Plan your perfect holiday to Croatia 2024

Plan Your Perfect Holiday to Croatia 2024

If you’ve never taken the leap to holiday in Croatia but have decided that this year will be your year, this page is for you! Alternatively, perhaps you’ve been to Croatia a number of times before and would like to try something a little different this year or need a bit more guidance. Either way, let Visit Croatia help you plan your perfect holiday to Croatia 2024!

Plan your perfect holiday to Croatia 2024

Step 1 – Decide when to go and how long for

Most people approach holiday planning by deciding when they’d like to go away – summer holidays for a week or two break? Half-term hols with the kids? A weekend city break in late Spring or early Autumn?

Think about when you’re able to take a holiday abroad, or perhaps need to if you’re constrained by school summer holidays. Then take a look at When to Go to Croatia page to see if it tallies up with your plans.

All in all, there’s no bad time of year to visit Croatia – but it really depends on your plans. You can’t sit by the Adriatic sipping a fruity cocktail in January whilst you won’t get peace and quiet on Dubrovnik’s pretty cobbled streets in August!

Perhaps you also need a little convincing to go to Croatia. (Erm…why?) If so, we set our Why you should go to Croatia as well.

When to Go to Croatia
Why Go to Croatia?

You will need also to have in mind how long you wish to travel for. A week or two? (Or ten days?) A short break? The whole summer? Give it some consideration – and then look at our guides for itinerary advice.

A weekend break in Croatia
Three Weeks in Croatia
One Week in Croatia
Two Weeks in Croatia
City Break in Croatia

Step 2 – Think about your budget

Of course, another major issue to keep in mind is your holiday budget. Are you going to blow the budget or keep it as low as possible? If it’s the latter, take a look at our How to do Croatia on a Budget for some cost-saving ideas. At the other end of the scale, our Luxury Hotels in Croatia page might tempt you into something very special indeed.

If you’re not sure, perhaps skip this step for now and do some further research – on flights and accommodation – to see what you can come up with and how much it will cost.

Step 3 – Decide where to go

“Oh, sure”, you’re thinking, “why are you getting me to do the difficult stuff?! Is that what Visit Croatia is for?!”

Well, yes! We absolutely can tell you where you should go on holiday in Croatia. How? Take a look at the following pages:

Where to Go in Croatia
The 11 Best Islands in Croatia
Top Sights in Croatia
What Not To Miss in Croatia FB

Step 4 – Book your flights (or get yourself a package deal)

Now that you’ve decided where in Croatia to go, you’ll need to…get there! Take a look at our Flights to Croatia from the UK & Ireland page to see which airlines fly where. We’ve got full timetable information of all scheduled flights to the country from (what’s now) a very wide range of UK and Irish airports.

As you will see, although there are some year-round flights to the country and some flights only operate from June to September, a very good number of flights fly from the end of March to the end of October.

If you’re not flying from the UK or Ireland, see our pages on U.S. to Croatia Flights and Flights from Asia to Croatia for details of flights from these regions.

Or simply check out our pages on Getting to Zagreb, Getting to Split, Getting to Dubrovnik, Getting to Istria, Getting to the Kvarner Riviera and Getting to North Dalmatia for information on flights to these places from all over Europe.

Alternatively, you might prefer to go for a package holiday to Croatia which includes flights and accommodation (and usually transfers) all as one deal. This sort of thing is just the thing if you’re after a particular type of holiday – one that’s good for kids, one that’s adults only, a holiday that’s super luxe, for example. We recommend Jet2Holidays (and no, we’re not being paid to say so) as a package holiday operator although other companies, such as TUI Holidays, are of course available.

Step 5 – Book your accommodation (or…get yourself a package deal)

Okay, so if you’ve got yourself a package deal then you’re sorted for accommodation!

If not, you’re best to head to one of the accommodation booking portal websites, such as Booking.com, to peruse what sort of things are available for your chosen destination.

Or take a look at our Accommodation in Croatia section which shows hotels, apartments, villas, campsites and more in all destinations in Croatia, large or small.

Accommodation in Croatia
Luxury Hotels in Croatia
Unusual Places to Stay in Croatia
Campsites in Croatia
Boutique Hotels in Croatia

Step 6 – What day trips will you make?

Now, are you the kind of person who likes to alternate lazing by the pool with lazing by the beach when you’re on your holiday? Only pausing to chow down on a leisurely lunch, order another cocktail or perhaps a refreshing iced cocktail? Or will you be trying to cram in as much sightseeing and experiences as you can when you’re on holiday in Croatia?

If you’re the latter, it’s worth researching what day trips are possible from your destination. Take a look at some of our guides below. You’ll find that some day trips may be a short bus (or boat) hop up or down the coast whilst others may be whole-day affairs. You could even consider hopping over the border to Slovenia, Italy, Bosnia & Hercegovina or Montenegro – to which country obviously depends on where you’re staying!

If you’re a planner, you may even like to book some day trips before you go. This would be especially beneficial if you’d like to “timetable” your holiday days with specific activities set out for each day and then some days devoted to taking it easy.

Guided tours are available for all sorts of sights in Croatia, but you can also rely on public transport to make the trip yourself – for example, taking a 1-hour catamaran from Split to Hvar Town, or one of the small ferry boats from Dubrovnik to the Elafiti islands.

Day Trips from Istria
Day Trips from Zadar
Day Trips from Dubrovnik to Montenegro

Alternatively, you absolutely can leave booking for day trips once you’re in Croatia. Just pop along to a local agency (many set up stalls in the main promenades in towns and cities during the summer) to see what’s available.

Do also take a look at GetYourGuide’s guide to some of the best-rated tours in Croatia:

Step 7 – Countdown to the big H – holiday!

Now that you’ve got everything sorted in terms of booking your flights, accommodation and day trips, mark it up on your calendar (or 21st-century version: in your smartphone) and start counting down the days to your holiday to Croatia 2024).

