Van LIfe Croatia – 5 EPIC places to visit
Planning a motorhome or campervan trip to Croatia? Looking for some great places to visit? Here are five of our favourite destinations for van life Croatia.
Don’t forget to grab your FREE Europe motorhoming checklist below to help you remember everything you need for touring in Europe.
*We work hard to make this the best motorhome travel blog and road trip website possible, full of helpful content for you. The website is supported by our readers, so if you buy through links on this site we may earn a commission- at no extra cost to you. All opinions remain our own.
If you find this post useful, you can also treat us to a coffee – we promise to enjoy it while creating more useful content like this- we might even indulge in a biscuit (or two!)
JUMP AHEAD TO...
Croatia Motorhome Tour
In October 2019, we headed south for a two-week van life Croatia adventure in our motorhome. At least, it was meant to be a two-week adventure.
In reality, we got side-tracked by the amazing Dolomites and then even further sidetracked by driving the Vrsic Pass in Slovenia… so we ended up with only 4 days to explore Croatia.
5 epic places to visit in Croatia
However, it turns out you can do a lot in just 4 days when motorhoming in Croatia, and we discovered some wonderful places. Watch the video below to see them at their best, and below that I’ll share further details on where they all are.
We hope you found the video useful. If you did, we’d love it if you followed us on Youtube. New videos with tips for motorhoming and campervanning in the UK and Europe are released weekly.
Van Life Croatia- where are these places?
Here are the details you need to add these locations to your own Croatia itinerary:
Hidden Shipwreck Lagoon & Jablanac
You really REALLY need to go here. It’s one of the prettiest, most unreal places I’ve ever visited. Usually, there is a man in the hut who charges you a fee, but if you visit late in the evening he probably won’t be there (and neither will anyone else, including the hundreds of tourist boats).
It’s allowed to snorkel and swim in the lagoon- just be careful not to get caught on the shipwreck. The wreck is an WWII German military boat and has been there since the war.
The walk to the lagoon is about 20 minutes from Jablanac- keep the harbour on your right and walk just outside the village- you’ll see the start of the trail.
Whilst you’re there, don’t miss out on the village of Jablanac- very pretty and the harbour is a lovely place to sit and enjoy watching the world go by.
TOP TIP: We wild camped just at the top of the hill. Go through Jablanac (with the harbour on your left) and up the other side. There was an abandoned hotel there and we parked in its carpark overnight.
Zadar & the Sea Organ
Zadar is a wonderful city- we really enjoyed spending the day there and we found motorhome parking right on the seafront near the harbour.
Don’t miss the sea organ- it’s clearly marked on Google Maps so no matter where you park you can walk to it (it’s in a pedestrian area). The noise is caused by the pressure of the water hitting different holes and causing it to let out a low noise- subtle, but really intriguing to listen to.
Visit on a sunny day and it’s a wonderful place to enjoy a picnic and a paddle. If you have time, continue on down the coast road to Split- the old Roman city which was used in Game of Thrones.
Plitvice Lakes National Park
Plitvice Lakes is touristy, but really worth a visit. The lakes are beautiful and there are some of the best waterfalls in Europe– it’s a wonderful place to explore. Dogs are allowed but must be kept on leads.
TOP TIP: Get there EARLY. Like, before opening early. Then, walk pretty fast for the first half hour or so. This should allow you to get ahead and stay ahead of the busiest crowds and the tour buses- it gets ridiculously crowded by lunchtime.
There’s plenty of parking for motorhomes.
Our favourite campsite
If you have an ACSI card, we highly recommend Camping Omisalj. It has a beautiful location right on the water and, even better, two areas where dogs are allowed on the beach and in the sea. Our spaniel Mac was in heaven! We could literally leave him swimming in the ocean and sit outside our van with dinner whilst we watched him- the perfect place. We will definitely be back.
Coast Road
There are several main roads which run through the centre of Croatia but, if you have time, take the coast road, which is Route 8 (at least in the north). This road is spectacular, and you’ll find plenty of places to pull in for a rest stop and to take photos of the scenery.
It’s perfectly driveable with a motorhome and you can even stay overnight right by the ocean in some of them- just be sure to move on early in the morning to avoid upsetting the locals.
New to motorhome or camper travel in Europe? You might find these posts helpful:
See all our Europe motorhoming posts here
NEED GEAR? If you need any kit or essentials for motorhoming in Europe, here’s what we recommend and where to find it
Kat never planned to buy a motorhome. She also never planned to quit her job as an air traffic controller, go touring around Europe in said motorhome, start one of the UK’s largest motorhome travel websites… or get a cocker spaniel.
Find out how she went from stuck in the rat race to being a digital nomad and inspiring thousands of people to have their own epic adventures here.
If you’d like to connect with Kat, send her an email or follow her adventures on social media.
