The best ways of travelling to Croatia without flying
With the current political events causing something of a shadow on travel plans and summer holidays this year – mainly down to fuel shortages affecting flights – many travellers are considering altering their travel plans to avoid flights. If you’re travelling from the UK, countries such as France or Spain may seem ideal to visit without taking to the air. But is it possible to reach Croatia through other means? Yes! Although you’ll need to accept a leisurely pace of travel to reach this southern European country. Here, I’ll take you through the different ways of travelling to Croatia without flying.
Travelling to Croatia without flying – By Train
Travelling through Europe by train always has such wonderful connotations, whether it’s young backpackers setting off on an interrailing adventure, or something far more refined and romantic, such as the Orient Express. (Funnily enough, Zagreb was a stop on the original Orient Express route. The super swish and stylish luxury Hotel Esplanade was built in 1925 to accommodate passengers.) If you’ve decided against flying, you may immediately jump to the idea of taking a train instead. And I don’t blame you!
However, if you are travelling to Croatia by train, you will almost certainly need to travel to Zagreb. This city may not be top of your list for a summer holiday destination (although it is a wonderful city to visit), but you will need to make your way to Croatia’s capital city first before travelling on to the coast.
The best idea for travelling to Croatia by train is to make use of the Nightjet services that operate from Stuttgart, Munich and Zurich. These overnight train services depart these cities in the evening (obviously!), which should allow you enough time to get there from the UK, and will also avoid requiring you to spend money on an overnight accommodation stop on your way to Croatia. The Nightjet trains depart Stuttgart 8.30pm, Munich at 11.53pm (this is part of the same route) and at and Zurich at 8.40pm with both trains arriving in Zagreb at 10.30am the next day.
From Stuttgart it’s 14 hours to Zagreb, from Munich it’s 10 hours 37 minutes, and from Zurich it’s 11 hours and 50 minutes. All trains run daily. As these are night train services, beds are available. You can opt for a more budget couchette bed in a compartment that’s shared with others (or a totally private mini-cabin is available) or a bed in a private sleeping car compartment that comes with a private shower and toilet. The most budget option of all is to not opt for any kind of bed, and go for a seat instead! Tickets for these options start from from €59.90 for a seat, from €84.90 for a couchette or from €144.90 for a sleeper cabin.
So, the Nighjet service sounds great (it really does!), but what about getting from the UK to Stuttgart, Zurich or Munich? The small matter of the Channel being in the means you will have to use the Eurostar to get to the continent, there’s no getting around that. Once you’re in Paris, you will definitely need to change trains – possibly even stations – to make the onward journey.
Here’s where booking gets a bit tricky. You could book the whole journey from the UK to Zurich/Stuttgart/Munich on a website such as Trainline, but I don’t believe it offers all the best train options. I would suggest looking up train times on the websites of Eurostar, Die Bahn, TGV Lyria or ÖBB to piece together a journey plan.
Additional useful tips:
Travelling to Croatia without flying – By Bus/Coach
Geography dictates that if you’re travelling to Croatia by bus from the UK, you will (once again) see a route that goes through Germany. The large-scale international bus operator Flixbus is your best option for planning this type of journey – you can even use their website to put in your UK starting point and your end Croatian destination. No faffing about on multiple websites.
Travelling by bus all the way to Croatia is a loooonnng journey, there’s no two ways about it. However, bus travel is considerably cheaper than travelling by train. As with travelling by train, you can utilise overnight buses to avoid having to pay for accommodation along the way.
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Travelling to Croatia without flying – By Car
1980s me would absolutely applaud your decision to travel to Croatia by car, although seeing as I was only a child then and not doing any of the driving, I had it easy! But what could be better than a road trip to Europe to a beautiful destination on the Croatian Adriatic?
I hate to sound like a stuck record, but once again, Germany will be your friend, at least when travelling through Europe. Yes, that big country is “in the way” when it comes to making the journey southeastwards from the UK to Croatia, but the massive plus is the excellent autobahns.
Use a website such as Via Michelin to plan your route and to estimate the costs of driving to Croatia. This non-flying method of travel WILL require a stopover (at least one, two is better) on your way, so do factor this in to your plans and your costs. Plan a stop in Germany and enjoy some bratwurst and bier for your supper.
A long-established driving route from the UK to Croatia:
- take a ferry from England’s south coast to France
- make the crossing over into Belgium almost immediately and drive in the direction of Brussels and then Germany
- into Germany towards Cologne
- head in a southeast direction towards Kolblenz – Mainz – Frankfurt – Nuremberg
- into Austria near-ish Linz to then head south towards Slovenia and then Croatia
Your route will ultimately be decided by where in Croatia you are trying to reach. A more southerly route in Germany (via Stuttgart and Munich) will lead you towards Salzburg in Austria, allowing you to head south towards Ljubljana in Slovenia and then further south in the direction of the Croatian coast close to Rijeka.
As well as planning your route, the most involved part of this way of travelling is to make sure your car is ready for the cross-Europe journey. Consult a website such as the RAC or the advice from GOV.UK to make sure you have all the necessary paperwork and that your car meets the requirements for driving on the continent.
A massive plus of driving to Croatia is that you can pile your car high with your belongings – seven pairs of shoes per person, it is! – and you can of course make use of your own car when exploring Croatia. Gosh, I’m excited for you just with the idea of driving to Croatia by car!
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Other options for travelling to Croatia without flying
Other options than flying? If I don’t mean train, bus or driving, what’s left – hot air balloon? (Although, really, that would also be flying.) Walking? Teleportation?!
No, silly. What I mean is combining a few methods of transport. Mixing together journeys by train and bus would be very doable, but you could also make your way over to the Italian Adriatic coastline and then take a ferry over to Croatia. That would enable you to travel directly to the Croatian coastline, avoiding the need to travel via Zagreb.
Top tips for travelling to Croatia without flying
Let’s face it, not travelling by plane involves a relatively lengthy journey from the UK to Croatia – there’s no getting around that. With the existence of low-cost airlines offering very budget flights, travelling by train, bus, or car can suddenly seem rather costly indeed.
It’s up to you to decide whether you’d like to take on a non-flying European adventure in travelling to Croatia. Realistically, you may wish to expand your holidays and do a multi-site European trip, and take even longer to reach Croatia by making multiple stops along the way.
Imagine a thoroughly enjoyable stay in Paris, Munich, Zurich, Milan, Berlin, Vienna or elsewhere as well as a holiday in Croatia. Wonderful!