Then make sure to tell all your friends and family that you’re off to Croatia this year. No doubt they’ll say “ooh, wow, how nice” and some might even say “can I come?”. (We’ll leave it up to you to decide whether or not to say yes.)

New Flights to Croatia 2024

Now that we’re approaching springtime and the time of year – the end of March – when many more flights to Croatia start taking to the skies, let’s take a look at what new flights to Croatia 2024 have so far been announced.

New Flights to Croatia 2024

New Flights to Croatia 2024 – Flights to Zagreb

A couple of new long-haul options

Most intriguing to long-haul visitors to Croatia, especially those from Asia, is a new thrice-weekly service from Seoul in South Korea with T’Way. Flights will commence on 18th June 2024 and the outbound leg to Zagreb will require a stopover in Bishkek in Kyrgyzstan due to restrictions that prevent flying over Russian airspace. The return leg from Zagreb to Seoul will fly direct.

Much less long-haul than Seoul but certainly useful to those travellers travelling from lands far away is the launch of flights from Istanbul to Zagreb with Pegasus Airlines. Flights are already in operation this week, flying twice a week on Thursdays and Sundays with the route in operation until 24th October 2024. As one of the busiest airports in the world, Istanbul would certainly be a suitable place to fly to for a stopover (especially if travelling from the Middle East or Asia) to ultimately reach Zagreb and Croatia.

Three new Croatia Airlines routes

Croatia Airlines has planned a bunch of new routes to Zagreb this year, with flights from Tirana in Albania, Berlin and Stockholm all on their schedule.

Of course, Ryanair ups the game

Zagreb was introduced as a Ryanair base back in 2021 and its routes to Croatia’s capital city grow in strength all the time. 2024 is no exception! Ryanair will operate new routes from Marseille in France; Pisa in Italy; and Alicante, Girona and Palma de Mallorca in Spain. These routes will all start operating in the next few weeks on either Sunday 31st March 2024 or during the first week of April.

New Flights to Croatia 2024 – Flights to Dubrovnik

Another new Ryanair base

I’ve already written about the exciting news that in next month – April – Dubrovnik Airport will become another of Ryanair’s bases in Croatia, after Zadar and Zagreb. This means a whole heap of new routes emerging to Croatia’s southernmost city.

For UK and Irish travellers, this means new flights from Manchester, London Stansted and Dublin airports. The latter two routes are intended to be year-round flights and both will operate with a very high frequency during peak months. There will be six flights a week from London Stansted when the route starts in April and daily flights from Dublin from 31st March.

Other new Ryanair routes to Dubrovnik include flights from Berlin Brandenburg, Dusseldorf Weeze, Memmingen and Karlsruhe / Baden Baden in Germany; Rome Fiumicino and Milan Bergamo in Italy; Krakow, Poznan and Wroclaw in Poland; from Vienna in Austria (which should also become a year-round route); Paris Beauvais in France; Brussels Charleroi in Belgium; Oslo Torp in Norway; Stockholm Arlanda in Sweden; and Helsinki in Finland.

Other new flights to Dubrovnik

Volotea is also adding a couple of new routes for 2024 with new services from Lille in France and Bari in Italy. The latter route is perhaps unusual in that there’s a direct ferry (with Jadrolinija) from Bari to Dubrovnik as well – so now travellers can choose between a 45-minute flight or an 8-hour ferry journey!

New Flights to Croatia 2024 – Flights to Split

There’s a handful of new routes heading down to Split this summer, the most intriguing of which is Play‘s route from Reykjavik in Iceland. This route will operate once a week from Tuesday 28th May 2024, running until 29th October 2024. Some of our North American visitors may perhaps consider Reykjavik as a potential stopover point when trying to reach Split.

Spanish low-cost airline Volotea will commence new routes from Athens, Strasbourg, Bari and Naples to Split this summer.

Ryanair of course gets in on the action with a new route from Vienna which will start flying three times a week from Sunday 31st March 2024.

And another of Croatia Airlines‘s new routes for 2024 will service Split this year, with direct flights from Istanbul that will start operating on 7th May and fly three times a week. As I’ve mentioned above, Istanbul is a great “European” airport to fly to to reach so many other destinations, so this new Istanbul – Split route may well open up Split as a destination to visitors from Asia.

New Flights to Croatia 2024 – Flights to Zadar

New flights to Zadar for 2024 are a little thin on the ground (or rather, in the…air?) so after everything I’ve said above would it surprise you that it’s Ryanair that comes to the rescue with new flights to its north Dalmatian base? (I’m sure the answer is no, it doesn’t surprise you!)

Irish travellers will no doubt be pleased with a new route from Cork to Zadar which starts flying twice a week from the 3rd June 2024.

Other new Ryanair routes to Zadar include flights from Barcelona; Bordeaux; Copenhagen; Frankfurt Hahn; Kosice in Slovakia; Eindhoven in the Netherlands; and Kaunas in Lithuania.

New Flights to Croatia 2024 – Flights to Pula

The only new route to Pula for 2024 (that has so far been announced, that is) is a new Ryanair route from Memmingen in Germany. These flights will commence on 1st June 2024, operating on Tuesdays and Saturdays until 28th September 2024.

This page is all about 2024, of course, but let me interrupt myself to tell you about some planned new routes to Pula for 2025 – yes, that’s right, next year. Jet2 Holidays will launch Istria as a new destination for summer 2025, which will mean new Jet2 flights from London Stansted, Birmingham and Manchester.

New Flights to Croatia 2024 – Flights to Rijeka

Just the one!

A new Ryanair from Vienna will launch on 3rd June 2024, flying on Mondays and Fridays until 30th September 2024.

More info

Do take a look at our individual pages on Getting to Zagreb, Getting to Dubrovnik, Getting to Split, Getting to Istria and Getting to the Kvarner Riviera for details of all flights to these destinations.

