How To Get To Croatia
Sometimes determining your next travel destination can be determined by how long it takes to get there. Once you figure out where Croatia is on the map, you will see that the country is really located between very desirable European destinations. For years I had to travel to Croatia and make multiple stops, either within the US and then again in Europe, and typically these were at big airports like Heathrow, Frankfurt & Munich.
Recently everything just got a lot easier thanks to Air Serbia. There are now direct flights between New York’s JFK airport directly into Nikola Tesla Airport in Belgrade, Serbia and vice versa. This service is extremely convenient for many reasons.
- You don’t have to battle the craziness of large European airports to transfer.
- When you land, you are in the region. If Croatia is your final destination, you are extremely close which is a comfortable feeling.
- The lounge at Nikola Tesla Airport is extremely luxurious with great wifi, food options and drinks. I had under 2 hours for my connection and was still able to have a nice rest between and not feel stressed about waiting at the gate.
- Belgrade is also a nice city to visit and you can then drive into Croatia (it is not far and Eastern Croatia should really not be missed).
- If you are continuing to Croatia, there are extremely short direct flights.
During my recent trip I traveled from Zagreb to JFK. I left in the morning from Zagreb and in less than an hour I was in Belgrade. I went straight to the lounge where they had amazing food and sitting areas. There were showers if you wanted to freshen up before the long international flight. I was really impressed with Air Serbia’s service and how professional they were throughout the flight. The food was excellent, wine and spirits are free and I had a TV with all the latest movies, shows and music. The overall flight time from Zagreb, transferring and then off to JFK was a total of 10 hours.
Here are some photos from Air Serbia Premium Lounge at Nikola Tesla Airport in Belgrade:
Other ways to get to Croatia
Croatia has several airports you can travel to and I have sorted them by region.
Zagreb – Capital City
TRAIN: I would really not recommend taking the train to get to Croatia. This is not a very fast mode of transportation and doesn’t really run on time.
BUSES: Buses function very well in Croatia, are air conditioned, comfortable and the best way to get around if you are traveling from Zagreb to Dalmatia (coast). It is very difficult to get to the region of Istria by bus, however if you travel to Istria you should have a car anyways to explore the region.
From Croatia to Ljubljana or Venice
Use the car service called GOOpti. This service is cheap, reliable and guarantees to get you to your final destination on time. I frequently use this service when traveling to Venice airport since I am in Istria and it is only a 2.5 hour drive away.
