Croatia by campervan in 21 days

We suggest you travel to Croatia in a campervan. Spectacular coastline, mountainous interior and historic villages.

We suggest travelling to Croatia in a campervan. There are so many things this country offers: a spectacular coastline and a mountainous interior with historic towns and villages. Nature, culture, gastronomy and beautiful landscapes come together to make this destination especially appealing.

The country has seven excellent natural parks: Brijuni, near Pula, stands out for its well-preserved Mediterranean holm-oak forests. The mountainous Risnjak National Park and Paklenica offer excellent hiking routes. In Plitvice Lakes National Park you can find bears, wolves and deer.

As for accommodation, there is a wide variety, but we suggest taking advantage of the natural corners Croatia offers, combining it with a campsite from time to time if you wish. You'll find plenty of places across Croatia and Europe to spend the night. Always be respectful with the environment and the locals so we can keep enjoying them.

We didn't use any campsite — we were self-sufficient with our van. In these lines we aim to give you some ideas so you can build your own route based on our experience. We've prepared a travel diary with practical notes, places visited and kilometres covered each day, so you can get an approximate idea of how much you can visit and cover in one day.

This trip took place in 2009, so we recommend treating prices as indicative. Croatia is a very calm country to travel by van, so we encourage you to discover it this way. Try to plan the places where you'll spend the night. If you don't, don't leave it until last hour — they can be hard to find. The first night a policeman woke us up in the early hours and told us that in Croatia it was forbidden throughout the country to sleep outside campsites. From then on we paid careful attention to where we slept, but we had no further incident during the whole stay.

DAY 1 — VALENCIA – SAINT CHAMAS, 800 KM

First day of the trip. It's finally here! After preparing the trip for some time, the long-awaited day has arrived. A road day awaits us — what you could call a transition day, but no less important because we're on holiday! We leave Valencia via the V21 and then head to Castellón along the CV-10 up to Cabanes, avoiding the toll. We link with the new road up to Torreblanca — so far we've saved a few euros. Here we'll take the AP7 but get off at Hospitalet de l'Infant and continue along the A7 almost to Torredembarra. A few more toll-free motorway kilometres. From here we'll have to enter the AP7 again. We'll reach La Jonquera and cross it into France; in summer traffic jams are common, so be patient — we're on holiday! We take the A9 and stay on it until Nîmes.

It's well known that around the Marseille coast you must be careful about where to spend the night, as more than one case of theft has been reported, and above all not to sleep at service areas. We chose Saint Chamas. A very quiet town, and when you wake up in the morning you'll get a very good impression of the place. We'll leave Nîmes and the A9 behind; here we take the A54 to finally reach Saint Chamas.

DAY 2 — SAINT CHAMAS – S. GIULIANO PARKING VENICE, 780 KM

From one van-perfect spot to another. We decided to stop one day in Venice — it's right on the way and worth it if you don't know the city, even worth repeating! Plus, in Venice there's this place to sleep: Parking San Giuliano, supervised with a barrier but only €5, well worth it!

DAY 3 — VENICE

Right next to the parking where we slept is the pier. Here you take the little boat that takes you to Venice. €15 return per person. They leave every hour. After spending the day in Venice, walking its streets, we decided to move on and stop at Sistiana beach where we found a place to sleep, just 140 km from Venice. This place is perfect to spend the night — it's a blue-zone car park during the day, no barrier, and the views are spectacular. Sorry we don't have the coordinates!

DAY 4 — TRIESTE – CROATIA, 100 KM

Very close to Sistiana is the big city of Trieste with its iconic buildings — feel free to walk around.

The entry to Croatia is very close to here, but to enter by road you have to pass through Slovenia. If you take the motorway you'll have to pay the "vignette" — €15 for a week and €30 for a month. We didn't feel like paying for such a short stretch, so we decided to go via the national road.

We're finally in Croatia. Our first stop is the village of Novigrad. We take the chance to change money: €1 = 7.11 Kuna. From here we start discovering the beautiful cobbled villages of the Istrian peninsula. We visit Poreč and then stay in Rovinj, a beautiful spot. In Poreč there's a van-friendly spot to spend the night, and in Rovinj an motorhome area.

DAY 5 — ROVINJ – PULA – LABIN – LOVRAN, 120 KM

Today we set off from Rovinj and arrive at Pula. A must-see is its spectacular Roman Amphitheatre. You'll find a car park near the Amphitheatre that costs 12 Kuna for 3 hours and lets you visit the city calmly. Entry to the Amphitheatre costs 20 Kuna per person. From there to the Castle (10 Kuna per person), then the old town, the Temple of Augustus and the Roman Theatre.