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New Ryanair base in Dubrovnik from April 2024

New ways of getting to Croatia is always exciting news, and a major airline opening a new base in Croatia is doubly so! As of April 2024, there will be a new Ryanair base in Dubrovnik which is fantastic news for all travellers hoping to visit this exceedingly charming Croatian city in summer 2024…and even later in the year. (Read on for more details of that!)

New Ryanair base in Dubrovnik

New connections to the UK and Ireland

Travellers from the UK will be delighted with the fact that as of 2nd April 2024, Ryanair will be running no less than six flights a week to this southern Croatian city. Flights will operate from Tuesday to Sunday each week and at present are bookable up until the end of October. However, this route is intended to operate year-round which is fantastic – a wonderful way of opening up Dubrovnik to visitors during the late autumn and winter, for it is a delightful city year-round.

Ryanair’s Manchester to Dubrovnik route will also commence in April, on Thursday 4th. This route will fly twice a week – on Mondays and Thursdays – up until 24th October.

And there will be flights from Dublin aplenty too! With a couple of flights a week from 19th March (on Tuesdays and Wednesdays), things start in earnest on 31st March when the airline will be operating daily flights to Dubrovnik. Again, these flights are currently bookable up until the end of October, but the Dublin – Dubrovnik route is also intended to be a year-round one.

Flights from Germany to Dubrovnik

Ryanair will also be launching a number of connections from various German airports to Dubrovnik in April.

Flights from Berlin Brandenburg airport will operate twice a week from 3rd April 2024, flying on Wednesdays and Sundays. From Dusseldorf Weeze Airport, they will also operate twice a week – this time from 2nd April 2024, flying on Tuesdays and Saturdays. These flight details will also be the case from Memmingen Airport, whilst from Karlsruhe / Baden Baden there will also be twice weekly flights, commencing on 5th April 2024 and operating on Mondays and Fridays.

Connections from Italy to Dubrovnik with Ryanair

Despite the physical proximity between Italy and Croatia – it’s just the Adriatic Sea between them, after all – many travellers are thankful for the existence of flight connections between the two countries to make the journey over just a short hop. And here’s a couple of new Ryanair connections that will help!

There will be five flights a week from Rome Fiumicino Airport from 3rd April 2024, with flights operating from Wednesdays to Sundays. Milan Bergamo will see twice-weekly flights from 2nd April 2024, operating on Tuesdays and Saturdays.

More flights from Europe to Dubrovnik

The flights mentioned above are just the tip of the iceberg!

There will be a fantastic three connections from Poland to Dubrovnik with Ryanair. Flights from Krakow will commence on 2nd April 2024, flying on Tuesdays and Saturdays, whilst from Poznan there will be flights on Mondays and Thursdays starting from 4th April 2024. From Wroclaw it’s a case of twice-weekly flights as well – from 3rd April 2024, running on Wednesdays and Sundays.

Vienna will be connected with Ryanair flights to Dubrovnik four days a week from 31st March 2024, on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Saturdays and Sundays. The Vienna – Dubrovnik route is also intended to be a year-round one. Great news for our Viennese pals…but how about combining a Christmas visit to Vienna and Dubrovnik in winter 2024? How lovely would that be?

Paris Beauvais Airport will see two Ryanair flights a week to Dubrovnik from 5th April 2024, operating on Mondays and Fridays.

Flights from Brussels Charleroi Airport to Dubrovnik will commence on 4th April 2024, operating on Mondays and Thursdays.

Our Nordic friends won’t be missing out! There will be flights two times a week from Oslo Torp and Stockholm Arlanda to Dubrovnik from 3rd April 2024, whilst flights from Helsinki to Dubrovnik will commence on 5th April 2024.

More info on the new Ryanair base in Dubrovnik

Head to Ryanair‘s website for more details of these flights…and to book your tickets too, of course! To welcome these new flights to Dubrovnik, flights are currently being offered from €29.99 one-way.

Do take a look at our Flights to Croatia 2024 page for details of all flights from the UK and Ireland to all over Croatia, and also our Getting to Dubrovnik page for details of flights from Europe and further beyond.

You may also find taking a look at Dubrovnik Airport‘s website helpful in planning your travel to the city.

Winter Flights to Croatia 2023/2024

If you’re planning on travelling to Croatia for the rest of this year or early next, here are the winter flights to Croatia you can utilise.

Winter Flights to Croatia

Winter Flights to Croatia from the UK

Zagreb is the best-connected airport from the UK this winter (in fact, in all winters!) with several airlines flying to there.

Excellently, Ryanair continues to maintain a year-round, daily connection from London Stansted to Zagreb. This is excellent news for travellers and allows a certain amount of flexibility in booking (usually) very reasonably priced flights. Zagreb is a Ryanair base, of course – as you will see further down the page, they now have a rather expansive flight network to Zagreb from all over Europe.

Ryanair will also fly four or five times a week from Dublin to Zagreb throughout winter.

As ever, Croatia Airlines will maintain a service from London Heathrow to Zagreb, flying three times a week – on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. British Airways will also operate flights four, five or six times a week – depending on the month – from London Heathrow.

Winter Flights to Croatia from Europe

To Zagreb

It’s no surprise that Zagreb is the best-connected Croatian city when it comes to flights in winter.

As we’ve mentioned further up this page, Zagreb Airport is now a Ryanair base and so there is a fantastically long list of cities in Europe from where you can fly to Zagreb in winter. These include Dusseldorf Weeze, Frankfurt Hahn, Karlsruhe/Baden Baden and Memmingen in Germany; Milan Bergamo, Naples and Rome in Italy; Malaga and Lanzarote in Spain; and Basel, Brussels, Eindhoven, Gothenburg, Malta, Oslo, Paphos and Paris. That’s some list!

As Croatia’s national carrier, Croatia Airlines will of course also connect the country’s capital with flights to Europe this winter. They will fly from Vienna, Brussels, Mostar and Sarajevo, Copenhagen, Frankfurt and Munich, Rome (via Split/Dubrovnik), Skopje, Amsterdam and Zurich.

