[AMG_ang]

This is the best part of my onsite travel. This is the reason I love my company.
It was a long weekend in Germany due to the celebration of the east-west Germany unification day. So it was an opportunity for me to plan for a long trip during these 4 days.

Below were the options that were considered:
1. Drive across north Germany until Copenhagen and back
2. Drive to south of France to Nice, Cannes and Monaco
3. Drive across Austria, Slovenia to Croatia.

Since we had only 3 days to plan the trip, we quickly browsed through the net for some time to collect the info about these places and with the thought in the mind to visit some beaches of Europe, we made the decision. So Croatia it was.

Since were running on a tight budget, we could not afford a big sedan for rent. Opted for class C segment which consists of cars in the league of VW Golf.
Now the most difficult part of the planning was to decide which places to visit in Croatia. Every tourist /must visit places had beautiful pictures on the net. Finally keeping in mind the travel time and driving distance we zeroed in on 3 places. Zadar, Plitvice Lakes National Park and Pula.

The plan:
1. Start wed night and drive all the way until Zadar. See in and around Zadar on Thursday and on Friday drive to Plitvice and come back and stay in Zadar. Saturday drive to Pula and stayover and Sunday drive back to Stuttgart.

The colorful flag of Croatia


Wednesday even I finish my work and went to pick the car. Wow I was in for a surprise. It was a Seat Loen FR. Brand new, just out from the showroom for my drive. Having never driven a Seat before I was all excited.
Here go the vehicle spec:
Engine: 1.4 tfsi engine
Power: 90kw
Features: Sat-Nav, seat heating, all the radio features, 3 drive modes

The beautiful Seat leon!



That's our luggage stacked in the boot


Drive to Zadar: Totally 5 people and 2 drivers. We left Stuttgart at 2300 hrs. I took the first turn to drive. I drove until Salzburg, a drive of about 350kms from Stuttgart in 3.5 hours. Once we entered Austria the speed limits were hindering our progress. Slow and steadily we were moving ahead. Around dawn we managed to hit the Slovenia border. Chetan my co driver was exhausted by then. We took a break for bf and refuelled the car. At about 9am we entered Croatia. After the stamping in the Slovenia-Croatia border we took a break. It was decided that we drive for atleast a 100kms along the Croatian coast enjoying the scenic beauty of the crystal clear water, winding roads and big big long long bridges. Finally it was getting late as we took numerous breaks to click some photographs and enjoy the beauty that Croatia had, we exited the countryside roads and entered the autobahn. Finally after an exhaustive 14 hrs drive we reached Zadar by 1300 hrs.

Inviting roads into Croatia






The long long bridges along the cost of Croatia



Currency exchange just after we entered Croatia


Stay at Zadar: Since we were making this trip on a tight budget, we had booked an apartment on the outskirts of Zadar. But once we reached there we were in for a surprise as the apartment was right in front of the sea. After getting rest for an hour or so we decided to visit the old city of Zadar. The old city of Zadar is surrounded by a 20 feet stone wall. Most of the buildings inside the wall have the Roman architecture. The old city is connected to the new part of the city by a bridge. While we were strolling around, a lady who could speak English approached us and suggested for a days trip to the Kornati islands around Zadar. After a discussion about 30 mins we cancelled our original plan which was to drive to Plitvice lakes the next day and go for the days cruise trip to the beautiful Kornati islands around Zadar. After a lot of negotiation with the lady we finalized the rates as 34 Euros per person, which included the entire days cruise, visit to the islands, breakfast, lunch along with some spirits. After a quick dinner we retired for the day. The hosts were courteous and made our stay at Zadar comfortable.

Crystal clear water




The beautiful city of Zadar!
















Limited by the number of pics I can upload in a single post, rest of the travelogue continues in the next post! Keep Watching!

[GTO]

Thread moved from the Assembly Line to Travelogues. Thanks for sharing!

[thumpingheart]

Hey AMG_ang, superb travelogue, must have been so much fun! Amazing pictures. Croatia's really beautiful man. The beaches, water, arhitecture and roads all too look good. Do not to forget to give us a small review of the Seat too.

Looking forward to your following posts. Cheers.

[swiftnfurious]

What beautiful roads!! Good pics too!

[selfdrive]

One of the best things of living in Western/ central Europe is the choice of places to drive around. It looks like you had some sun to accompany you over the unification day too

Great pics and look forward to further instalments which will hopefully include a map to help us understand the points you visited!

[anantnehru]

Croatia is unbelievably beautiful - and I only saw Zagreb and Split! Was there for a music festival last year. Though Zagreb is like any other city, Split took the cake.

The drive to Split was mind-blowing, with a speed limit of 130kmph on the highways, I was doing 150-160 and was still getting overtaken by everyone on the road. Never felt so slow in my life, but didnt want to risk a fine!

I'd go back for the scenic drives any day plus alot more to see there such as the Plitvice Lakes and all the other islands - Hvar included. Definitely worth a visit - and it doesnt work out that expensive as well compared to its Western European neighbors.

[AMG_ang]

Originally Posted by anantnehru

Croatia is unbelievably beautiful - and I only saw Zagreb and Split! Was there for a music festival last year. Though Zagreb is like any other city, Split took the cake.

The drive to Split was mind-blowing, with a speed limit of 130kmph on the highways, I was doing 150-160 and was still getting overtaken by everyone on the road. Never felt so slow in my life, but didnt want to risk a fine!

