Croatia

Visas, Embassies & Border Crossings

The Croatian embassy in Prague is not located at Vinohradska 69.

From October, 1997, Australian citizens no longer need visas for Croatia.
Andrew Henshaw - Australia (Dec 97)

Services between Slovenia and Croatia no longer require a change of trains halfway.
Matthew Trump - UK (Aug 97)

Australians don't need visa's anymore. Maybe this is very new!
Bruce & Trina MacAdam - Australia (Sept 97)

The Adriatic Highway is really one of the most exciting drives in the world but not only for beautiful views. It is damaged due to lack of maintenance and very dangerous on certain spots.
Sucana Habrun, Croatia (Feb 99)

There are no ATM machines which take Visa in the entire country. This means that you cannot get money on a Sunday, as the banks are closed. At Zagreb airport none of the banks accept Visa at all, so make sure if you are flying in that you have some currency to change. There is a Bank of Austria where you can do Visa cash advances in Zagreb, otherwise the Splitska banka is in major towns throughtout the country where you can make Visa cash advances.
Megan Brayne, Australia (Jan 99)

You can change money almost anywhere in Croatia. I found that the bank offering the best rate of exchange was the Dubrovacka Banka. Rijecka Banka was a close second, but Splitska Banka had the lowest exchange and, unlike the other two, charged a commission.

What I liked about Croatia was the feeling that the people were genuinely welcoming towards tourists. Because of it's re-awakening to tourism, they seem keen to get it right - many asked me why I had chosen to come to Croatia, and one man even thanked me for visiting his country. The Brits may be reluctant to return but there are already many Italian, Austrian and former Eastern bloc visitors. If you like loud resorts with souvenir shops on every corner, Croatia is not the place to come. Towns such as Dubrovnik, Hvar and Korkula obviously do buzz at night, but the pace is certainly more serene than that of many Mediterranean countries. It is difficult to predict what the next ten years have in store, but my advice to anybody would be to enjoy this beautiful country with its turquoise waters whilst it is still unspoilt.
Victoria Burford, UK (Aug 98)

There are now ATM cash machines in most of the towns of any size in the area we visited. However, a lot of them (eg Zagrebacka Bank) take MasterCard/Cirrus, but not Visa. Most of those shops which accept cards do accept both, though.
Alasdair Hamblin (Sept 98)

One major problem we faced in Croatia concerned obtaining money. Arriving after hours in Zagreb we found that no banks offer ATM access for visa card holders - only users of MasterCard or Cirrus. We were able to get a cash advance the next day at the Splitska bank.
Louisa Norwood, Australia (Aug 98)

My route in Croatia took me Split - Hvar - Korcula - Split, all by Jadrolinija, and cost 62 Kuna deck class. Apparently the more tickets you buy together, the cheaper it becomes. The Croatian Tourist office in London sells 10, 20 and 30 day Jadrolinija tickets that can be used on all domestic routes. A ten day travel pass costs 43 - but to be frank I don't think that it is a bargain unless you intend travelling fast and frequently.
Colin Viney (July 98)

Croatia was easy , simple and comfortable. Very tourist-friendly and tourist-saavy. Split is a beautiful, relaxing city. One thing that surprised me not only about Split and the rest of Croatia, but almost all of the former Yugoslavia - there is no admission fee to see such sites as the ruins of the Roman city of Solin, near Split. If you go, the number one bus takes you right to the entrance, but it's schedule is infrequent on Sundays.

More so than any other coastal town in Croatia, Dubrovnik was anxiously awaiting the return of the tourists. The city is almost totally rebuilt from the 1991 attack and what little remains to be repaired is almost unnoticeable. And the walks are still awesome, the old city they enclose as charming as ever.
John Ellis (June 98)

If travelling through Croatia, be careful of venturing off the beaten path. After a few sun soaked days of relaxing in ever so beautiful Dubrovnik, I decided to hike up the local mountain to get a great view of the ocean and the fairy tale like walled city. Not only would I escape the throngs of tourists but I would also work off a killer hangover. I was saved by an old man collecting bottles on the side of the road. He informed me that the Serbs had strategically littered the country side with land mines, and sadly, the government could not afford to have them removed. Who knows where my lower extremities would be right now, if not for that old friendly Croat.
taken from the Thorn Tree (June 98)

Visa cards can now be used for cash advances in almost all Croatian coastal resorts; eg Hvar & Dubrovnik at Dubrovaka Banca, in Split and Pula at Istarska Banka and also in Zagreb in Splitska Banka. But outside of these areas, a Visa card is of no use and they aren't accepted anywhere in Bosnia either, I don't think. Deutschmarks are accepted instead of dinar in Bosnia, and also in a lot of places in Croatia too.

The Sarajevo-Dubrovnik bus now makes three trips per day, but there are still no trains to Split from Sarajevo as the track is still closed.
Niamh Humphries & Jennifer Escott (Apr 98)

Eastern Europe has been extensively connected to the Mastercard/Eurocard/Cirrus ATM network, but not as yet to VISA.Some of the additions include :

The benefits of using DM in Croatia no longer seem to apply. In fact, every time I have seen someone attempt to use DM for a purchase (mostly on the Adriatic coast near Crikvenica) they have received an unfriendly reception, as if DM are an unpleasant reminder of the days of hyperinflation of the old Croatian dinar.

It seems that virtually every town in Croatia holds a Maskare parade (which seems to be the Croatian equivalent of Mardi Gras) some week in January or February, each competing to be wilder than the rest.
Greg Slade (Mar 98)

In mid-September 1998, whilst I was on holiday in the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, there was a special item on World News TV showing the first train from Ploce to enter Sarajevo for over seven years. So it appears that the line is now open all the way from Ploce to Sarajevo.