There are some further flight connections with other airlines too. Air Serbia will continue to maintain a service from Belgrade during winter, whilst Turkish Airlines offer flights from Istanbul. LOT will have flights from Warsaw and there will be a direct connection from Amsterdam with KLM.

Lufthansa up the already great flight schedules from Germany with flights from Frankfurt and Munich, as will Eurowings – they will operate flights from Cologne/Bonn, Dusseldorf and Stuttgart.

Wait! There are still two more connections to tell you! Alongside Croatia Airlines, Air France also fly from Paris to Zagreb whilst Austrian Airlines flies from Vienna.

Winter Flights to Croatia 2023/2024 - Zagreb Airport
Zagreb Airport

To Pula

There’s just one international connection to Pula this winter – from Zurich with Croatia Airlines.

To Rijeka

For such a small and relatively less popular airport, Rijeka is served reasonably well with flight connections this winter. As long as you want to fly from Germany, that is!

Croatia Airlines will maintain a connection from Munich, as will Lufthansa.

To Split

Again, it’s Croatia Airlines serving most of the winter flights to Split Airport too. They will operate flights from Copenhagen, Frankfurt, Munich, Rome and Zurich during these months.

Eurowings also gets in on the action with flights from Dusseldorf and Stuttgart. There are also some direct flights from Hamburg and Berlin in mid to late December and early January – essentially, over the festive period.

To Dubrovnik

Germany again leads the way with connections – to Dubrovnik, you can fly from Frankfurt with Croatia Airlines and from Munich with Lufthansa.

To Osijek

Even eastern Croatia gets a look in…although you may sense a similar pattern here with our next sentence! Croatia Airlines operates year-round flights from Munich to Osijek.

Winter Flights to Croatia from elsewhere in the world

It will be Zagreb you’ll be able to reach in the winter months if you travelling from certain parts of the world.

Qatar Airways have flights from Doha and Turkish Airlines have winter flights from Istabul.

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Other Ways of Getting to Croatia

If you don’t see a suitable flight route from your home country mentioned above, there are of course other ways of getting to the country during the late autumn and winter months.

The first option would be to fly to Zagreb and then make use of Croatia Airlines‘ internal winter flights – see our Flights in Croatia page for more details.

Alternatively, you could fly to a neighbouring or nearby country to Croatia and make your way over by other methods of transport – such as ferry or bus. For example, Jadrolinija operate their Ancona – Split ferries all year round; you could fly to Rome, for example, take a train to Ancona and then a ferry over to Split.

October in Croatia

October in Croatia: The best events and more

September seems to have whizzed by and we’re already on the doorstep of the tenth month of the year. If you plan on visiting Croatia in the next few weeks, take a look at our guide to October in Croatia to make the most of your visit to the country.

October in Croatia
The Plitvice Lakes National Park in October

Getting to Croatia in October

If you’re travelling to Croatia from the UK and Ireland, there are still plenty of flights this month. And we do mean plenty!

British Airways operate their London Heathrow to Zagreb flights year-round, and will also fly from Heathrow and Gatwick to Dubrovnik until the end of October.

Simiarly, Croatia Airlines fly from from London Heathrow to Zagreb year-round, and this year will also continue their flights from London Heathrow to Split until early January 2024. They also fly from London Gatwick to Split until mid-October.

Easyjet will continue to fly from London Gatwick to Pula and Rijeka until the end of October, and from the same airport to Split until early November, and to Dubrovnik until (amazingly) the end of November. They will also fly from London Luton to Split; from Bristol to Pula, Split and Dubrovnik; from Manchester to Split and Dubrovnik; from Edinburgh to Dubrovnik; and from Glasgow to Split. All of these flights will continue until the end of this month.

Ryanair from London Stansted and Dublin to Zagreb year-round, with the former route operating daily – great news for those aiming to reach Croatia’s capital. They will also fly from London Stansted to Osijek and Manchester to Zagreb until the end of October, and from Dublin to Split until early November.

Wizzair have extended their service from London Luton to Split and will now operate it until the end of October.

TUI will operate flights from London Gatwick, Bristol, Birmingham, Manchester and Leeds Bradford to Dubrovnik until mid-October.

Jet2 meanwhile continue their strong flight network to Croatia into October too! They will have flights from London Stansted to Split and Dubrovnik until the end of October; from Birmingham to Split also until the end of October and to Dubrovnik until early November; from East Midlands to Dubrovnik until the end of October; from Manchester to Split until the end of October and to Dubrovnik until early November; from Newcastle to Dubrovnik until the end of October; from Leeds Bradford to Split until the end of October and to Dubrovnik until early November; and from Edinburgh to Dubrovnik until the end of October. Phew!

What to do in October in Croatia

Well, aside from eat (see the events section below – you’ll see what I mean), there’s plenty to enjoy in Croatia in October. Most amenities will still be fully open although some (such as waterparks) close for the season at the end of September. You will likely still be (just about) able to swim in the sea, particularly if you visit early in the month,

Other attractions become cheaper to visit in October, which is undoubtedly good news for visitors. For example, entrance to the Plitvice Lakes National Park is €23.50 for adults in October, compared to €40 during summer.

Having said that, Plitvice actually celebrates a special promotional week in early October every year – this will happen from 1st to 8th October 2023. Celebrating the 44th anniversary of becoming a UNESCO World Heritage site, tickets will cost just €10 for adults, €6.50 for students and €4.50 for children aged 7 to 18 years old. More details here: Promotional October Week In Plitvice Lakes National Park!

Best Events in October in Croatia

Gastro Delights

October is essentially gastro month in October! There’s a whole heap of wonderful food-based festivities taking place this month, particularly in the region of Istria. One of the best-known events is Truffle Days which takes place every weekend in October, starting on 30th September and 1st October. Centred around Livade just north of Motovun in Central Istria, Truffle Days is brought to you by the team behind Zigante Restaurant and offers a wide range of truffle-rated fun – as well as plenty of opportunities to taste this spectacular food item and other truffle-based products. To really immerse yourself in this delicacy, board the truffle train to Motovun forest (that sounds rather fantastical, but it’s real!) to take part in some truffle hunting yourself.