I'd go back for the scenic drives any day plus alot more to see there such as the Plitvice Lakes and all the other islands - Hvar included. Definitely worth a visit - and it doesnt work out that expensive as well compared to its Western European neighbors.

I badly wanted to cover Split too, but it was far too south for me to do it four days starting from Stuttgart. After driving in Germany, you are so used to sticking to the speed limits I never crossed the speed limits in Croatia, hence I was being over taken by all the vehicles except the once from Deutschland
Plitvice lakes national park is the most beautiful natural place I have ever seen until now in my life.
And yeah eastern Europe works out way economical than Western/southern Europe. On a budget stay, I spent approx 250 Euros all inclusive of stay, food and travel.

[vb-saan]

Originally Posted by AMG_ang

Keep Watching!

Awesome! Keenly looking forward to the next installments. Croatia have been on my travel wish-list for a while (after seeing a TLC show covering Dubrovnik)
When did you do this trip?

[AMG_ang]

Originally Posted by selfdrive

One of the best things of living in Western/ central Europe is the choice of places to drive around. It looks like you had some sun to accompany you over the unification day too

Great pics and look forward to further instalments which will hopefully include a map to help us understand the points you visited!

Route map that we followed during our trip.


The coastal route which we took was from Rijeka to Senj. Our initial plan was to take the coastal route from Rijeka until Zadar, but due to small roads, traffic and frequent road constructions our progress was very slow hence we exited at Senj and joined the high way until Zadar.

Originally Posted by vb-san

When did you do this trip?

I did this trip from Oct 3 to Oct 6.

[AMG_ang]

Kornati Islands National park: So we arrived at the cruise by 8AM. We served a fresh sandwich made of bread and meat/cheese. Also available were unlimited supplies of wafers, biscuits, orange juice and welcome spirits. So after one hour of cruising we saw some beautiful islands in Kornati National park, we were left off on a island which was in the shape of an duck lying flat on its belly and the best part was that we had an option to jump off a clip for approx 35 feet high into the Adriatic sea. As the weather a wind and chilly, I feared that the water would be quite cold, but when I took the leap into the sea, it was warm like a heated pool. Finally after 4 jumps from the cliff I was tired and we headed back to the cruise and we had sumptuous lunch at the ships captain’s Island (Yes he owns one of the small island there). Sitting in an open garden in an island with grilled fish, mashed potatoes and homemade wine served for lunch was like royal treatment for us. Finally after an exciting and a tiring day we came back to the apartment and called it a day.

Birds flying over a fishing boat!


A bride connecting two of the islands













See a red man standing wearing a red tee, that was from where I took the leap into the sea.


That's me taking the leap.



The duck shaped island



Captains Island! The island where we had our lunch






Coming up next: Plitvice lakes National Park and Pula. Keep watching!

[AMG_ang]

Plitvice Lakes National park: Pictures of Plitvice Lakes national park that we saw on the internet was one of the major deciding factors for us to shortlist Croatia for the trip. All of us were looking forward for a spectacular scenic beauty that the national park had it in the store. After a 3 hour drive from Zadar we reached the national park and to our disappointment the weather was too gloomy and there were high chances of showers. Nevertheless we brought and the entrance tickets and we started our long trail of walk along the park. The National park consists of 16 turquoise lakes that are connected by waterfalls and cascades. Wooden footbridges follow the rumbling water for an exhilaratingly damp 18km. Plitvice Lakes National Park was added to the UNESCO World Heritage register among the first natural sites worldwide. The water in the lakes is so clear that you can see the bottom of each lake like under a microscope ‘Pristine and Clean’.
Around after noon, there were slight showers but it didn’t dampen our enthusiasm to explore the place. After numerous photographs of the place and everyone posing for “one for the FB” pics the sun was setting in the horizon and we still had 4 hours of drive until Pula. After a treat to the eyes for the entire day we started to Pula and reached there by midnight.









































Pula: Pula is a coastal city on the banks of Adriatic Sea. Visiting this city brought back me the memories of Rome which I visited a couple of years ago. This city has most building built on the lines of Roman architecture. When I saw the Pula arena, I just closed my eyes for a moment and the magnificent ruins of the Colosseum in Rome flashed in my brains. After a quick brunch we started our long journey back to Stuttgart. And like every where on earth that happens when you enter a city after a long weekend, there was heavy traffic nearing Stuttgart. Finally reached Stuttgart by mid night and after a quick dinner I lie in the bed recollecting all the beautiful places I had seen in Croatia.

Pula Arena:










The bronze model of Pula city

[Captdey]

What are the Visa formalities for Visiting Indians on Tourist Visa ?

[AMG_ang]

Originally Posted by Captdey

What are the Visa formalities for Visiting Indians on Tourist Visa ?

Since I was working in Germany I had a work permit which I used for my visit to Croatia.
For touriists, all you would need is a valid Schengen Visa to visit Croatia!

For more info http://www.mvep.hr/en/consular-infor...ents-overview/

[girishglg]

Wow wonderful to see picture perfect postcard snaps again in this country. Had a different impression about these countries but that has changed with your sights posted here. Keep it coming.

[manishk123]

Originally Posted by Captdey

What are the Visa formalities for Visiting Indians on Tourist Visa ?

Just to update the thread, you can enter croatia if you have a valid Schengen multiple entry visa. If you do not have a valid Schengen then u have to apply for a Croatia visa at the embassy in Delhi.