Drive to Croatia - stop off points

[Highhighhope]

We have a week booked in Croatia with in-laws in a villa in Oberic in mid August.
What we haven’t done is book travel there and back for just our family of four (not in laws). This will be our 4th trip to Croatia so we probably don’t need to spend a full fortnight there this time. We are in London so it’s easy to get to Folkestone for the Eurotunnel.

DC will be 12 and 9 and are used to long car journeys so we were thinking of driving. No idea of viable routes yet but if the whole holiday takes two weeks, would that give us enough time to see anything on the way eg somewhere lovely in Austria? Interlaken in Switzerland? Slovenia? Budapest??

We have done Venice several times so don’t need to stop there. Any wise people out there who have done this and have any recommendations for places/realistic routes and hotels enroute? Or should we forget it and just fly and stay elsewhere in Croatia even though we have been there?

Given you have but two weeks I would fly there and make it a two centre holiday with say a city in Germany like Munich or Austria e.g Vienna or Salzburg before flying back to the UK.

Last year we drove to Tuscany via a week through Germany/ Switzerland. It was fab.

My top tip would be plan 2 nights in each stop so you can arrive late / leave early and have an 'easy' day between with no driving and seeing sites in your stop off. If distances allow, you can do day trips en route rather than drive all day.

That said, I have no idea distances and how feasible this is for Croatia. Also, return journey over 2 days was pretty brutal but worth it for an extra day in Tuscany.

Just looking at the google maps suggested routes, you could choose stops in say, Luxembourg, Munich, and Ljubljana.

Or would you prefer to stop somewhere more remote?

I would suggest working out your general route, and then deciding where you want to stop on the way. So you could go via Besançon, and through Switzerland for instance.

Thank you for all your replies! @HannibalHeyes great suggestions and all of them have been on my must visit list.

@AttilaTheMeerkat I guess I am also worrying about logistics of rental cars over borders etc.And flying into one place and out of another though I guess that’s feasible.

@Muuuuuuuum I like your idea of getting their late and making sure you have a whole day of sightseeing. Did you also do the return journey by car and take a week each side?

@Highhighhope return by car but over 2 very long days. If we could've added a third would've been better. Still had a lovely overnight in France and trip to Annecy though.

Agree with @HannibalHeyes that you should look at suggested routes then spot suitable places to stop and plan like that. We stayed in mix of air BnB apartments and hotels and the journey was as much part of the holiday as the ultimate destination.

No particular tips but crazy road trips to the far corners of Europe were some of the best memories I have of childhood holidays. We would do big circular tours of perhaps 4000 miles over 2-3 weeks, with 5 or 6 stops. My sister and I were good passengers and remain grateful to our parents for all the memorable places they took us.

We drove to North Adriatic area before covid. From the Eurotunnel with stops in Metz and Salzburg on the way down and Augsburg and Reims on the way back. Avoided Switzerland because of the road cost (maybe, can't remember). Austria was the most scenic I must say and if we had time I would have enjoyed some time on Lake Bled. No regrets about the places we stopped at, Salzburg was fave tho.

I've done lots of driving holidays in Europe in my time on the planet. My highlights on a driving tour between London and Croatia would be:

First World War battlefields (maybe your kids are a bit young for so much carnage).

Alsace villages in east France eg Obernai

Neuschwanstein Castle near Fussen in Bavaria (on which the Disney Castle was modelled)

Austrian Alps - Innsbruck, Salzburg etc

Lake Bled in Slovenia is stunning and Ljubljana is one of Europe's smallest and most attractive capital cities.

My Top Tip:
It's a LONG way and remember you have to drive back too. You might be better to make a road trip another year, without a week's holiday plonked in the middle, as you could easily spend 2-3 days in each place I mention.

Interlaken is stunning. Lucerne is also beautiful. Swiss motorway tax isn’t expensive - CHF 40.

I'd love to do this?

Will there be one or two of you driving?

I'd make the middle week in Croatia and do 3/4 days travelling either side.

Lake Bled is on my to visit list and as my DCs like theme parks I'd try to get one of those in.

Thanks for all your tips so far! We had a wobble and I almost booked air travel but then when I worked in the costs of this, car hire and an extra week of accommodation and the threatened strikes, we went back to Plan A of driving. We have booked the route on the way down over 3 nights so are stopping in: Bamberg, Salzburg and just south of Zadar on the way down. We need help with the route back!

We are doing it over four nights so thinking Ljubljana, somewhere on the Italian lakes (one or two nights - what would people recommend?). If we do just one night in Italy, we would do either somewhere in Switzerland. Then the night in France - where - or Luxembourg but open to suggestions. Coming back via the tunnel. Thank you!

Hello! I am curious how your trip went?! We have been talking about the exact same trip next summer.

It was excellent! Would highly recommend Bavaria and we want to go back to do the Romantic Road. Lake Garda was also a highlight. We went over the mountains at Gothard pass rather than taking the tunnel of the same name. Make sure you have motorway vignettes before you go for the various countries!

Sounds amazing, right I am off to do some research!