3

I have planned a holiday to Croatia in 2024, specifically near the town of Buje in the West of the country. We will be coming from the UK and the nearest airport from which there is a direct flight seems to be Venice, Marco Polo. It's an approximately two hour drive from the airport which does not concern me but it would require crossing from Italy to Slovenia and the from Solvenia into Croatia. We are all UK passport holders - would there be long delays at the border, are they even passable to tourists - is travelling this route by car advisable? Any advice or alternatives would be appreciated.

Sorry, to clarify - I would then be returning to Venice to drop off the car at the end of the trip so it wouldn't be one way.

Improve this question
2
  • I was going to do an international rental car within Schengen (Spain - Portugal). There was no trouble making the reservation, but the dropoff fee was $1000 for a short trip. I took the bus and rented in Portugal. If you are doing a round trip it may not be a problem.
    – Ross Millikan
    Commented Jul 3, 2023 at 3:46
  • 1
    You don't mention the airport you are leaving from, but if it's London consider the London (Stansted) - Trieste direct flight with ryanair. Can be very cheap and will save you more than an hour drive. Trieste airport (triesteairport.it/en) it's the nearest Italian airport from the Slovenia Border.
    – EttoreP
    Commented Jul 6, 2023 at 7:11

2 Answers 2

Reset to default
13

it would require crossing from Italy to Slovenia and the from Solvenia into Croatia

All of those states are part of the Schengen Area, you are free to cross Italy -> Slovenia -> Croatia, without any border control or formalities. As you'll achieve those formalities on arrival at Venice.

is travelling this route by car advisable?

Outside of the acclimatation to right hand driving, it's only motorways and I don't see any major roadblocks to this

What you must make sure is that the rental car company allows you to go into Croatia and Slovenia

Improve this answer
5
  • Hey - it's right hand driving by the way :D
    – Vladimir Cravero
    Commented Jul 3, 2023 at 8:00
  • 1
    Yeah, that's a mishap @VladimirCravero
    – Nicolas Formichella
    Commented Jul 3, 2023 at 8:16
  • 2
    Just to confuse matters, in BrE (and elsewhere?) we would describe a UK car as being 'right hand drive' and an Italian one as 'left hand drive' based on the position of the steering wheel. Though I have never heard it used as a verb as in this answer.
    – stuart10
    Commented Jul 3, 2023 at 11:28
  • 1
    Yes, +1: the only problem could be the rental limitations/insurance fine print. I had a little nightmarish rental once by renting a car in Germany to go to Luxembourg, and had to pay extra insurance.
    – Rmano
    Commented Jul 3, 2023 at 20:44
  • 2
    Consider that the route from Italy to Slovenia-Croazia via Trieste in weekends (expecially fridays-saturdays) during summer holidays (expecially second half July and August) can be crowded since many italians go to Croatia for holidays too. Take a look to the traffic when leaving from Venice in order to avoid to lose hours stuck in traffic in the highways
    – EttoreP
    Commented Jul 6, 2023 at 7:06
5

If you are planning a one-way rental (it's not clear from your question), in my recent experience (April 2023) I could not find any car hire firm prepared to offer a one-way from Italy to any of Austria, Slovenia, Croatia. No idea why. Hertz Slovenia were happy to offer one-way to Austria or Slovenia.

The actual border crossings will be embarrassingly easy, compared (say) to the rigmarole to be found at any UK border... Indeed, once (accidentally) I drove Slovenia - Italy - Austria and back again without actually having my passport with me at all - but it was fine because no one cared to check.

edit I forgot to mention, although you may well already be aware, that use of highways (motorways) in Slovenia requires an e-vignette, essentially an electronic toll pass. You can buy this online once you know your hire car's registration number. Italy and Croatia have no such payment required.

Improve this answer
1
  • Good advice about the "vignette" for the highways in Slovenia.
    – EttoreP
    Commented Jul 6, 2023 at 6:53

You must log in to answer this question.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged .