Driving a rental car from Croatia to Slovenia
 

Hello!
We will be picking up a rental car in Split, Croatia and doing a 3 day trip to Slovenia before driving back into Croatia to return the car in Zagreb. Is there anything I need to be concerned about? Crossing borders, etc..?

Thanks!

Sergey

I would check with the rental agency that you can take the car out of the country.

Sure. These guys lived in thez same country for about a century but now they make things difficult.

Crossing the border might take anything from a couple of minutes to an hour or two, depending on the traffic. You will have to buy a vignette (toll sticker) for the highways in Slovenia and check the rental company's terms on taking the car out of the country. Generally, it's not a problem but I recommend checking anyway.

You must tell the rental company of your intention to drive in Slovenia, either at the time of booking or when you pick up the car, and they usually give you cross-border card with details of insurance and car registration. It may be free or there may be a small charge. Make sure you are covered for breakdown in Slovenia. This may come at an extra charge.

thank you. I reached out to the rental company and it is fine to drive into Slovenia. They did advise me to buy a vignette. Can you buy this at the border? Or do I need to buy these ahead of time? Also, are there certain times to void (with traffic)? We will be driving to Ljubljana from Plitvice on sunday July 9 and back to Zagreb on Tuesday July 11.

You can buy it at the border or before the border at many gas stations, just make sure you do not drive further into the country on the highway without one as fines are steep. As you'll be driving in July there will be more traffic, especially towards Ljubljana on Sunday. Follow the traffic reports and use the border crossing at Metlika instead of the Ljubljana-Zagreb highway (Bregana) if traffic is too heavy there. The road past Metlika is not as nice as the highway but it takes just as long as the distance is shorter.