Getting Around Croatia

Documents: for entering Croatia, driver's licence, car registration and Green card are needed.
Speed and Alcohol limits: 50 km/h in settlements, 80 km/h out of settlements, 100km/h on major motor routes, and 130 km/h on highways.
80 km/h for motor vehicles with a house trailer
80 km/h for buses
- maximum allowed alcohol in the blood: 0,5 per mill
- do not use mobil phones while driving
IN CASE OF TRAFFIC ACCIDENT
- first inform the police, tel. 92
- secure the place, set up a triangle
- wait for the arrival of the police
In case of any damage to the vehicle, you must obtain a police report on the damage to the vehicle, without which you cannot pass the state border.

The distance from the Zagreb airport to Zagreb downtown, namely, the bus station (Autobusni Kolodvor) is not so far. The shuttle bus is 30 Kuna's per person and it takes you from the airport straight to the bus station in about 10 minutes.

Croatia - especially Dalmatia - has a very efficient bus system, so a rental car is not really necessary. It is easily possible to check bus time tables on the internet with the major croation transport operators. When traveling to and from Dubrovnik, take your passport with you, as you will cross the border to Bosnia twice (Neum).

Use the car ferries that travel the Croatian coastline to get to the main towns along the coast. Croatia is very mountainous and the mountain range runs parallel to the coast. All the villages are tucked in under the mountains along the coastline. From the ferry you get to see some stunning scenery and islands along the way and from a perspective that you do not have when travelling on land. The ferries are also very cheap and relaxing way to travel. They have fully licenced bars and restaurants on board.

If you are travelling to Croatia from Italy there are a number of overnight car ferries eg Bari (Italy) to Dubrovnik. Bari is not the most exciting place to be but arriving in Dubrovnik in the morning makes it all worthwhile.

There is a good hotel right opposite the ferry terminal in Dubrovnik and not far from the historical part of Dubrovnik.

Be aware though, that if you have hired a car in Italy you can not take it into Croatia via the car ferry. They do not stop you on the Italian side but you will not be able to disembark on the Croatian side and you will have to return to Italy.

Local buses and ferry lines are cheap and conveninet way to explore Croatian coastline. They are reliable and durng peak season when ports get congested, local short-route ferries sail without sticking to their schedule, because they try not to leave anyone stranded overnight in a ferry port.

A great and cost effective way to have your little cruise of South Dalmatian islands is to use local ferry line between Split and Dubrovnik, but since this ferry doesn't sail every day, check the schedule carefully!
http://www.jadrolinija.hr/pdfs/ENG.%20COASTAL%20LINE%202011.pdf

Aside from this connection, you can use short local lines and combine them with local buses.
Jadrolinija has most of local ferry lines, but you can also find some convenient connections with these companies:

http://www.medplov.hr/timetable/MP_putnicka_sezonski.pdf

http://www.gv-line.hr/raspored.php?linija=3

http://www.krilo.hr/en/sailing_schedule.html

Take the tram when you are in Zagreb.
They run all over the place and are cheap and fast.
You can get a ticket that covers you the whole day for around 2 and a half Euro and they are faster and cheaper than other forms of public transport.

Info for Croatian trains can be found on the Hrvatske Zeljeznice website: http://hznet.hr, but it's only in Croatian. If you put in the departure city (Split) in the "od" (meaning "from") box and the arrival city (Zagreb or Budapest) in the "do" (meaning "to") box, and click "upit", it will bring up a box with drop-down menus of the cities that you can select. When choosing the Zagreb station, make sure you select "Zagreb Gl. Kol." (this means "Glavni Kolodvor" - "main station"), which is the station from which you will have the most options for conections. Choose your date in the box labeled "datum" (note that they only show results for about 2 months ahead) and then click the button labeled "Prikazi vlakove ..." The result page will show you all the times that the train runs and the times it arrives in cities along the route. The HZ website doesn't list prices, so you'll just have to ask at the station in Split when you get there. But you don't need to book ahead of time. You can take the train straight through to Budapest, or get off in Zagreb and take a flight. If you decide to take a flight from Zagreb to Budapest, then the best way to get to the airport is to take the airport bus provided by Croatia Airlines which goes from the main bus station to the airport and costs about 30 kuna (which is now around $7.00 I think). To get from the main train station to the main bus station you can take a tram (just ask someone which one and which stop - you can buy a ticket at the kiosk inside the train station) or just walk. I usually walk and it takes about 20 minutes, but it's a pretty long walk if your luggage is heavy or you're not used to walking so much. If you're going to walk, walk out the front door of the train station, and turn right so you're walking toward the train engine. Walk down that street and take a right at the intersection where the trams also turn right. Walk down that street a ways and the Bus station will be on your right. Go in the door with the Croatia airlines sign and walk through the lobby out to where the busses are parked. You can just pay the driver in cash. Might be faster to take a flight, but it might just be easier to stay on the train and go all the way to Budapest. Zagreb's a nice city though, so if you have time I recommend spending some time there.