A Journey to Slovenia and Croatia

Annie and Ron Wild

September 2005

We sailed from Hull to Zeebrugge. After a good breakfast on board, we had a good run to Luxembourg and camped at Thionville - a distance of 237 miles. We made it to Oberbronn and then to the Rhine at Rastatt, where we crossed the Rhine on the free ferry, an unusual way to get from France to Germany. The run to Munich took us through very busy traffic but we made good time and camped at Prien on Lake Chiemsee. Our next run was a lovely one to Salzburg, St. Leizen and Admont.

We touched on Graz and camped at Liebnitz. From there we crossed the Slovenian border to Maribor and found a lovely site at Camping Dolenja at Prebold. This left us only 53 miles to do the following day to the capital, Ljubljana. The site there is a big complex, principally for people in transit, but it was well run (the toilets had an attendant on full-time and you had only time to come out of the WC before she was cleaning it!) Our time in Ljubljana was interesting, we had good weather and the ice cream was welcome. We enjoyed Zagreb and Karlovac. Our next journey was off the beaten track. We found a nice auto camp at Mreznicki Brig and, as the only English people, we were made very welcome.

Our run to Split took us through Plitvice where there were 2 camp sites: too big, too commercialised and too crowded and not our cup of tea, but it sufficed for a night. The 2 campsites at Split are now closed. This is a pity since we enjoyed Split on a previous visit 25 years ago. Having been to Dubrovnik twice before, we decided to take to the mountains. The weather was very hot and the climb from Knin to Baske Ostarije, to the lovely cool atmosphere at 3,000 ft above sea level, was welcome. Our stay there was perfect and we camped under the trees in a lovely meadow. The facilities were outstanding; everything geared up for the camper and walker.

It was hard to contemplate returning to the hot coast, but this is camping. It was a rather tricky descent, one which might not be suitable for large motorhomes and caravans, but our Peugeot Rambler excelled itself. Karlobag, Senj and Rijeka were very busy. Pula was interesting and we camped at Porec. The last run was from Crvar Porat to Trieste. Altogether we did 3,784 miles, home to home.

Our overall feelings about this trip were mixed. The Yugoslavia visits we made 35 years ago with our twins brought to light the big changes the years have made. Only to be expected, of course, but then in 1970 it was a simple and fascinating journey, largely undeveloped, much quieter with a slower pace of life and yet enough campsites.

In Slovenia, there is work going on making a new toll road. Hardcore is laid for many miles, ready to lay a tarmac surface. A recovery vehicle struggled to get grip to drive on this surface. You suddenly find you are at a toll booth and there is no turn off. You can't turn round. It's not a great amount to pay but as soon as the toll road finishes, the next stretch commences. Lack of signs made it difficult to find where we were and it was many miles of unwanted travel before we could get off. On the coast there were campsites but inland sites were difficult to find and we had to drive many miles at times to find one.

The food was good and fruit and vegetables plentiful. There was no difficulty finding petrol. People were very friendly and helpful.