Rides in Croatia

Rides in Croatia are short and specific: a vehicle that turns one hill, one plain or one old town into the day. The best known is Dubrovnik's cable car, opened in 1969, restored in 2010 and about three minutes to the top of Srđ, the hill behind the walls. Behind the coast run the tracks used by buggies and quads: Konavle, half an hour from Dubrovnik; the country around Ston to the west; and across the border Popovo Polje, an almost deserted Herzegovinian plain crossed by the Trebišnjica river. Zadar's small peninsula suits electric tuk-tuks. In Zagreb the vehicle is the funicular of 1890, 66 metres of track from Ilica to the Strossmayer promenade.

Croatia rides tours divide by vehicle. Buggy safaris are private, with a driver at the wheel: four hours east to Konavle or west to Ston, or eight hours east into Bosnia. The quad safari is a group ride of three hours: 14 km out through Postranje, Brgat, Žarkovica and Bosanka to Srđ, a stop at a tavern, then 10 km back. The cable car is sold with a guide, as a three-hour ride plus old town walk or a longer combination with the city walls ticket. Zadar's tuk-tuks run 90 to 150 minutes on four routes, one ending at a winery. Zagreb comes as two walking tours, group and private, whose route takes in the funicular when it is running.

Practical. Coastal afternoons reach about 28C in July and August, and Dubrovnik's walls have no shade, so the cable car and the old town suit the morning or late afternoon. The buggy and quad tracks are dirt, so wear closed shoes and sunglasses. The Bosnia day leaves the EU, so a passport is needed. The euro has been the currency since 2023.