From Pula we head to Labin, a very pretty town. Parking here is free. From Labin we head towards Rijeka and stop at the beach on the way. Our first swim in Croatia! Today we sleep near the town of Lovran, in a car park.

DAY 6 — LOVRAN – RIJEKA – BAKAR – KRALJEVICA – BAŠKA, 100 KM

Heading to Rijeka, we're struck by the huge shipyards of this city. We park near the centre and take a walk around the city; we want to buy some guidebooks. Specifically, we bought them at the RI-BOOK bookshop — by the way you can connect to the internet there.
We pass through Bakar and arrive in Kraljevica where we take a ferry to cross to Krk island, €4. After visiting the island passing through Punat, we head to Baška and there spend the afternoon at a climbing crag right by the beach.

To reach the climbing area you have to pass through a nudist campsite. After climbing, with the sunset, a swim is a must and you can enjoy the calm sea. Today we'll sleep near this area on a side road. The next day we'll visit another climbing area very close to where we slept.

We suggest an alternative if you don't climb: sleep in Punat or in Vrbnik.

DAY 7 — BAŠKA – VRBNIK – RISNJAK, 80 KM

We climb at another area in the morning and then visit Vrbnik. We set off towards Risnjak park and when we cross the island-to-mainland bridge again we realise it's free! You only pay to enter the island but not to leave.

The road to Risnjak is very beautiful. We arrive at the park in the afternoon and it seems people have already left. Entry is 40 Kuna per person but valid for two days. Today we have time for a small two-hour hike. The place is beautiful — absolute calm, pleasant temperature, huge pines and beeches! We sleep here.

DAY 8 — RISNJAK – SENJ – BRINJE, 110 KM

Today we want to see the source of the Kupa river. You have to reach the village of Razloge. Here you leave the van and start a walk through a beautiful beech forest for about 25 minutes. Just follow the marked path and descend to the bottom of the valley. Finally you find the source of the river. It's simply a spectacular place — a water spring that forms a pool of intense blue, and when it overflows it gives rise to the river. We won't say more so you can discover it for yourselves. Definitely worth visiting this magical and solitary place.

Our destination now is Senj, where we stop to shop at the MERCATOR supermarket chain and have a swim. We continue towards Plitvička Jezera park. It got a bit late so we decide to stop along the way and reach the park calmly the next day. Near the village of Brinje there's a free camping area. It's a green clearing with trees, a perfect place to spend the night.

DAY 9 — PLITVIČKA JEZERA – ZADAR, 160 KM

In just half an hour we reach the park. The road is beautiful, crossing a mountain pass with lovely views. When you reach the park you realise it's heavily set up for tourism, nothing like the place we came from. Entry costs 110 Kuna per person, includes bus and electric boat transport. We spend the morning at the park.

Parking costs us 50 Kuna. Here, unlike Risnjak, there are a lot of people. That doesn't mean the visit isn't worth it. There are several routes inside the park to see the spectacular lakes, waterfalls and caves.

In the afternoon we head to Zadar; this time we take the motorway to save time: 66 km and 30 Kuna. Zadar is a city worth seeing. It has a notable old town. We recommend the sunset by the sea and the wind organ! and right next to it a light installation activated by the wind.

Our destination is Paklenica, a climbing crag. On the way we find a pier where we spend the night (check on Google Maps). Be aware that people may show up at this spot at night.

DAYS 10–11 — ZADAR – PAKLENICA, 50 KM

Today we reach Paklenica, which really is very close. We'll stay here three days; entry to the park costs us 80 Kuna per person for the three days. This is a spectacular limestone climbing area, frequented by climbing families, and there are also lovely hikes. In the climbing area itself they've carved bathrooms into the rock that are very good, and there's a small shop. Near the park
is the beach, so you can enjoy sunsets and swims.

DAY 12 — PAKLENICA – ŠIBENIK – TROGIR, 150 KM

Today we leave the park, but with the intention of being able to return some day. We take the motorway for about 90 km — 49 Kuna. We arrive at Šibenik, its old town is beautiful. We especially like Saint James Square and the cathedral, impressive both outside and inside. We visit Saint Michael's castle, 20 Kuna per person, which has great views. We leave the city heading to KRKA National Park (90 Kuna per person), with its beautiful waterfalls. Here we swim and then visit the park. It's packed with people — keep that in
mind!

In the afternoon we head to Trogir, sleeping somewhere along the coast. We suggest this campsite or this van-friendly spot.

DAY 13 — TROGIR – SPLIT – DRVENIK PORT – SUĆURAJ, 120 KM

Trogir is a very pretty town, rectangular in shape, surrounded by two channels. We visit the cathedral and the street market. Parking here is paid. We set off for Split.

