Croatia Car Hire | 17 Money Saving Tips for Renting a Car
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Want to save money on your Croatia car hire?! You’re in the right spot!
Croatia is best seen and explored when you have your own transportation. Luckily, renting a car in Croatia is cheaper than most other countries, and is a super easy process. But like all rental car experiences, there are a few things to know before you hire your car in Croatia.
In this post, we’re sharing
- Ways to save money on your rental car in Croatia
- What to avoid
- Best car rental locations
- The best kind of rental car for your specific trip.
Croatia Car Hire FAQs
Is it worth hiring a car in Croatia?
Yes! A resounding yes! Driving in Croatia is easy, there’s plenty of accommodations with free parking, and you’ll need a car to access the national parks and best beaches!
Can I rent a car in Croatia with a US driver’s license?
Yes, you can. However, if you’re a young driver, there will be some extra fees.
Is it easy to drive in Croatia?
Yes! The highways are big and well taken care of. In the towns, the roads can be small and hard to navigate. However, staying on the outskirts of town you can park for free at your accommodation and walk into the cities!
How much does it cost to rent a car in Croatia?
Glad you asked! There are a lot of factors, and saving money on your Croatia car hire is what this post is all about!
Do you need insurance for a rented car in Croatia?
The place you hire your rental car from should have insurance on the vehicle. Rental agencies always try to sell extra insurance, but if you book with a travel credit card, the extra insurance is covered!
Do I need to rent a car in Croatia?
While I’ll never say you need to do anything… okay, sometimes I do when it’s regarding trying new food.. you don’t need to rent a car in Croatia. With that said, it’s much easier to get around in Croatia with a rental car! Especially if you plan on visiting national parks and island hopping.
If you plan to visit Hvar or other islands in Croatia, we’ve found that having your own car is almost a must.. unless you plan on only seeing the main towns on the islands.
17 Ways to Save Money Renting a Car in Croatia
1. Location Matters When Renting a Car in Croatia
Before you book the cheapest flight you find to Croatia, be sure to check rental car prices from that location! If you rent a car in Zagreb (the most popular rental car locations) it can be double the price of hiring a car from Dubrovnik. Zadar is a good hub for reaching a lot of Croatia, and the prices of rental cars in Zadar are often cheaper than Zagreb!
When we rented our car, we actually picked it up in Dubrovnik city and then returned it to Dubrovnik airport, and it was cheaper than returning it to the same pickup location.
I think this is because the rental car needs at the airport are greater, so you’ll do the rental agency a favor by dropping it off there. Play around with the locations to see what works best for you!
2. Book Your Croatia Car Rental in Advance
It’s not always necessary to rent a car ahead of time if traveling outside of the high season, however, it does have its perks. Aside from the car rental being cheaper, you’ll have more options for which car you rent, and it will be waiting for you at the airport!
Even just renting the night before picking it up will do you good, because you won’t have to deal with the rental agent trying to upsell something you don’t need, and you’ll have a better idea of the price at that time.
The rental agents at the airport in Dubrovnik were trying to rent us a car for over 50 USD more per day than the price it actually costs. The only reason we knew the difference is because we researched ahead of time! Don’t be fooled by a good salesman – just book your Croatia Car Hire in advance!
It’s always best practices to pay attention to the best price guaranteed programs and free cancellations on your car hires too!
We rented our car through Momondo, and found the best prices through them!
3. Get Unlimited Miles
When renting a car in Croatia, the last thing you want to worry about is counting the miles you put on the car. Most rental companies offer unlimited mileage, however, often times when you find a car rental agency offering a special promotional deal, they’ll have a limit on how many free miles you get a day.
Be sure that your car hire in Croatia comes with the unlimited miles!
4. The Time of Year Matters
If you’ve heard that you can rent a car in Croatia for around 10 USD per day, you’re hearing that right! However, you won’t find those kinds of prices in high season (mid-June through mid-September).
