15 days in Croatia, Slovenia and Bosnia & Herzegovina
All in we were in the three countries for 16 nights and 15 full days. On the 16th morning we drove straight to the airport and flew out of Croatia. These three countries were so intertwined that it only made sense to cover all three in the same trip.
We started our road trip from Zadar of Croatia and drove in a clockwise loop and ended at Split of Croatia. The total distance drove was 2240 km. We stayed 9 nights in Croatia, 3 nights in Slovenia and 4 nights in Bosnia & Herzegovina. The total cost of the trip was SGD$11000 for four persons.
Route trip through the three countries
the places we visited
At the planning stage, there were just too many places we wanted to visit. In the end we settled for just 21 destinations. They included beautiful cities, national parks, waterfalls, lakes, highlands and caves. Each of these destinations was selected because of its stunning scenery, uniqueness and historical values.
| Day | Country | Places we visited | |
| 1,2 | Croatia | 1. Zadar | 2. Uvala Zavartnica |
| 3. Rijeka | 4. Pula | ||
| 5. Rovinj | |||
| 3,4,5 | Solvenia | 6. Skocjan Caves | 7. Lake Bled |
| 8. Vintgar Gorge | 9. Lake Bohinj | ||
| 10. Logar valley | 11.Velika Planina | ||
| 12. Ljubljana | |||
| 6,7 | Croatia | 13. Plitvice National Park | |
| 8,9,10 | Bosnia & Herzegovina | 14. Una National Park | 15. Jajce |
| 16. Vrelo Bune | 17. Mostar | ||
| 11 | Croatia | 18. Dubrovnik | |
| 12 | Bosnia & Herzegovina | 19. Kravica Falls National Park | |
| 13,14,15, | Croatia | 20. Split | 21. Krka National Park |
Trying a new way of getting to a far away country
Singapore to Croatia would require a total flight time of about 15 hours. There was no flight directly between Singapore to Croatia, usually the flights would have at least one stop. After much deliberation, research and cost evaluation we decided to break our flight journey to and fro Singapore into three legs each.
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Departure from Singapore to Croatia
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| Singapore | ——–> | Dubai | ———-> | Paris | ——–> | Zadar (Croatia) |
| Departure | Emirate Airlines | 1 day, 1 night | Emirate Airlines | 3 days, 2 nights | Ryan Airlines | Arrival |
| 7 hours | 7 hours | 2 hours | ||||
On the way to Croatia we had stopovers at Dubai and Paris. On the way back our stopovers were at London and Dubai. We managed to arrange each leg of our flight to start in the morning so that even after flying for seven hours (westward) we reached our stop over in the early afternoon. That left us with plentiful of time to roam the place before a good night rest in comfortable beds. With that we were able to start fresh the next morning. Flying seven hours in the daytime was also very pleasant. We were not pressurized to rest and sleep and we spent the time catching up with movies, reading, music and relaxing.
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Departure from Croatia to Singapore
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| Split(Croatia) | ——-> | London | ———> | Dubai | ——–> | Singapore |
| Departure | EasyJet | 3 days, 2 nights | Emirate Airlines | 1 day, 1 night | Emirate Airlines | Arrival |
| 2.5 hours | 7 hours | 7 hours | ||||
The stopovers at Paris and London (three days and two nights each) were great. It was a sort of an appetizer for our future trips to France and London. Dubai was also a great stopover as the two one-day/one-night stops allowed us to gradually adjust our internal clocks so we experienced no jet lagged on the “go” and “back” trip.
Expenses
The total expenses for 4 person for three countries ( Croatia, Slovenia and Bosnia & Herzegovina) came up to SGD $11,000. It covered everything from flight tickets (the entire way to and from Singapore), insurance, car rental, petrol, meals, entrance tickets, accommodation etc. A big chunk of the cost went to air tickets and the next chunk went to transport. Both took up some 63% of the total cost.
| Air Ticket | Accommodation | Transport (car, toll, parking, petrol) | Food | Entrance tickets |
| 40% | 16% | 23% | 13% | 4% |
The SGD$11,000 did not included stopovers for Dubai, London and Paris. These three stopovers added on another SGD$2800 for the four of us.
hi, how did you exchange money for croatia and slovenia? did you bring euros and then change there, or would you recommend just withdrawing money straight from the atm there? thanks
In Slovenia we used Euro. In Croatia we changed Euro to Croatia Kuna (just a bit) at the airport. Then get the rest of the Kuna at the bank in town. The exchange rate at the banks was much better than the money changer at the airport.
Dear Jiak Yong
I would appreciate it if you could share where you stayed and what you explored during yr stopovers in Dubai, Paris and London for yr Eastern European trip of Bosnia Croatia and Slovenia? Thanks in advance.
Hi Kylie,
For Dubai we stayed at the Hotel (Premier Inn Dubai International Airport for $100 per night) just near the airport (it provided free airport transfers). From the hotel we went by train to Dubai Mall (very very large modern shopping mall) where we also saw Burj Khalifa (amazing tall building – 160 storey). The tickets to go up Burj Khalifa were all sold out so we did not get to see sunset at the top of the building. At the base of the building was Dubai Fountain (the world largest musical fountain) which gave very nice water display.
On the trip back we also stop at Dubai. This time we went to the beach (to see some of the iconic building) which was a huge mistake because the outdoor temperature was quite unbearable. We ended up in “Observatory Bar & Grill” which was part of Marriot. There we could see Atlantis(The Palm) from far. Only hotel guests of Atlantis were allowed into Atlantis.
In Paris we had two nights and also wrote about it in my blog http://www.jaiktravelblog.com/category/stopover/.
In London we stayed at an airbnb. It was a whole apartment (2 bedrooms, kitchen, sitting room) for two nights for $462. We did the usual walk around for two and a half day which covered, Big Ben, London Bridge, Buckingham Palace, Victoria Market, Trafalgar Square, Tower of London, morning market.
Jaik
In London
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