The long-distance buses in Croatia are good value and are also reasonably frequent. They are run by many different companies, often charging different prices for the same journey. The only thing to beware of is being stranded away from a terminus, particularly at weekends (especially Friday and Sunday) when there is a great danger that every bus which pulls in will be full (no standing allowed).

There never were any trains from Sarajevo to Split (as indicated in Planet Talk issue 36), as there is no track in between!
Doug Hartley, UK (Oct 98)

The big Jadrolinjia ferries now call at Stari Grad, not Hvar town. Buses which met the ferry to take people to Hvar town. Our bus was free but I don't know whether this is generally true or if it was good luck. Women were there to meet buses from Stari Grad to offer rooms.
Alasdair J. Hamblin (Sept 98)

In Dubrovnik, the Adria Airways and Croatia Airlines airport buses now leave from the main bus station and not from in front of Atlas travel agency. The cost is still the same (20Kn per person) and it still picks up passengers 90 minutes prior to flight times.
Michael Murphy (July 98)

It is now possible to travel by bus between Belgrade and Sarajevo and then from Sarajevo onwards to Croatia (either Zagreb or down the cost to Dubrovnik. The buses from Belgrade leave at 6.15 am,or 6.30, 7, 8, 10 am (all 71 Dinars) from the bus station right beside the main train station and take between seven and eight 1/2 hours to reach Sarajevo - although they do not in fact go direct to the Muslim/Croatian controlled part of Sarajevo in the Federation of Bosnia-Herzegovina

The journey to Sarajevo is via the "Serbian part of Bosnia", otherwise known as Republic Srpska. At the border between Yugoslavia and Republic Srpska, foreigners (not including Yugoslavians) are likely to be made to pay an arbitrary entry fee, a kind of unofficial visa. This can be between 30 to 80 DM, but it should be nearer 30 DM if you insist you are only transiting through the Republic and you don't show you are flush with cash. Have DM in various notes to be able to pay the exact amount agreed and to avoid not getting change back. I paid 30 DM as a bus passenger in transit but I heard a driver of a private /hired car paid hundreds of DM. When I paid the border policeman smiled as he pocketed the money and said the stamp he was going to give me in my passport was a good souvenir.
Rustom Irani - UK (Jan 98)

Between Hungary and Croatia, all train journey seem to cost the same for return and single journeys. My Zagreb-Budapest ticket was the same price for return.
Rustom Irani - UK (Jan 98)

Sibenik is one of the major towns on the Dalmatian coast, with its cathedral being unique as it is not known how it was put together - it was built without anything holding the stones together in the manner of a jigsaw puzzle.
Dean Vuletic (Apr 98)

Sibenik is on the coast between Zadar and Split. The cathedral there, which is considered one of Juraj Dalmatinac's masterpieces, was constructed in the 15 & 16th centuries. Among its unique features are the stone sculpted heads bordering the outside, and the baptistery in a small room in the interior. A walk through Sibenik's old town really takes you back 1000 years. While accommodation may be available in town, a better choice would be in the hotels of nearby Solaris. Although some of these are still occupied by refugees, others have been renovated to serve the increasing number of tourists. We also enjoyed the beaches of Primosten, just south of Sibenik. There we stayed in a private home, but hotels were also open to tourists. In the nearby Marina Kremik both motor and sail boats were available to rent.
Kate Kaber - USA (Mar 98)

The Jadrolinija ferry service was definitely a pleasant way to see the Croatian coast. The comment (in the Lonely Planet guide) that if "you didn't plan a stop in Korcula one glimpse from the ferry will make you regret it" certainly rang true. (Now we must plan to return !). Even though a stop at Hvar was indicated on the schedule, we were told that the big Jadrolinija coastal ferries are too large for the Hvar town harbour and do not stop there on route to Dubrovnik. Instead, the car ferry goes from Split to Stari Grad. No one, not even the locals, warned us of the treacherous road from Stari Grad to Hvar town. While it is only 30 km, the steep mountainous terrain overlooking the sea far below is quite unnerving for the passenger who is truly "riding on the edge". The locals told us that the new road, which is not yet asphalted, has a tunnel through the mountain, but next time we'll opt to leave the car and go by hydrofoil directly to Hvar town.
Kate Baker - USA (Mar 98)

There is a ceremonial changing of the guard outside the presidential palace (Banski Dvori) in St Mark's square. According to the tourist guide, this occurs at 12 every Sunday, but in fact, it appears to occur every Saturday and Sunday and I found that the crowds are a lot thinner on the Saturday.
Phil Smith - UK (Jan 98)

Here's an annoying problem with the train officials. In purchasing a ticket from Llubjana (Slovenia) to Budapest (Hungary) via Zagreb (Croatia) everything seemed to go smoothly until Croatian train officials said our ticket was invalid. After some ugliness, a kind conductor let us stay on without paying extra. It seems that to avoid having to pay money to the Croatians for the respective miles travelled on their tracks, the Slovenian train officials create a fictitious route on the ticket which travels almost exclusively through Slovenia (even though there aren't even tracks on the ticket route). This causes trouble with the Croatian train officials who will then try to get to pay up the difference, with threats of kicking you off in the middle of nowhere ("no pay, no play" was the response I got). Travellers should be aware that their ticket travels the correct Llubjana - Zagreb - Budapest route or carry some Croatian or US cash.
Chris Bassett, Canada (Dec 98)