Croatia Car Hire Help

[Soupdragon3]

Please talk to me about car hire in Croatia, we are due to fly into Pula airport, we are staying in Pula but will visit Rovinj and places of interest.

Please share any previous experiences or tips, added insurances not to be left off or ones to avoid because they are sales tactics.

Thank you.

We hired via Sixt in Croatia last year. Picked up in Zadar, and returned to Dubrovnik, 12 days later. It was really reasonable pricing of about £150 for the almost 2 weeks. I was the only driver, and we paid the one-way fee as part of that. What I would recommend is doing your gap insurance online before you go. For the only time in my life, I damaged a hire car (caught a very small metal bar whilst reversing in a tight car park.) Although I had to pay out to the insurance company (E650!!), I was able to claim back all but £50. The car hire place will try to get you to take it with them, but it was about 10 times the amount to do it that way!

From my emails, I did it all through booking.com.
Driving wasn't difficult, and taking the toll roads is a reasonable way of getting places faster, on excellent roads - but you will miss some of the little places along the way. I'd recommend the slower roads, if you have time.
I would say that I experienced some of the worst driving I've ever seen in my life, so do be aware of that! Also, if you want to take the car on a ferry (we went to Hvar), you need to advise the hire car company.

@HollaHolla thank you so much for your detailed response and great advice about the Gap insurance. I have hired cars worldwide and find each country has their own nuances hence the query. I think the cheap quotations were what prompted me to ask initially as it seemed too cheap! And you never want to get caught out on a technicality when you can arrive prepared. Those pesky metal bars are a pain (similar experience in a NHS carpark when tired that came to a £350 repair). So you must have felt relieved that yours only cost £50 post claim.

We are in Pula and Rovinj and not travelling huge distances, to be honest I was hoping to just use a bus but the flight inbound arrives late and the Air bnb is slightly out of town, it may just be a couple of longer trips and into the mountains but the scenery will be stunning. And there is the option of taking it to an Island so thanks for the tip of informing the hire company.

I can’t believe in my tea break at work I’ve stumbled on a thread where I have actual relevant experience!

We have holidayed in the Istrian region many times over the last 20 years and regularly hired cars from Pula Airport. It’s a pretty small airport, but all the usual international car hire companies are there - Europecar, Budget, Hertz, etc. Their counters are directly in front of you or to your left as you come out of baggage collection. The cars are all in the car park immediately outside, to the right - no shuttle busses or anything.

My one tip would be that as it’s a small airport they don’t have lots of staff, and as lots of people on your flight will probably also be collecting hire cars, usually DH rushes ahead to make sure he is first in the car hire collection queue while the DC and I wait and collect the luggage. You won’t lose each other - it’s too small for that!

If you are an experienced hirer of cars there is nothing different or special to Pula compared to anywhere else. We always jump on a comparison site, see what looks the best value for money from a recognised and reputable brand, and book that. Never had a problem. We always check the car very carefully for any scratches, etc, and make sure they are already marked on the paperwork, and walk slowly around the car taking a video, before we drive off, as you would with any car hire. Think we’ve usually used Sixt or EuropeCar. Once or twice we have used someone smaller and local and have had a bit of trouble finding the person, but again, small airport so you figure it out.

It was about 7 years ago but we rented from Uni rent, picked up the car in Split and dropped off in Pula. There was no-one waiting for the car when we returned it, just had to drop the keys in a box, but got our deposit back in full. We loved Istria, so many gorgeous places to visit.

We got caught out because DH did not have a physical credit card (his credit card was on his phone) and his only physical card was a debit card. I had a physical credit card but because it was in my name we had to hire the car in my name too. Luckily I had my driving license despite not usually driving on holiday. Unfortunately this validated the insurance we took out before arriving and we had to buy the hire company insurance so a bit of a costly mistake. I’m not usually involved in the hiring of cars but this is the only country that I’m aware we’ve had this issue.

I need to book 12 days car hire in August from/to Pula but quotes I'm getting are all £450+ , that was on booking.com, Europcar direct want £550 for even the smallest car 😣 any tips on who may be cheaper? I recognise it's peak season, but I've just paid £90 for 7 days with Europcar in Lanzarote so this seems extortionate!

Sounds pretty normal to me - that’s less than £50 per day which seems low of anything. But you could try booking now on a deal you can cancel until right before the trip, and see if there is a cheaper last minute deal the week or so beforehand that you can book instead and cancel the original booking.

You can also book through Zest, which includes excess insurance.

