Wet camping in Croatia and the lovely city of Zagreb!

We are currently at Camping Turist Grabovac (N44°58’20” E15°38’51”), and it has rained on and off since we got here!  Wild camping in Croatia is not allowed in any way shape or form and so that means stopping on secured motorhome/camper stops or campsites. 

Our wet and very muddy plot

The day before yesterday we travelled across the border from Serbia to Croatia and stopped at Zagreb (N45.78197 E15.9774).  It is a secured car park for motorhomes, same as Belgrade but for twice the price 150Kn (Croatian Kuna) (€20).

We wanted to travel through Bosnia Herzegovina from Serbia, to get to Croatia but unfortunately our motorhome insurance doesn’t cover this country.  Talking to other nationalities, their insurance covers pretty much all countries - come on UK get your finger out and get it sorted!  You can purchase insurance at the Bosnia border but we thought it an expense we could do without, given that we would only be passing through the country en route to Croatia and probably only visiting Sarajevo.  So, we travelled 340 kms (211 miles) on the motorway from our overnight spot near the border to Zagreb.  It cost €22 euros – works out at roughly 6 cents a kilometre, which isn't a huge amount and the motorway road was really smooth. We wouldn’t normally take the motorway and in particular toll roads as you don’t get to see much of the country but it was a long way to Zagreb and not much to see in between from leaving Serbia.

So, into Croatia we go and another sticker and another lot of 'funny money'

Four white patches on the map below Croatia that require us to get extra insurance to visit!

Croatian Kruna - 1 Euro is currently worth 7.43Kn

The motorhome stop was 3km from the centre of Zagreb, so we got the scooter off the back and took a ride in and parked up next to the train station.  The city is beautiful and spotless and full of lots and lots of tourists - mostly Japanese!   From what we have seen of Croatia so far, it is clear that it is a lot richer than its neighbour Serbia.
A selection of photos from the city below:

King Tomislav Square – statue of Tomislav - Croatia’s first King and the station building infront

The Twin-Towered Cathedral

An old English double-decker bus used for sightseeing (Mel informs me the correct term is an AEC Routemaster and UK stopped making them in 1968!).  Wonder how they got hold of this one??

Tkalčićeva – the downtown street full of pavement cafés, art and statues

St Mark's square and 13th Century Church of St Mark

Strossmayer Promenade - the lovely relaxed Bohemian/Hippy area of the city

Testing out a new camper for size - yeah man!

Since 1884 weather conditions have been recorded on this marble  meteorological pole at the edge of  Zrinski square.  You can stand here and check temperature and air pressure and coordinate your watch with a  24-hour dial

It is quite nice to to be on a campsite and to have some ‘down-time’.  We have travelled through 4 countries in 10 days and travelled a distance of 1,948 miles (3,135 kms).  It’s hard work all this sightseeing – time to slow down… well we are retired!

Most of yesterday and last night was rain, rain and more rain with the occasional thunder and lightening!  We planned to visit Plitvicke Lake today, which is 6kms up the road but it is a very grey and dull day and raining on and off.  Tomorrow’s forecast is sun and 23°C, so we are going to leave it until then.  That means washing and chores day and just chilling – literally, given that it is only only 15°C – Brrrr.  The heating is on!

Sally x