Croatia Travel Blog

Archive for the ‘Driving in Croatia’ Category

Low-cost carrier Jet2.com has just announced a major expansion of its flights to Dubrovnik starting NOW! The “pearl of the Adriatic” is now open to flights from:

Belfast |Every Saturday until 30 September

Edinburgh |Every Saturday until 7 October with Wednesday flights in high season

Leeds |Every Saturday until 14 October with Wednesday flights in high season

Manchester |Every Thursday and Saturday until 4 November

Newcastle | Every Saturday from 11 June to 7 October

It’s not enough to be the “pearl of the Adriatic”; Dubrovnik would also like to be part of Croatia. Politically, it’s part of the country but geographically, not so much. As part of the agreement settling the former war in Yugoslavia, Bosnia-Hercegovina was awarded an outlet to the sea at Neum, 160km to the north. That means that in order to go from Dubrovnik to the rest of Croatia along the coast, you have to pass through a border control. All well and good; the war is over; let bygones be bygones. It’s not as though Croatians or anyone else have a problem crossing the Neum checkpoint. But still, it’s disagreeable, which is why several years ago the government devised a plan to bypass the Bosnian border by building a bridge to the Peljesac Peninsula. The expensive plan proved controversial as some accused it of being a government boondoggle meant to line the pockets of politicians. So it was put on hold. Also put on hold was the planned extension of the Rijeka-Split motorway down to Dubrovnik.

Austerity is austerity but when transportation minister Zlatko Komadina announced that there was no money for the Peljesac Bridge or for extending the motorway while at the same time Rijeka was to get another highway, Dubrovnik citizens were dismayed. The dismay turned to fury when Ivan Dadić a supervisor with the Croatia Roads Authority commented that Dubrovnik really didn’t need the bridge or the highway because “in Dubrovnik nobody moved during the tourist season” anyway and as for the border: “In my opinion it is enough to have a ferry and to wait for ten years until Bosnia and Herzegovina enters the EU, then the problems with the border at Neum will disappear”. In the meantime, “Dubrovnik is well-connected by air”.

Nice. Let me assure you, Mr. Dadic, that  the visitors I’ve been writing for over the last 15 years want to visit Split, Dubrovnik and several islands in between. And they need to do it fast because they often have only a week or 10 days in Croatia. It isn’t just about Dubrovnik; it’s about tourism in the entire southeastern tip of Croatia. If your idea is to fly people into Dubrovnik and keep them imprisoned there, it hurts the whole region. Please remove foot from mouth and insert brain in head.

Prime Minister Jadranka Kosor inaugurated a 28km dual carriageway section of the Istrian Pula-Kanfanar motorway which should greatly improve driving times to and around the Istrian peninsula. The Y motorway project is the largest in Istria and represents a strong governmental commitment to improving the Istrian infrastructure.

The project has been a joint venture with France’s Bouygues Telecom which is fitting as Istria is the most accessible part of the Croatian coast for French tourists. The modern motorway should do a lot to increase French travel to Istria. Another 50km section of the Y motorway is due to open in about a year and an additional 18km section will open by the end of 2011.

See

• a road map of Istria
• more about Istria
• driving in Croatia

“Holidaymakers could find car rentals harder to come by this summer, as the economic downturn forces car hire companies to cut their fleets during peak periods.” proclaimed an article in the Telegraph. Note that the article was published February 4 2009!

The prediction proved completely accurate at least as far as Croatia was concerned.  When I expressed concern at the number of dealer cancellations of cars booked through my partner, Economycarrentals.com, in the summer of 2009  I received this response:

Due to the current difficult economic situation, almost all car rental companies have decreased their fleet and that is why we get many cancellations. It’s been a tough summer and this is going to continue until the end of August, that is why we warned our clients to book as early as possible to avoid cancellations and inconvenience. (emphasis mine)

Unfortunately, we cannot guarantee that all last-minute bookings will get confirmed, but we push our partners to serve as many of our clients as possible.

Now, the Telegraph is again warning of car rental shortages in this article. I would urge you to take the warning seriously if you are planning a trip to Croatia this summer. The economic situation that led to shortages last summer is, if anything, worse this year. There is no expansion of car-hire fleets on the horizon this summer in Croatia so there is a strong possibility that last-minute bookers will be forced into a much higher category of vehicle, or will pay a premium price or will be shut out completely.

Takeaway: as soon as you get your flights booked, work on your car rental. I recommend economycarrentals.com for the best cars at the cheapest prices but you’ll find a list of Croatia car rental companies and more car rental advice here.

It was one of Croatia’s more grandiose infrastructure plans. The idea was to construct a bridge connecting the Peljesac peninsula with the mainland thereby eliminating the need to drive through Bosnian territory. What? Bosnian territory? Yes, the Dayton Peace Accords signed in 1995 provided that Bosnia-Hercegovina should have an outlet to the sea. Bosnian territory extends down to the port of Neum which means that you must pass through Bosnian territory if you drive the coastal road from Split to Dubrovnik.

Although it worked well, Croatia became uncomfortable with the arrangement and came up with the idea of bypassing Bosnian territory by building the aforesaid bridge. It was to be four lanes wide and the second longest bridge in Europe. The plan came under criticism almost immediately as an expensive boondoggle design to line the pockets of politically-connected contractors.

Now with the Croatian economy sagging, plans for the Biggest Bridge have been put on the back burner. The government has just announced that construction will be slowed and a new bridge is not likely before 2015.

So for now, get your passports out for when you pass the Bosnian checkpoint at Neum. See more about driving the Croatian coast.