under 12) and hook up, is not unusual. Price is not related to quality. Most sites have a scrapyard/favella of no-longer-roadworthy caravans permanently sited and used by locals.

In terms of places to visit - Istria is beautiful. The city of Pula at its southern tip has a wonderful Roman amphitheatre and other roman sites. The coast roads are lovely to drive. Rovinj was beautiful. The whole of Croatia we’ve seen has an unexploited feel, even though it is geared up for tourists. We’ve not found anywhere busy, except the beaches which can be escaped by walking/biking/paddling for a while.

These are our better finds for campsites:

Plitvice National Park - Camping Borje. 15km from the entrance to the Park with a free shuttle bus. Lovely location in the Valley of Lička Plješivica Mountain - with lots of space, grassed pitches under trees. Reminds us of national parks sites in the US or Canada. Great find. https://www.campingcroatia.net/camping-at-plitvice-national-park/

Rab Island - Camping Wodenca, in Barbat village. Small site, superb washroom and facilities. 15 seconds from the beach. Pitches under olive trees - but van gets scratched. Most obliging owners - all the insider tips for visits and schnapps on arrival. Even for the kids!. Great 4 mile bike ride along the coast into beautiful Rab old town. Stony beach under trees a 10 minute walk along the beach, much less crowded. https://www.wodenca.com/

Cres Island - Autokamp Brajdi. A small site under olive trees close to a beach below the old town of Beli. Small shop and beach bar next door. Site a bit squashed and scrapyard-esque, but lovely secluded beaches are a short paddle away, or stay on the beach by the campsite. Toilet facilities just adequate...would be satisfactory if they fitted a few u-bends to reduce the smell! Interesting drive down 5 km of single track mountain roads, and a very steep final half a km, but well worth it. Dive centre on site.

Wildcamped on the beach near Peroj. Beautiful beach views from amongst the trees. Tranquil. Beach showers. Long/lat (44.9512510, 13.7828626).

Hope this is useful to others.

Robin

 

[kilgettyblade]

Glas robin how long did it take you to get from wales to croatia we are doing tenby to korkula late september to bring my son home after his job finishers. I am hoping to do it in about 3 days have a week there and come back but not done any planing yet

 

[Glas Robin]

Glas robin how long did it take you to get from wales to croatia we are doing tenby to korkula late september to bring my son home after his job finishers. I am hoping to do it in about 3 days have a week there and come back but not done any planing yet

We left Wrexham 7.30pm Thursday night. Drove to Chunnel and overnighted in their carpark.

7.30am crossing, meaning we were on the road by 9.30/10am French time after we filled with diesel at Carrefour in Citė d’Europe. Zoomed down the autoroute and had tea and a wander for a hour in Colmar. Quick trip through Switzerland and we camped near Como by 11pm Friday. It’s then about 3 hours across N Italy and Slovenia to enter Croatia (but we stopped in Verona and Venice for a day each). They’re upgrading the autostrada between Venice and Trieste which can add long delays at times.

Not sure where Korkula is, but I reckon we could have been well south in Croatia by the end of Saturday if we’d had a second full day of driving. The route through Germany and Austria is probably more direct, but we had reasons to do the N Italy route.

The memsahib and I share the driving in 2 hour stints, and sit at just under 70mph on the motorways - juicy on diesel but much quicker.

I reckon you could easily do it in 3 days if two are driving.

Hope this helps,

Robin

 

[kilgettyblade]

thanks korkula is not far from dubrovnic so think i should be ok

 

[Just smiffy]

Glas robin how long did it take you to get from wales to croatia we are doing tenby to korkula late september to bring my son home after his job finishers. I am hoping to do it in about 3 days have a week there and come back but not done any planing yet

That’s long driving days and two ferries..... you’ll need a week stay to get over it...

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[Figaro]

Glas Robin
Informative post thanks.