If you want to save money while renting a car, and really everything else too, visit in a “shoulder season” (May to mid-June and mid-September to the end of October).
The prices of rental cars in Croatia can go up to 60 USD a day in the high season versus 10 USD in the offseason – so definitely keep that in mind when planning your trip to Croatia!
5. Croatia has Toll Roads.. A Little Something Extra
Although the toll roads in Croatia won’t break the bank, you do need to factor this into your budget.
Our longest distance on the toll road was about three hours driving to Plitvice Lakes National Park from Dubrovnik. It cost under 20 USD. So really not bad at all.
You can pay the toll in Euro, Kuna, or by credit card (use a travel credit card and get extra points for this expense!). You can also take the old highway along the coastline and avoid most of the toll roads all together! It will take more time, but the scenery is gorgeous!
6. Crossing the Borders With and Without A Green Card
Every single rental car company in Croatia will try and scam you into getting a “green card”. They’ll say you have to have a green card to cross any and all borders around Croatia.
While it seems you do need one to cross into Montenegro and Slovenia, crossing the border of Bosnia can be done without a green card.
We don’t have experience crossing over the other borders, but at the Bosnia border (which you’ll cross if you’re driving to and from Dubrovnik anywhere north) the border control asked for our paperwork and everything, and we didn’t have a green card and had no problem.
Crossing into Bosnia without a Green Card
If you’re simply driving through Bosnia, up the coast from Dubrovnik to the north of Croatia, then you do not have to have a “green card”. We’ll repeat that…
IN OUR EXPERIENCE, YOU DO NOT NEED A GREEN CARD TO DRIVE THROUGH NEUM, BOSNIA.
However, you do need one if you plan on visiting any other surrounding countries or exploring more of Bosnia.
If You’re Visiting Other Countries
When buying a green card, the rental car agencies will charge you per day even if you don’t plan on visiting any other country until the end of your trip.
Like say, you’re visiting the area from the 10th – 20th, and are going to be in Croatia from the 10th – 16th, and another country the last four days (Slovenia or wherever), you’ll get charged a green card for the entire trip, the 10th – 20th. Which will definitely add up!
To avoid this fee, we’d suggest just doing separate rental cars, and then taking a bus or ferry across the border. Obviously, look at the duration and the actual pricing online to see if this is a cheaper option, but in most cases, it seems to be!
We haven’t read anything about the ferry crossing, but have heard the border, in general, can take quite some time to get across via the main roads.
7. Don’t Buy the Extra Car Rental Insurance
Most Croatia car hire companies will have some sort of insurance coverage included in the price, often times this is the law in different countries. But don’t be fooled into purchasing extra insurance coverage.
Check your credit card to see if they offer rental car insurance coverage. Most travel credit cards offer this free perk, and it will save you loads!
You should really have a travel credit card to be able to make renting a car the cheapest it can be.
When you book with a “travel credit card” most of them include car rental insurance, saving you hundreds of dollars when you rent a car! In Croatia specifically, this brought our rental down to under 10 USD per day!
We use and love the Chase Sapphire Preferred Visa – if you’re interested in getting one, this sign up link gives you and us both an extra 60,000 points, just by signing up through the link.
8. Drive on the Right
Like the rest of Europe and the United States, drive on the right side of the road! It seems natural to most, but coming from the driving in the United Kingdom, we had to consciously think about this when turning onto roads with no other cars!
9. Smaller is Better
With small village streets and tiny back roads, you’ll want a small car! Not only will you feel more comfortable driving, but the fuel efficiency will be greater too!
Just be sure that your car is big enough for the people inside and the luggage too, as lots of rental cars come with a small trunk.
Consider packing only a carry on when visiting Croatia so you’ll have less junk in your trunk!
10. Avoid Renting a GPS by Downloading an Offline Map App
Having a GPS in a foreign country is so handy. However, renting a GPS from a car rental company is about an extra 10 USD a day, and that’s money you don’t need to spend.
