Bus

Though sometimes crowded in midsummer, Zadar's bus station will almost certainly figure prominently in your travel plans unless you're driving or flying directly here. The trip to or from Zagreb takes around 3½ hours, and the one-way cost is between 56 Kn and 120 Kn, depending on the company. Timetables are available at the station.

Getting to Nin from Zadar is easy by bus. The half-hour trip follows the coastal road north; the fare is around 20 Kn one-way, with buses running daily out of Zadar's station every 45 minutes or so.

Getting to Murter—to its tiny main square, Trg Rudina, which is where you're dropped off and picked up—from Zadar is certainly doable, if a bit complicated. You can transfer either at Šibenik or at Vodice. Although the former option looks longer on the map, given the crowded confusion at Vodice's small station, Šibenik—around 12 buses daily from Zadar—may be a less trying experience (and a surer way of getting a seat) even if it might take a bit longer; about nine buses go on from Šibenik to Murter (via Vodice). Travel time via Šibenik is 2½ hours or more (i.e., 90 minutes from Zadar to Šibenik, up to an hour of waiting time, then another 45 minutes to Murter via Vodice). The total cost is around 70 Kn via Šibenik and around 55 Kn if you go straight to Vodice (travel time is less than two hours, plus an even harder-to-predict wait time, because the bus from Šibenik might be contending with heavy traffic).

Numerous buses ply the one-hour route daily between Zadar and Starigrad for access to Paklenica National Park. The one-way cost to or from Starigrad—via the Zadar–Rijeka bus—is between 26 Kn and 38 Kn, depending on the company. There are two stops in Starigrad; the national park information office is between the two, and the access road to the park is near the first stop (if you're coming from Zadar).

Around half a dozen buses daily ply the one-hour route from Zadar to Pag Town, on Pag Island (52 Kn).

Last but not least, the easiest way to get either from the bus station to Zadar's town center, or from the center to the Borik complex (with its beaches, hotels, and restaurants) on the northern outskirts, is by any of several, user-friendly local buses. You can buy tickets at news kiosks for 8 Kn (single ride) or for 10 Kn from the driver; be sure to validate your ticket on boarding by inserting it into the stamping device.

Contacts

Zadar Bus Station. Ante Starčevića 1, Zadar, Zadarska, 23000. 023/316–915; www.liburnija-zadar.hr.