If they’re not celebrating truffles in Istria in October, they’re celebrating chestnuts! The 48th Marunada Festival takes place in Lovran on the eastern side of Istria from 13th to 15th October, as well as in the wider region on subsequent weekends. As you will expect, all sorts of sweet chesnut treats will be on offer for you to try, from cakes to liquer event to chestnut beer! There will also be live music as part of the celebration and kids events too.

In inland Croatia, in Ivanic-Grad to be precise (which is southeast of Zagreb), the 19th Bucijada Pumpkin Festival will be held from 6th to 8th October. October is of course pumpkin month for many of us thanks to Halloween…aside from that, it’s pumpkin month because it’s harvest time! Again, there will be all manner of pumpkin and squash related foodstuffs to try, including cakes and pies and (the obligatory) beer. Live music abounds too, and this event includes plenty of fun activities for children for children too. I think the pumpkin-kremsnite eating competition sounds like fun!

Let’s take a look at what you can treat yourself to in Dalmatia now, There will be an amazing offering at Dubrovnik’s Good Food Festival (9th to 22nd October) including special menus at participating restaurants, wine tastings, dessert workshops and more. Enjoy a “bottomless bubbles brunch” at Park Orsula or a rose wine tasting at Love Bar; learn more about Croatian baking with workshops on pastries, baked goods and desserts; have dinner with a Michelin-starred chef…all of these experiences are amazing! For general fun, head to Dubrovnik Beer Company on either Saturday or the first Sunday for good food, beer and live music, or to Stradun on Saturday 21st October to sample all manner of food items and wine (€6 for a good voucher, €3 for a wine one). Take a look at the programme on the Good Food Festival event page for full details of the line-up, and to find out how to book certain events.

And even more amazing Croatian food is on offer at the Taste the Mediterranean Festival in Split from 4th to 8th October. It’s a slightly more specialist event with many items on the programme being invitation only, but we can’t not include it here!

Events for active types

In sports and activities are more your sort of bag – or perhaps you want to get your heart rate going after sampling all that fine food – there are a number of active events taking place in October too. One of the best known is the 31st edition of the Zagreb Marathon which will hit the city’s streets on 8th October. Baska on the island of Krk, will host the Baska Outdoor Festival from the 13th to 15th October; this event includes a variety of activities for active types (such as running, climbing, cycling, and hiking) aimed at different levels of ability. That weekend (on the 15th October) will also see the Ironman Triathlon event take place in Porec.

Other events

Many cities in Croatia host a film festival, and October sees two such events take place.

Split’s Film Festival will be on from 12th to 21st October with both Croatian and international films being screened. Meanwhile, the Dubrovnik Film Festival will be on from 19th to 22nd October; you can take a look at the films that will be screened here.

Live music lovers will be delighted by the Zagreb Jazz Festival taking place in the city throughout the month; take a look at the website to find out which concerts will be taking place.

Finally, the 25th Biograd Boat Show is on in the town from 25th to 29th October; this is Croatia’s largest boat show.

The weather during October in Croatia

Of course, what the weather is like during October in Croatia will affect the happiness of many a visitor – and that’s fair enough! It’s hard to predict the weather for a full month, but general gentle summer temperatures (i.e. not 30C+!) tend to hang on into October. Certainly, it’s been a pretty hot September in Croatia, with temperatures reaching the high 20s Celsius (often more) at times.

The start of October looks to be a few degrees cooler in most places, although that will still bring very pleasant conditions with plenty of sunshine.

Keep an eye on the Croatian Meteorological Service website for 3-day and 7-day weather forecasts for Croatia.

Croatia Airlines Winter 2023/24 Timetable

Croatia Airlines unveils winter 2023/24 timetable

Croatia’s main air carrier Croatia Airlines this week unveiled its winter 2023/24 timetable, which announced the introduction of one new flight route and the continuation of four presently summer-only ones. Read on below to find out where you can fly to Croatia using the airline in the winter months.

Croatia Airlines Winter 2023/24 Timetable

London Heathrow to Split to continue in winter

Of most interest to UK travellers is the fact that their once-a-week service from London Heathrow to Split will now continue into autumn and winter, operating until 6th January 2024.

This will be very welcome to UK travellers – or those from in and around London, at least – as all other flights to Split finish operating in late September or late October/early November. Extending the possibility to visit Dalmatia’s main city in November and December – perfect for experiencing Christmas celebrations on the Adriatic coast – will hopefully bring in more off-season visitors.

Of course, Croatia Airlines has operated flights from London Heathrow to Zagreb for years and this route will continue this winter too, operating three times a week. For more options in getting to Croatia during the winter months, flying to Zagreb means travellers can then fly on to Pula, Zadar, Split and Dubrovnik airports via internal flights.

However, the airline’s Dublin to Split route will not operate this winter, despite doing so last year.

Other Croatia Airlines winter routes to continue

Similar to the above, the airline will also continue its previously summer-only service from Copenhagen to Split. This route will also continue to fly once a week, on Saturdays, until 6th January 2024.

They will also continue a service from Frankfurt to Dubrovnik, flying three times a week during the winter months on Tuesdays, Fridays and Sundays until 15th January 2024. This route existed during winter until it was cut during the pandemic.

One more route to be continued for winter is a route that was only (re-)introduced this summer – Mostar in Bosnia and Hercegovina to Zagreb. Flights will be operated three times a week, on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays.

A new winter 2023/24 timetable route: Munich to Zadar

On 31st October, Croatia Airlines will launch a new route flying from Munich to Zadar in north Dalmatia. They will operate this route twice a week, flying on Tuesdays and Saturdays, until 13th January 2024.

