Croatia – a country of two halves (Pt1)

We set off towards Croatia whilst Pablo spent a day in Ljubljana and we found a free stop over near the beautifully quaint town of Kostanjevica na Krki, which sits on an island in the middle of the river and is only accessible by two wooden bridges. There’s a lot of nice walks around the countryside and the town has a bakery and a few restaurants. Worth a stop on route.

Using Park4Nite, we were happy to find a free camper stop near the town of Slunj, which was pretty central for visiting Petrova Gora and Plitivice. We also found a surprising treat in the town of Rastoke near Slunj, where the river breaks through the town around the houses.
We also got stopped by the police 👮 who politely reminded us we had forgotten to switch on our lights and lightened our wallets by €15. It’s the law to have headlights on in winter months, even on the sunniest days – this applies to much of Europe.

Close by is the remains of a Cold War radio post, which looks like an abandoned 2 storey house, but it stands open and you will find the 20 flights of stairs that take you deep underground into the darkness and through the remains of a blast door, into a long abandoned bunker. Very creepy. Finally, a short muddy drive finds the site of a WW2 Partisan Hospital, with all the huts still standing after all these years and a graveyards for those who didn’t survive their wounds.

Plitivice is a famous attraction for tourists, most of whom come in from the coast or from Zagreb on day trips. Out of season it is surprisingly very cheap and €10 gets you into the bulk of the park (not all of it was open) and includes a boat out to the far end of the park and bus trip back. Some areas were closed due to snow and ice, but it made for a great afternoon walk (dogs are allowed).

On our last day before heading west, we drove up to Zeljava airbase, once the most expensive airbase in Europe, with fighter planes hangared deep inside the mountain. Now it is ruined and even though there are many police patrols, you can drive up to and into this devastated fortress.

Be aware of the threat from land mines, don’t venture into the undergrowth! Also, you are very close to Bosnia, which is not part of the EU/Schengen zone, so don’t stray into the border.

We decided to head to the coast, crossing via the main (toll) highway, a modern road with good service stops. The country is divided along a natural geological line of mountains, running north to south, effectively creating the coastal region and then everywhere else. Inland there is less spending on infrastructure and there are still relics of the war with military convoys everywhere, as trouble continues to bubble elsewhere in the neighbouring regions.

However, along the coast, it is as though the war never happened. New infrastructure everywhere, new roads, new buildings; clearly this region has money to spend, due in no small part to its coast and it incredible beauty, bringing in tourists.