Croatia - Useful info
Travel documents
When travelling to Croatia, bring your passport or other internationally recognized identification document.
Children must have their own passport or must be registered in the passport of one of the parents.
If you want to bring your four legged friends, they must have a valid veterinary certificate.
The citizens of the following countries do not require a visa (either a passport or national identity card is sufficient) to enter Croatia and stay for a period of up to 90 days:
Albania, Andorra, Antigua & Barbuda, Argentina, Australia, Austria, Bahamas, Barbados, Belgium, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Brazil, Brunei, Bulgaria, Canada, Chile, Costa Rica, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Guatemala, