I had heard a great deal about the beauty of Croatia and was excited to make it there at the end of my ride across Europe. But in terms of cycling Croatia, I really didn’t know what to expect! I had heard there was no cycling infrastructure and that the coast road was busy with cars, so what was I to do? I decided to just take it day by day and see what was possible.
What did I discover? That cycling Croatia is awesome! But it also had its challenging moments because the lack of information I was able find online meant I was making it up as I went. So I decided to create a video about what cycling Croatia is like as well as a post with all the little helpful details I wish I’d had before setting off.
If the video got you feeling excited about cycling Croatia and now you want the details about how I did it, I have them for you! Below you’ll find the route I took, the apps I used, accommodations I found, and other little helpful tips and tricks.
1. Postojna to Buzet
Mileage: 94km
Route planned using: Komoot — it tried to take me on a road through a gun range as well as taking me to the EU border crossing which wasn’t an option for this Canadian gal, so I would recommend giving a different app a try for this particular day if you’re coming into Croatia the same way.
Accommodation: Vela Sterna B&B — had to book it last minute after a series of delays on my way to Motovun, nothing fancy but fine in a pinch!
2. Buzet to Pula
Mileage: 75km
Route planned using: Komoot
Accommodation: Riva Hostel Pula — wasn’t the cleanest but it was okay. Met some lovely people here but it definitely gave off party-hostel vibes based on the reviews and environment so I would avoid staying here in the busy summer season.
3. Pula to Zadar
Mileage: Ferry
Route planned using: Took ferry, limited info available online, go to tourist office in Pula for times. Note that outside the summer season ferry only runs twice a week.
Accommodation: Downtown Boutique Hostel Zadar — best hostel I have ever stayed in! So clean and beautiful, helpful staff, central location, good price.
4. Zadar to Skradin (Krka National Park)
Mileage: 87km
Route planned using: Maps.me — one of my favourite routes of this trip! All through quiet, paved, rural roads.
Accommodation: Auto Camp Skradin — nice, quiet, family-owned campsite on a hill, just a few kilometres from Krka National Park entrance.
5. Skradin to Konjsko
Mileage: 92km
Route planned using: Maps.me
Accommodation: The home of kind strangers as I couldn’t make it to Split as planned — Note: the bridge out of Skradin was closed for a car race resulting in a 30km detour north and no campsites on that route. So long as the bridge is open, making it to Split from Skradin is around 80-90km.
6. Konjsko to Split
Mileage: 23km
Route planned using: Komoot
Accommodation: Wonderful World Hostel Split — small, simple hostel near centre.
7. Split to Krvovica
Mileage: 75km
Route planned using: Maps.me
Accommodation: Autocamp Krvavica — nice, clean campsite, right by the coast for a swim and walk by the shore!
8. Krvovica to Ploče
Mileage: 62km
Route planned using: Komoot — loved this route! It was going along the coast but kept off the busy coast road as much as possible — went up the mountain side for a beautiful view and then along quiet roads near the shore.
Accommodation: Camping Baćinska Jezera — lovely campsite right on a lake just outside Ploče.
9. Ploče to Neum (Bosnia)
Mileage: 45km
Route planned using: Komoot
Accommodation: Air B&B — clean, cozy room owned by a nice family. It poured all day so sprang for an Air B&B to dry off but there are a couple campsites in the area as well.
10. Neum to Dubrovnik
Mileage: 67km
Route planned using: Komoot
Accommodation: Hostel 365 For U — clean, simple hostel in between port and old town. If you need to fly out of Dubrovnik, note that there is no bike store in the city but if you go to Intersport, a couple minutes from the hostel, they may be so kind as to set aside a box for you.
I hope this is helpful to you in putting together your very own cycle tour of Croatia! If you have any questions I didn’t answer here, don’t hesitate to leave them in the comments below or shoot me a message!
Hi Sheelagh – thanks so much for your great video and itinerary. Did you move from one place to another everyday? If you did it again is there somewhere where you’d like to spend a few days up to a week hanging out that had a great feel, beaches etc? I love cycling but I’m not on any time constraint and I love spending time in places when they feel nice…I’m also not really interested to camp – prefer airbnb apartments or similar. Hopefully now it’s getting into off peak season it’s going to be easier to find them.
Hey Dilip! That’s wonderful you have time to go slow and really enjoy 🙂 Honestly, Croatia is so beautiful you could easily stay longer any of the places I went. In each of the cities (Zadar, Split, Dubrovnik) I stayed 2 nights to have a day off to explore. One place I particularly loved was a little tiny island off Dubrovnik called Sipan. It’s very small, not much cycling to do there but very quiet and I found a lovely little air bnb and went on hikes and felt like I had the whole island to myself. But truly, there are so many beautiful islands and coastal towns, you can’t go wrong!
What about your cycling in Slovenia? How would you rate that?
Great question! I went from Trieste in Italy to Prejama Castle in Slovenia (which was one of my favourite sites in Europe honestly – so cool!) Then down to Buzet in northern Croatia. It was very hilly and some rough terrain getting from Trieste to Predjama but it was a great experience. I would have loved to spend more time in the mountains of Slovenia but I was pretty wiped after the Alps so didn’t manage it on this trip. But I hope to in the future!