Driving from Zadar to Rijeka
 

I may have to fly into Zadar on 12 July (8.30pm) and hire a car to drive to Rijeka to meet my bike tour the following morning. Has anyone done that drive and if so what is the road like etc bearing in mind I will be driving at night. Also how long should the drive take.

Where are you flying from? Maybe there is a nearer airport.

I am flying in to Croatia from London - any London airport at this stage. I arrive in London Heathrow at 8.15am on 12 July and have to be in Rijeka by about 10am the following day. When I set this tight timetable, Easyjet had a flight from Luton departing 12th July at 3.15pm direct to Rijeka but it seems that they no longer offer flights to Rijeka which has been a real bummer. The best flight I can find now is Ryanair from Stansted at 5.10pm arriving Zadar 8.35pm. If you have a better plan I would be most grateful.

Looks like Zadar is the best when you consider transfer times. The road is good and will take a little over 3 hours to Rijeka. In London get on the Victoria line tube train and get off at Tottenham Hale to join the Stanstead Express train, journey time from there is 30/40 mins max to airport.
Check my other posts for car hire firms and restaurant tips.

Thanks for the info Dan

Dan
I have found a Ryanair flight that leaves London Stansted 11.35am to Trieste arriving 2.35pm. I can then get a bus to Rijeka which would be preferable to driving from Zadar at night. However, am I cutting it too fine bearing in mind that I dont land at Heathrow until 8.15am

This is a flight I had a look at before but there is not enough time for a comfortable transfer, it is one of those maybe i will, maybe i won't get there on time journeys.

Dan I think I will can the idea of getting there from London. I have looked at another option which seems better and that is terminate my flight at Frankfurt instead of continuing on to London. Get a train from Frankfurt to Stuttgart and catch a TUIfly flight from Stuttgart to Rijeka. That is a very doable schedule and gets me into Rijeka at about 4.30pm. This option is even cheaper although it will cost me another 5000 points to change my flight but I think it is worth it. Anyway thanks for your input because it really helped make my decision easier.

Try the backwards way of looking at the web site of the airport where you want to land. They list the airlines that serve the airport. I think you want to be flying into Krk which is a seasonal airport very close to Rijeka, about 20 mins. Here is the website http://www.krkinfo.com/howtocome.htm
I have driven the whole coast of Croatia several times. There are no lights at night, road is perfectly paved. Trucks are not too careful about staying on their side on the curves, which are plentiful. There's no culture of late night road rest stops, not even gas is usually open. Look at the Michelin driving site http://www.viamichelin.co.uk/viamich...MaHomePage.htm to see the routes, one is along the coast, and the other is up the toll road (this has some lights). They estimate 3 hours and about 300 km on the toll road.
Your rental car will be around $100 a day, check about the drop off fee, its not always available to drop in a different city in Croatia with every agency.
Sretan Put (good travels)

RebX. Thanks for your input. I have already booked the train and flight as per my previous post and your comment about the lights and trucks only served to confirm that I reckon I made the right choice. Thanks again.