This new route means that in the winter months, travellers will be able to fly from Munich with Croatia Airlines to five Croatian airports: Zagreb and Split, both daily; Rijeka, Osijek and Zadar, with all of these routes twice a week.

Other Croatia Airlines winter flights

Of course, Croatia Airlines already operates several year-round flights from European cities to destinations in Croatia. Understandably, the vast majority of these fly to Zagreb – aside from those mentioned above, there will be flights from Amsterdam, Copenhagen, Frankfurt, Munich, Paris, Rome, Sarajevo, Skopje, Vienna and Zurich. All of these flights operate daily.

To Split, they will continue to fly from Frankfurt, Munich and Rome – all daily – and from Zurich twice a week.

To those wishing to reach beautiful Istria, a twice-weekly route from Zurich to Pula will help.

More on Flights to Croatia

Be sure to take a look at our main Flights to Croatia from the UK & Ireland page to see all flight routes to the country for the rest of this year. Or if you’re looking for a bit of inspiration, our Flights to Croatia by Destination Airport and Flights to Croatia by Departure Airport show you where to and where you can fly.

Getting to Croatia from the UK by train

Getting to Croatia from the UK by Train

Whilst travel is still very much at the forefront of many people’s minds – it’s such an enjoyable experience after all, and a great way of expanding your knowledge – attempting to use fewer flights every year to lower your carbon footprint is increasingly becoming a concern. Given that Croatia and the UK are in the same continent – if not quite on the same landmass – and train services across Europe are expanding and improving all the time, travelling to Croatia by train should be very doable – right? Right! Here we take a look at the best ways of getting to Croatia from the UK by train.

Now, undoubtedly, travelling by train is not a quick way of getting from the UK to Croatia. Whilst a flight takes just two or three hours, a train takes considerably longer. Which is obviously something you need to factor into your travels. Having said that, travelling by train is very pleasant indeed. In fact, the journey to Croatia will play a big part of your holiday.

Croatia from the UK by Train – Where can I get to?

Firstly, let’s discuss where exactly in Croatia you can reach by train. Croatia does not have the most extensive train network, and Zagreb is the central hub in terms of train travel. You will – whether you want to or not – be reaching Zagreb on your European train travels from the UK.

Once you have arrived in Zagreb, you can then make it to some destinations on the coast by train. Split is absolutely achievable as an end destination by train, as is Rijeka. Having said that, there are now few train services from Zagreb to Rijeka (but there are many daily buses on this route) so if you wish to continue to Rijeka by train you may need to stay overnight in Croatia’s capital city.

Do also note that it is slower to travel by train from Zagreb to Split or Rijeka than it is by bus. For completeness’ sake, you may wish to make your whole journey from the UK to Croatia by train! But we understand if you make the switch to travelling by bus in Zagreb.

Similarly, once you have reached the coastal cities of Rijeka or Split, you will need to switch to travelling by bus anyway (or possibly ferry if you’re heading to an island resort) to get to your intended endpoint.

The wonderful St Pancras International station in London

Croatia from the UK by Train – What’s the fastest route?

Much like driving from the UK to Croatia, this route involves Paris and a German city!

Overall the fastest route takes about 23 hours from departing London St Pancras International to arriving at Zagreb’s Glavni Kolodvor (the main train station), with two changes of train (and one transfer of train station in Paris) and minimal wait time between trains. However, although this is the fastest train route, you may want to pad it out a bit more to include longer stopovers for a break or a meal in Paris and Stuttgart.

There’s no way of getting around it – you will need to get to London first (if you’re not already in London) to start your journey to Croatia. Whether you choose to travel by train from your home location to London is up to you. (But go on, why not?)

From London, there’s only one way of getting to Europe by train – by Eurostar – and you’d need to take this to Paris Nord station. There are numerous daily connections on this leg of the journey. Journey time: 2 hours and 20 minutes

In Paris, you’ll need to transfer – via Metro – Paris Est station for it is from here that you will be making your onward journey to Stuttgart Hauptbahnhof. Again, there are a number of direct connections from Paris Est to Stuttgart Hbf, but the onward journey to Croatia is in the evening, after 8pm so you need to make it to Stuttgart before then. Journey time: 3 hours and 10 minutes

From Stuttgart Hbf, it’s an overnight sleeper service to Zagreb Glavni Kolodvor which gets you in at 10.39am. Journey time: 14 hours and 10 minutes

Overall, the journey looks like this: London St Pancras – Paris – Stuttgart – Zagreb Glavni Kolodvor for a total journey time of 23 hours and 8 minutes.

The following is how you can make this journey in just over 23 hours:

FromTo…Departure TimeArrival TimeTotal journey time to this point
London St Pancras InternationalParis Nord11.3114.502 hours 19 minutes
Paris EstStuttgart15.5519.048 hours 33 minutes
StuttgartZagreb Glavni Kolodvor20.2910.3923 hours 8 minutes
Zagreb Glavni KolodvorSplit15.1921.4034 hours 9 minutes

As you can see, we’ve also added an option to continue to Split the same day, but this would involve quite a lengthy stop in Zagreb. Perhaps that’s a good thing – some time to stretch your legs after all that time on trains, and a bit of time to explore the city.

Buying tickets

When it comes to purchasing tickets for train travel to Croatia, the fastest route will not likely be the cheapest! This is something to consider when making your decision about which trains to take to get to the country, and your overall itinerary. (After all, attempting to take an earlier train for one leg to save money on a train ticket may just result in you spending more money on your layover!)

Let’s take a look at some example prices for travelling to Croatia from the UK by train with two weeks’ notice in summer – so, travelling on Wednesday 2nd August 2023 for the above-mentioned route that takes 23 hours and 8 minutes.

