Do you know that there are no vignettes in Croatia? You will find a lot of practical information about visiting Croatia by car here! You will learn about current prices and what surprises you can expect on Croatian highways!
Croatia is a frequent holiday destination. A common mode of travel to Croatia from Central Europe is by car. Therefore, checking the current prices of highways in Croatia should be a priority.
Important fact:
You will also pay motorway fees when driving to Croatia, as highways are payable in Austria, Hungary and Slovenia.
All over Europe you have to pay for using highways. Bear in mind that there are no vignettes in Croatia and you pay at the gates while leaving individual motorway sections. The vignette fee system is present in countries through which we have to travel on the way southwards towards Croatia – in the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Austria, Hungary or in Slovenia.
Highways in Croatia and a payment system at the gates
Croatian national road system is well developed, which definitely makes traveling around this country easier. The quality of road surface tend to be good, which encourages many tourists to travel by car.
How to pay for the highway?
Highway toll system in Croatia looks like this: when entering the highway, stop at the gate and collect the entry ticket for which you pay at the exit from the motorway. The fee will be charged according to the number of kilometers traveled. You can pay it using a payment card (debit, credit) or just cash.
Now an important fact: However, it should be remembered that in the case of some failure of payment systems, it is worth having some money with you. Both kuna and euro are acceptable forms of payment. Though if you pay in euro, you will receive the change in kuna, at likely not very good exchange rate.
When it comes to ATMs, you won’t pay the commission for the transaction and the highway fee, but the amount collected from our account will be counted by the bank according to kuna’s current exchange rate for that day.
The ETC payment system
In Croatia, there is also a touchless, automatic payment system, but it is intended for transport and shipping companies and concerns only some of the roads. To take advantage of this solution and not stand in queues at exits, you need to equip your car with an ETC (Electronic toll collection) device that you place on the windshield of your vehicle. Then, approaching the exit of the highway, you just need to slow down, so that the system will read your device, and you can easily drive on. Because this device has to be purchased and installed, few drivers going to Croatia for a vacation use the system.
The current Croatian car maps:
Motorways in Croatia are well marked, though it cannot be said for local roads. That is why it is worth having a good and up-to-date map of Croatia with you:
Further: Vehicle category classification
Prices of motorways in Croatia depend not only on the number of kilometers driven, but also on the dimensions of our vehicle.
There are five categories on which all vehicles have been divided and thus:
- motorcycles and motorbikes, including with a sidecar is category IA
- ordinary passenger cars up to 1.90 cm tall and below 3.5 tons of weight are category I
- category II are biaxial cars, above 1.90cm but with weight below 3.5t as well as cars with a trailer, below 1.90cm high
- category III are cars with two or three axes and a weight over 3.5 tons, but also cars over 3.5 tons with a trailer and cars greater than 1.90 cm height and 3.5 tons of weight pulling a trailer
- the last category – IV is intended for vehicles with four or more axes, over 3.5 tons and cars with two axes with a biaxial trailer.
Additional road tolls on Croatian motorways
In addition to basic road tolls for kilometers driven on the highway in Croatia, we may encounter additional costs. There are sections, mainly bridges and tunnels, which are additionally payable.
This is to refund some of the costs incurred by the Croatian state when investing in a given piece of infrastructure. This applies to the Sveti Ilija tunnel and the Krk bridge. An example of the fee for passing through this tunnel (passenger car from the first category) is 20 kuna, motorcycle is 12 kuna. In turn, the Krcki bridge will be crossed by the same car for 35 kuna, and for 21 kuna by motorbike.
And now the most important piece of information: prices of highways in Croatia
At the beginning, important information. In 2017, Croatia increased its tolls for the use of motorways by 15% compared to previous years. Current prices of motorways in Croatia in 2018 are as follows (for cars of the first category):
The most popular route is the A1 highway from Zagreb, through Split to Dubrovnik. Access at A1 ZAGREB (LUČKO), exit at A1 KARAMATIĆI: 231 kuna.
Current prices of highways in Croatia can be checked on Croatian websites of the authorities responsible for the service of highways, respectively by selecting the place of entry and the place of exit from the motorway. Below are two useful addresses:
http://www.hak.hr/info/cestarine/ or http://hac.hr/en/toll-rates/pricelist.
For crossing the Croatian highway from the Slovenian border to the KRK Island, 67 and 39 kuna will be paid respectively.
Current guidebooks for Croatia:
GPS car navigations
It’s a given that’ll be able to navigate highways of Croatia since you are reading about them, BUT it does not mean that you will not need help while driving local roads. Believe us, you will need help because apart from the main and well-marked highways, navigating local roads is not that easy. Below is a list of the most popular GPS navigation systems with current maps:
One more thing: list of highways in Croatia
In addition to the prices of motorways in Croatia, the motorways themselves are worth talking about, therefore below we present a full map of the network of Croatian highways, including the most popular and most widely used A1 motorway in Croatia:
Car map of Croatia
Below we also present the latest and current car map of Croatia, which will allow you to plan a car trip and a problem-free entry to Croatia. Choosing, of course, the highways in Croatia, Austria, Slovenia or Hungary (depending on which route you go); )
Now you know how much do the highways cost in Croatia.
And now a small request to those who have made their journey to the beautiful country by car.
Please, let us know in the comments and describe your experiences with motorways in Croatia and toll roads, their prices, what has surprised you positively and negatively. Perhaps you’ve come to other places where you have to pay extra money on the highway? Let’s help each other!