I just checked 2nd - 14th August on Zest and got quotes of around £450 - £500. 12 days in May is £100 - £150, so it must just be that August is super busy.

ETA: this is for Pula.

I've also had a car from Pula and used in Istria. For other parts of the country I'd definitely go with public transport, but it's actually not that easy in Istria; the car will help you see much more. As others have said, the motorways are quiet and quick; smaller roads also pretty quiet in Istria, we found. Beware of people approaching with the white line between their front wheels on windy hill roads (a problem also in the UK on small roads, and not just on hills, I should mention..). Otherwise, the driving in Istria tends to be a little less hairy than in southern parts of the country - there is a real cultural difference between the north and south of the country, with the south being stereotypically more wild and "Balkan" and the north more staid and central European.

We have hired cars from Pula airport. Also travelled to Rovinj. We always book through Zest - they have great comprehensive insurance and decent prices. That means you don't need to take the very expensive car hire insurance instead. Obviously just carefully check the car before you set off (take photos and videos of any scratches/damages). I can't remember who we hired it from - there are lots of little kiosks in a row. Roads are relatively easy (much better than driving in Italy). Istria is beautiful - hope you enjoy it.

Thank you to everyone for your detailed responses and experiences. It’s really appreciated, we have now purchased for a week through Alamo directly for a mere £90!, we looked at Zest but they didn’t accept Amex but Alamo does. This is a raw subject as last year after a delayed flight, we rocked up at our car hire to discover my boyfriend’s Amex was not accepted (they wouldn’t change the booking to me using my visa and license) and had to purchase an additional £400 policy to collect the car. Frustrating didn’t cover it but we sucked it up as wanted to enjoy the week.

@HollaHolla What is the extra insurance you purchased from the UK please?

@SummerInSun Oh I love it when a post finally lands that i can contribute to, thanks so much.

@JimJamJelly Wishing you a fabulous holiday and luck in getting s cheaper rental quote, i think season has played a huge part there.

@SabrinaThwaite Thanks for the zest recommendation. Really competitive pricing and the bonus of insurance extras.
@TeamGeriatric @Verite1 Thank you for your input, we are really excited for our trip.

I’ve just checked back through my email, and the gap insurance was with budget.com. Cost me £39, according to the receipt. Was a big difference from the £19 a day from the hire car provider!

We’ve also used insurance4carhire for excess insurance, although never had to make a claim.

I came back to add that I'm not sure if my own driving record made a difference to cost, getting this policy. I've been driving for 30-odd years, and have full no claims here, on my own policy. The only claims I've had were to other drivers. who hit me in the rear.or stationary - so, never my own claim.
I've driven all over the world, in my own car/van, and hire vehicles, and the drivers in Croatia were secondary only to Vietnam in craziness!

As I mentioned above, the driving where you were - Dalmatia - is definitely much worse than in the north. I spend a lot of time in Slovenia, and the joke we make when near the Croatian border is that if you see someone driving badly they always have HR plates (I saw someone run the border barrier just as it was closing, back before Croatia joined Schengen, for example) - but it's really nowhere near as bad there in the north, and Istria is quite quiet. I wouldn't want people to be put off, as I wouldn't drive in Dalmatia either, but Istria was OK.

We flew to Pula, where we stayed a couple of days at the beginning and end, and got the bus to Umag where we stayed a week. The whole holiday we walked and got public transport, learned how the buses ran. Kids were early teens and they still remember it very fondly!

We used Sixt both times we visited. Nothing to add really other than say how jealous I am. My favourite holiday was to Pula and Rovinj. I love that area.

I did think that was really interesting, when you'd said that before. Almost like, as it gets hotter, they get madder! I've also driven all throughout Greece (including Athens), and you might well have a point..... 😂
I would hate to put anyone off too. I just meant that others should be super vigilant, and expect the unexpected. Like when a car came out through a no entry, into a pedestrianised zone, in Zadar. No-one batted an eyelid!

No experience of Croatia, but when I have hired cars from airports in other countries, the car hire places have closed around 18:00. Might be worth checking, if you are relying on the hire car to get to your accommodation.

We took my mum on holiday to Split (without a car) not long before she had a hip replacement, and she was walking quite slowly. As she stepped onto a zebra crossing a Croatian woman caught her by the arm and said, "Don't trust them to stop!" 😁

They don’t necessarily stop in the UK either (bitter experience).

Unfortunately not - there are regularly flowers by the pelican crossing on a larger road near me. Sorry to hear you've had some sort of experience with this.