Touring / Camping in Croatia

[jefftala]

I'm planning a trip for May-June this year and one leg of the journey will pass through Croatia.

Does anyone have experience with this? I'll be camping where possible and have a few questions.

1. Do I need to bother researching camp sites ahead of time or can I just generally just find them along my route?

2. Hostels. When I stay at hostels, is there an extra charge to store the bike? Do any hostels refuse bikes? (This question applies to all of Europe I guess!)

3. Wild camping. Recommended in Croatia? What about snakes, should I be afraid?

Thanks for your help

Jeff

 

[rich p]

I haven't camped in Croatia but if it's anything like it's neighbour Slovenia then it's not necessary to book sites ahead although you should know where they are. They weren't that frequent in Slo.
Snakes won't be a problem but they do mention black bears in the mountains but I've no idea if that's a real problem or a tourist attraction!
Hostels won't charge for storage either.

 

[psmiffy]

I have cycled Split to Venice along the Croatian coast
Camping along the coast was relatively easy to find and often of a reasonable quality – wild camping was possible in some areas – however a lot of the coast is bare rock and would be tricky – Campsites away from the coast would seem to be few and far between (see little map).

Snakes – did not see any but having read your post was curious enough to google –it would appear that there are 16 varieties in Croatia

 

[BalkanExpress]

I have cycled Split to Venice along the Croatian coast
Camping along the coast was relatively easy to find and often of a reasonable quality – wild camping was possible in some areas – however a lot of the coast is bare rock and would be tricky – Campsites away from the coast would seem to be few and far between (see little map).

Snakes – did not see any but having read your post was curious enough to google –it would appear that there are 16 varieties in Croatia

Something like 95% of tourists to Croatia go to the Coast and so the tourist infrastructure elsewhere is rather underdeveloped.

One other think to be aware of if wild camping are landmines. There are still some parts of the country which are mine affected or mine suspected. These are in the former conflict areas. This includes Slavonia (vukovar etc) but also in the coastal hinterland, in particular Zadar, the land around the airport for example. Such areas are marked with signs but are not always fenced off. The locals know where they are and so avoid (no fatalities since I think 2004) this means the land is untended therefore potentially attractive looking for wild camping.

This is the best source for up to date info: http://www.hcr.hr/en/index.asp

 

[NickC]

Just a quick addition to what's already been said: I'm not sure whether wild camping is actually illegal in Croatia, but it's at least strongly discouraged by the police, who tend to equate wild campers with vagrants - and they're not at all keen on vagrants in Croatia!

PS I've just checked; for what it's worth, wild camping IS actually illegal.

 

[psmiffy]

Just a quick addition to what's already been said: I'm not sure whether wild camping is actually illegal in Croatia, but it's at least strongly discouraged by the police, who tend to equate wild campers with vagrants - and they're not at all keen on vagrants in Croatia!

PS I've just checked; for what it's worth, wild camping IS actually illegal.

I did not know it was illegal - i did see people wild camping - in reality I did not need to anyway - but on exiting to Slovenia I was grilled at the border for a good 45 minutes - vagrant? so it is a good idea if you are going to wild camp to keep a few reciepts from campsites you have stayed on

 

[rich p]

I did not know it was illegal - i did see people wild camping - in reality I did not need to anyway - but on exiting to Slovenia I was grilled at the border for a good 45 minutes - vagrant? so it is a good idea if you are going to wild camp to keep a few reciepts from campsites you have stayed on

Grilled by the Croats, Smiffy? What for if you were leaving anyway?

p.s. Just starting on your crazyguy - so far so good!

 

[psmiffy]

They wanted to know if I was a vagrant? me? all dressed in tarty lycra and on a bike that probably cost all up more than his annual salary - not me Sir!

CGOB updated as far as Hamburg this morning

 

[NickC]

I did not know it was illegal - i did see people wild camping - in reality I did not need to anyway - but on exiting to Slovenia I was grilled at the border for a good 45 minutes - vagrant? so it is a good idea if you are going to wild camp to keep a few reciepts from campsites you have stayed on

With a population of only around 5 million, so long as you're a bit discreet you're probably not going to be discovered anyway; there are lots of rocks to camp behind.

 

[jefftala]

Thanks for the feedback folks, much appreciated and duly noted.

I'm not too worried about the illegal aspect of wild camping -- like someone said, you find a secluded spot. And camp at sundown, leave at sunrise, nobody is the wiser.

I'm more worried about landmines! Think I will avoid wild camping in Croatia. Also, the official camp grounds look to be very inexpensive anyway.

 

[andym]

I'm not too worried about the illegal aspect of wild camping -- like someone said, you find a secluded spot. And camp at sundown, leave at sunrise, nobody is the wiser.

I'm more worried about landmines! Think I will avoid wild camping in Croatia. Also, the official camp grounds look to be very inexpensive anyway.

Hmm don't know about you, but not having to get up at dawn is one of the attractions of legit camping.

I know Dubrovnik was shelled, but most of the coastal areas of Croatia (I'm guessing that's where you're headed) were a relatively long way from the war zones - it was the poor bastards in the border areas, and in Bosnia-Herzegovina who took the brunt of it.

EDIT- should have followed the link from BalkanExpress's post - but it still looks like most of the coastal strip - with the exception of some areas around Zadar is largely unaffected.

 

[psmiffy]

Hmm don't know about you, but not having to get up at dawn is one of the attractions of legit camping.

I know Dubrovnik was shelled, but most of the coastal areas of Croatia (I'm guessing that's where you're headed) were a relatively long way from the war zones - it was the poor bastards in the border areas, and in Bosnia-Herzegovina who took the brunt of it.

Zadar as mentioned above Re:mines was one of the few places I wild camped

and I agree - not being the crack of dawn type

 

[jefftala]

even free has a price

Excellent point

That's just the price of free camping I guess.

 

[planik]

Camping in Croatia

Thanks for the feedback folks, much appreciated and duly noted.

I'm not too worried about the illegal aspect of wild camping -- like someone said, you find a secluded spot. And camp at sundown, leave at sunrise, nobody is the wiser.

I'm more worried about landmines! Think I will avoid wild camping in Croatia. Also, the official camp grounds look to be very inexpensive anyway.

Hello Jeff,

along the Adriatic coast you can find a lot of camps that are not expensive. You do not need to expose problems. View details of one of the camp.

 

[jefftala]

planik -- thanks for the link. You certainly can't argue with those prices!