Split leaves us speechless — the underground of Diocletian's Palace (25 Kuna per person), the Bell Tower (10 Kuna). Walking through its streets. A must-stop! We find quite a cheap car park, 4 hours about 20 Kuna.

We want to catch the ferry to cross to Hvar island; for that, from Split we'll go to Drvenik — 90 km, and the ferry from here is very short, plus you can swim at the beaches if you have to wait. They only sell us one-way: 96 Kuna for the van and 13 Kuna per person. The ferry drops us at Sućuraj.

DAY 14 — SUĆURAJ – HVAR, 60 KM

We find a place to sleep just off the main road. As soon as you leave Sućuraj everything becomes very calm.
The next day, advancing along the road, on a winding stretch you reach what looks like an abandoned hotel. This place could be good to spend the night, and of course to take a great swim first thing in the morning, which is what we did. A very, very quiet place (you can see it on the Google link).

We spent the day at a climbing area called Suplja Stina, a beautiful place with crystal-clear beaches — though you have to pay 42 Kuna to access. In the afternoon we'll reach the capital, Hvar. Highly recommended, a very pleasant place. Touristy, with many restaurants and cocktail bars. Before reaching the city, on the left, there's a very large car park for motorhomes and vans for 100 Kn all day — a good place to sleep too.

You also have this van-friendly spot , although it's not in Hvar.

DAY 15 — HVAR – STARI GRAD – SUĆURAJ – STON, 155 KM

Today we take the chance to go to the laundromat (50 Kn) and in the same place they have showers for 25 Kn. Mid-morning we head to Stari Grad, the second most important town on the island, and then to another climbing area, Zastrazcisce.

In the afternoon back to Sućuraj to return to the mainland. We head to Ston; as soon as you enter the town, on the left, there's a very large car park. We spent the night there. The next day we realised there's a police building at the end of the parking area!
We also suggest this van-friendly spot> and this campsite.

DAY 16 — STON – MLJET – DUBROVNIK, 135 KM

Today we cross to Mljet island. A third of the narrow island of Mljet forms a natural park. Its main attractions are
two saltwater lakes surrounded by small slopes covered with pines. It can be visited in a single day. We take the ferry at Ston (400 Kuna for two people, van, return). The trip takes about 45 minutes. Once we disembark we head to Polače, the entrance to the park (90 Kn per person).

Inside the park you take a little boat that takes you to see Saint Mary's island and from there to Mali Most. We spent the day at the lakes, enjoying the swims and crossing from the big lake to the small one.

In the afternoon back to Ston, we take the ferry and arrive around 8 pm, heading to Dubrovnik. About 12 km before Dubrovnik, next to a pier, we find a place for dinner and to sleep. Along the road to Dubrovnik there are many side roads where you can surely find a spot. If you can't find anything, you can pass Dubrovnik and 7 km later there's this.

DAY 17 — DUBROVNIK – MOSTAR, LOKVIČIĆI, 280 KM

We recommend visiting Dubrovnik first thing in the morning. For that, you have to park in the city — in the old town there are blue-zone car parks but it's quite hard to find a spot; look for a car park a bit further out. At 8:15 am the wall visits open (50 Kn per person), rent an audio guide (40 Kn per person), it's worth it. If you can be there at that time, you can enjoy the visit without many people. From
10 am the masses of tourists start arriving. Enjoy the city.

We found it interesting to go to Bosnia and visit Mostar. It's relatively close. The truth is it makes a big impression — a radical change. You come from Dubrovnik where any minimum trace of the war has been erased, and here it's the opposite. We visited the famous Mostar bridge, Stari Most, rebuilt by Spanish soldiers.

At night we head towards Zagreb, the capital of Croatia. We find a place to sleep about 30 km before the motorway, in the village of Lokvičići, at the school gate — since it's summer, no school!

DAY 18 — ZAGREB – ŽMINJ, 230 KM

We leave the village and after 30 km take the motorway. We arrive in Zagreb and spend the day walking around it. The same day we decide to head towards Rijeka and reach the village of Dvigrad, where we'll do the last climbing day. We'll sleep in Žminj, specifically in Kanfanar, in a small square in the village.

If you want to sleep in Zagreb: Van-friendly spot-

DAY 19 — DVIGRAD – SISTIANA, 120 KM

We spend the morning at the climbing area. In the afternoon last-minute shopping at Poreč. Last sunset, last swim. We want to reach Sistiana to sleep in the same place as on the way out.

DAY 20 — SISTIANA – SAINT CHAMAS, 905 KM

Full day on the road back home.

DAY 21 — SAINT CHAMAS – VALENCIA, 800 KM

Arrival home and end of the trip.

As always, we ask you to be respectful with the environment you visit — leave no trace, take all the waste you generate with you.