FromTo…Price for above trainCheapest direct
train on same day
Book tickets on
London St Pancras InternationalParis Nord€224€125Eurostar
Paris EstStuttgart€89.90€69.90Die Bahn
StuttgartZagreb Glavni Kolodvor€111.80€64.80OBB
TOTAL€425.70€259.70
Zagreb Glavni KolodvorSplit€15.82€14.94Croatian Railways
TOTAL€441.52€274.64

Let’s take a look at prices if booking two months in advance – so for travel on 19th September 2023:

FromTo…Price for above trainCheapest direct
train on same day
Book tickets on
London St Pancras InternationalParis Nord€111€65Eurostar
Paris EstStuttgart€54.90€41.90Die Bahn
StuttgartZagreb Glavni Kolodvor€29.90€29.90OBB
TOTAL€195.80€136.80
Zagreb Glavni KolodvorSplit€26.35€26.35Croatian Railways
TOTAL€222.15€163.15

As well as your travels to Croatia from the UK by train, if you are considering doing a fair amount of other train travel within Europe in the near future you may want to look into getting an Interrail pass. For example, the Interrail Global Pass has a variety of different options ranging from 4 days in 1 month (which would just about get you there and back from the UK to Croatia) for €194 to a 3 months pass for €711.

Take a look at our page on Interrailing in Croatia for more advice on interrail passes and how to make use of them in getting to and travelling around the country.

Croatia from the UK by Train and Ferry

An alternative route to the above is to travel to Italy from the UK by train and then make your way to Croatia by ferry or catamaran. This route isn’t particularly direct and is quite a long journey that would necessitate an overnight stay somewhere in Europe.

The best port to reach in Italy to travel to Croatia by sea depends on your destination – it’s Venice for locations in Istria; Ancona for Zadar or Split and Bari for Dubrovnik.

Let’s take the example of travelling to Split via Ancona. Here’s a possible route:

FromTo…Departure TimeArrival TimeTotal journey time to this point
London St Pancras InternationalParis Nord08.0111.202 hours 19 minutes
Paris Gare du LyonMilan Porta Garibaldi12.4919.4011 hours 39 minutes
overnight in Milan
Milan CentraleAncona14.0517.2433 hours 23 minutes
Ancona (ferry)Split19.4507.0046 hours 59 minutes

All in all, not quick at all! But you can choose to split – no pun intended – the journey somewhere along the way, such as in Paris or Milan.

More info

Our absolute top tip for online research on train travel across Europe (and further afield) would be the fabulous The Man in Seat Sixty-One. As well as discussing routes from the UK to Croatia by train, the website also has plenty of useful information and photos regarding train travel within Croatia. We can’t sing the praises of this website highly enough!

The next excellent website that you need to look at the Die Bahn website. As well as looking up timetable

New Flights to Croatia 2023

By all accounts, 2023 looks like it will be a bumper year for tourism in Croatia with visitor numbers for the year so far already at high levels and even more so expected for the summer. Given the travel uncertainty over the last few years because of you-know-what, flight schedules were somewhat reduced and curtailed. That’s not the case for this year at all! Here, we take a look at all the new flights to Croatia 2023, including flights from the UK and Ireland, and from all across Europe.

New Flights to Croatia 2023

New Flights to Croatia 2023 – From the UK and Ireland

Having said the above, there’s not an overwhelming number of new flights from the UK and Ireland to Croatia for 2023. Looking at this fact positively, this likely means that there’s already a very good number of routes between these two countries anyway – right?!

One exciting new route – which is in fact a reinstatement of a route previously run in the mid-2010s – is Ryanair‘s from London Stansted to Osijek in Eastern Croatia. Operating twice a week, on Mondays and Fridays, until 27th October, this offers travellers from London a wonderful opportunity to explore this lovely town and the fascinating region of Croatia.

TUI, meanwhile, have a new once-a-week route from Leeds Bradford to Dubrovnik, flying on Thursdays. This route will run until 19th October. In fact, this also isn’t strictly speaking a new route; these flights were switched from Doncaster Sheffield Airport to Leeds Bradford following the closure of the former. Unfortunately, the airline’s Doncaster Sheffield – Pula route does not seem to have made the same switch.

New Flights to Croatia 2023 – To Zagreb

Croatia Airlines have a new route connecting Mostar in Bosnia and Herzegovina to Croatia’s capital. This is a great way for travellers to combine these two countries (although the airline already flies to Sarajevo year-round). You could even consider travelling the Croatian coast – from Dubrovnik and Split, say – and then making your way to visiting Mostar and then flying on to Zagreb from there.

Ryanair established a base at Zagreb Airport a couple of years ago that is going from strength to strength. One of its new routes for this year is from the Greek island of Kos to Zagreb.

New Flights to Croatia 2023 – To Pula

New routes from Italy to Croatia are always very welcome as an easy way to combine visiting these two very beautiful countries. (Although of course there are a number of other ways of travelling from Italy to Croatia!) Easyjet has a new route from Naples in southern Italy to Croatia, their only route to Croatia this year.

Ryanair has a new flight route from Dusseldorf to Pula. In addition to this, they have also established a new route from Katowice in Poland.

Perhaps not a route that many will ordinarily come across, but Swiss airline Peoples will by flying from the small airport of St Gallen-Altenrhein, on the Swiss-Austrian border, to Pula.

New Flights to Croatia 2023 – To Rijeka

Rijeka Airport is one of Croatia’s lesser-utilised airports, with only a few routes from the UK and Europe to here…despite it being a coastal airport! However, the one new route that the airport has seen introduced for 2023 is a Ryanair (them again!) route from Milan Bergamo airport.

New Flights to Croatia 2023 – To Zadar

The number of flights in operation to Zadar Airport has certainly increased over the last few years (mostly pre-pandemic!) and 2023 is no exception.

Another Ryanair base in Croatia, the airline has also introduced a good number of new routes to this north Dalmatian airport this year as well. With a very wide range of flights from Germany, the airline has also added the city of Münster as somewhere you can now fly from to Croatia.

The same airline already has flights from the Italian airports of Bologna, Milan Bergamo, Pisa, Rome and Turin; to these, they add flights from Milan Malpensa airport.