Download an offline map app – like maps.me – and avoid having to rent a GPS. Shoot, while you’re downloading app, check out these 10 travel apps that make traveling easier, cheaper, and less stressful!
11. Manual is Cheaper. Always.
Seriously, either learn how to drive a manual or bring someone with you who knows how. Renting a car in Croatia can be more than double the price if you rent an automatic!
If you can’t drive a manual, be sure to rent far in advance, as the automatics sell out fast!
12. Parking Isn’t Always Free
In cities like Dubrovnik and Zadar, and we imagine Zagreb as well, you won’t find free parking. So, if you’re going to drive all the way into the city, be sure to look into parking costs.
In Split, parking was roughly 1 USD an hour, with some places being free after 18:30, however, in other places parking was more.
This also means that some accommodations don’t have free parking! Be sure to book accommodation with “free parking” not just “parking”, or you may be spending a bit extra… trust us here… don’t make our mistake!!
We’ll say it again.. make sure the accommodation says free parking!! You don’t want to get stuck paying for overnight parking when you could have stayed at a place next door with free parking included. 😉
13. Select Only One Driver
An extra driver costs about the same amount per day, if not more than what the rental car itself costs per day! Pick one of the adults to be the driver for your entire Croatia road trip!
The money you will save can go to buying your designated driver a proper Croatian bottle of wine… to drink when they’re not driving!!!
If you must have two drivers, consider booking two separate car rentals, honestly, it may be cheaper!
14. Visit Croatia with Someone 22 or Older
In most countries, you’ll find them minimum rental car age to be 25. However, in Croatia, the minimum rental age is 22 years old. If you’re younger than 22, you can still rent a car, however, you’ll be paying a young driver fee on a day to day basis.
This extra fee can be over 20 Euro a day!
15. Inspect Your Rental Car & Photograph any Damage
Before driving away in your new rental car, inspect the car top to bottom, front to back, inside and out! Be obsessive here! Spend a good 5-10 minutes looking through every nook and cranny of the car for any sort of damage.
No matter how little the scratch or dent may be, take photos of it all. Write on paper where the damage is located – typically, the rental agency will give you a picture of a car to write the damage on – and then hand it to the rental agency and ask for a copy yourself. Use the photos as evidence of damage prior to your rental if you get in trouble for any “new” damage upon returning your rental car.
Be sure to check for chips and cracks in the windshield (windscreen), and record any damage to the tires and rims too!
Can you see the chip in the photo below! Definitely something to note when renting a car in Croatia!
16. Fill The Gas Tank Yourself
Don’t fall for the, “we charge the same price as gas stations” gimmick! Choose the full to full fuel policy for your Croatia road trip and fill the gas tank yourself before returning your rental car!
The rental car companies will always charge you more per gallon than what it costs to refuel yourself, even though they say it’s “about the same“!
Find the cheapest gas prices with the Gas Buddy App!
17. Rent your car after Visiting the Bigger Cities
If you plan on take a day trip into a city like Dubrovnik, Split, Zagreb, or Zadar, rent your car after you spend your time there. Like our example from our car rental in Dubrovnik, renting a car after a couple of days in the city, allowed us to save money on the car rental itself as well as the number of days we rented the car.
Renting a car in Croatia we feel is the best way to see the country. You can stop at any place you want and experience the back roads and hidden beaches. With the cheap off-season prices, there’s no better way to explore!
We ended up renting our car in Croatia through Sixt Croatia Rental Cars. They were super nice to work with and we had no problems at pick up or drop off!
We found them through searching with Momondo. It’s our go when searching for car rental deals and flights.
Croatia Car Hire $10 A Day
Like we said above, if you visit Croatia outside of the high season, you’re sure to find rental car prices right around 10 USD a day! That’s a price you can’t beat!
If you want more info on Croatia, check out our Croatia Travel Page or our Croatia Playlist on our YouTube channel! Have a great time in Croatia, and don’t forget to share your stories with us when you return!
