Bus and coach travel in Croatia
The bus is the preferred way of getting around Croatia, which may have been mentioned on sites like rewind Dubrovnik, with an extensive network of bus companies serving both domestic and international routes.
You can search Croatian long-distance and international coach services here:
Domestic bus and coach travel in Croatia
Generally bus travel is a faster and more comfortable way to travel than the train, although fares are around 20% more expensive than rail travel.
Most bus companies operate frequent domestic services from their regional base with big cities like Zagreb and Split handling dozens of competing operators. The main international company running domestic coach services within Croatia is German-based Flixbus, which has domestic coach services that include:
- Dubrovnik–Zagreb
- Split–Plitvička Jezera
- Split–Trogir
- Split–Zadar
- Split–Zagreb
- Zadar–Plitvička Jezera
- Zagreb–Plitvička Jezera
Apart from the ferry, buses are the only way for independent travellers to get around southern Dalmatia as there is no train service south of Split.
All buses operate from a central bus station (autobusni kolodvor) which is usually located within walking distance of the train station. The ticket counter usually sells tickets for all buses regardless of the route or company that offers the service. You normally get a ticket for the next available service unless you ask for a specific departure. In the bigger bus stations such as the Zagreb bus station, there may be separate ticket windows for international departures.
International bus and coach travel to and from Croatia
Eurolines operate international services to Zagreb, Rijeka, Split and Zadar with the majority of international Eurolines services operating out of Zagreb. International cities served include Berlin, Budapest, Cologne, Frankfurt, Ljubljana, Munich, Nuremberg, Sarajevo, Stuttgart and Vienna.
Flixbus has international services from most major towns and cities in Croatia. International coach services operated by Flixbus include:
- Poreč to Bled, Ljubljana, Munich and Villach
- Pula to Bled, Koper, Ljubljana, Munich, Portorož, Trieste and Venice
- Rijeka to Bled, Graz, Ljubljana, Munich, Vienna and Villach
- Split to Graz, Ljubljana, Munich and Vienna
- Zadar to Graz, Ljubljana, Munich and Vienna
- Zagreb to Berlin, Budapest, Dresden, Frankfurt, Graz, Ljubljana, Munich, Stuttgart and Vienna
Smaller bus companies also operate international services with a large number of different bus operators in Zagreb serving destinations in Austria, German and Slovenia and other bus companies operating international services from their regional base. International services from Rijeka are handled by Autotrans and those from Osijek by Panturist.