Ryanair also has a wide selection of flights from Poland, including from the cities of Gdansk, Krakow, Poznan, Warsaw and Wroclaw. In 2023, it started flying from Rzeszow as well.

Italian airline Aeroitalia has also commenced flying from Forli Airport, just south of Bologna, to Zadar.

What Not to Miss in Croatia - Split
Split

New Flights to Croatia 2023 – To Split

Croatia Airlines have introduced a couple of new routes to Croatia’s largest coastal city for this year. They now connect North Macedonia’s capital city Skopje with Split, whilst also now flying from Oslo.

SAS continue the new routes from Norway, with a new connection from Trondheim to Split.

Sunclass meanwhile have introduced flights from Stockholm.

And of course, Ryanair gets in on the action too; they have a new route from Rome Fiumicino Airport to Split.

New Flights to Croatia 2023 - Dubrovnik Airport
Dubrovnik Airport

New Flights to Croatia 2023 – To Dubrovnik

It’s no surprise that Dubrovnik Airport is connected to all manner of European cities through a very expansive flight network. But there’s always room for some new flights!

This year, as well as the new flights to Zadar, Italian airline Aeroitalia have also commenced flying from Forli to Dubrovnik.

There’s been a reasonable amount of fanfare regarding the new route from Czech capital Prague to Dubrovnik with Croatia’s main carrier, Croatia Airlines.

Romanian airline Air Connect has commenced flights from the country’s capital city Bucharest to Dubrovnik.

Get Flying to Croatia!

All in all, the above-mentioned new flight routes to Croatia add to the already quite substantial flight connections the country has.

Sadly, we have not seen any new long-range connections – those from the Middle East, Asia or North America – to Croatia, but here’s hoping something new will emerge along these lines for 2024!

Ryanair

Ryanair announces more routes to its new Zagreb base – including from Manchester and Dublin

Earlier this year, to a reasonable amount of fanfare, Ryanair announced a new base at Zagreb Airport and 12 new routes to Croatia’s capital from eight different European countries.

Of interest to our British readers, today saw the start of the Ryanair London Stansted – Zagreb route; this route operates four times a week from today before switching to daily flights from 1st September.

However, today has also brought more good news for travellers to Croatia. A further eight new Ryanair to Zagreb routes have been announced which are all due to start operating in December.

Two of these routes will certainly be of interest to British and Irish travellers, as there are to be flights from Manchester and Dublin starting in the last month of the year.

Ryanair to Zagreb

Another new UK Ryanair to Zagreb route

Ryanair is due to commence a route from Manchester to Zagreb on 2nd December, flying twice a week – on Thursdays and Sundays.

Tickets are already on sale for these flights, currently priced from £17.99 one way.

Dublin to Zagreb starts on 2nd December

The new Dublin to Zagreb route will also start on 2nd December, with three flights per week – on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Sundays. Tickets are currently priced from €19.99 one way.

Other new routes from all over Europe

But there’s still more! The other new Ryanair to Zagreb routes to start in December are:

  • Basel to Zagreb, starting 3rd December, flying Mondays and Fridays
  • Eindhoven to Zagreb, starting 3rd December, flying Mondays and Fridays
  • Malaga to Zagreb, starting 1st December, flying Wednesdays and Saturdays
  • Malta to Zagreb, starting 4th December, flying Tuesdays and Saturdays
  • Naples to Zagreb, starting 17th December, flying Mondays to Fridays
  • Paphos to Zagreb, starting 3rd December, flying Mondays and Fridays
  • Thessaloniki to Zagreb, starting 2nd December, flying Thursdays and Sundays

Book your flights today!

Tickets for all of the above routes are on sale as of today.

Together with the routes announced earlier this year, today’s announcement means that Ryanair will be operating 24 routes to Zagreb Airport this December!

Croatia Requires Negative Tests

Croatia requires negative tests for ALL travellers from the UK

LATEST UPDATE As of 1st October, this requirement is no longer valid. Please see the latest news: Double vaccinated UK travellers to Croatia no longer need a negative test.

In effect from Monday 26th July, Croatia requires negative tests for all people travelling directly from the UK, Cyprus and Russia – regardless of whether you have been vaccinated or not, and regardless of whether you have had previously had covid.

Announced yesterday by the Croatian Institute for Public Health, this measure has been introduced due to the worsening epidemiological situation in these three countries due to the delta variant.

Croatia requires negative tests

So, what sort of test do I need?

Here’s what we know so far.

According to this article from the Croatian online newspaper Index, you must provide either a negative PCR test taken in the previous 72 hours before travel or a negative rapid antigen test taken in the previous 48 hours.

This new ruling applies to everyone aged 12 and above.

The GOV.UK Foreign Office advice for Croatia has been updated to explain this new regulation.

Keep an eye on the official regulations published on the Ministry of the Interior website which should be updated soon.

What sort of rapid antigen tests are accepted?

The official guidelines are that such a test must be listed in the Common list of rapid antigen tests recognized by the Member States of the European Union, published by the European Commission. However, this lists manufacturers of such tests, not the companies offering the tests.

We would imagine that most companies offering private rapid antigen tests for travel that produce an official, signed certificate would be acceptable.

Check with your airline before travelling as many are offering deals on rapid antigen tests.

Can I use an NHS lateral flow at home test?

No, per the NHS website, these tests cannot be used for travel.

What about if I am a British citizen travelling from the EU?

Then the above does not apply. This new regulation is only for those travelling from the UK, Cyprus or Russia – regardless of citizenship. If you are a British citizen travelling from the EU, for example, then the previous regulations apply i.e. you can enter the country with proof of vaccination.

Other regulations

Don’t forget that all travellers travelling to Croatia from outside of the EU – which includes Brits – need to show proof of a paid accommodation booking in order to enter Croatia.

It is also advisable to fill out the Enter Croatia form before travel.

More info

Take a look at our Croatia Travel Restrictions 2021 and Visiting Croatia in Summer 2021 pages for more help in visiting Croatia this summer.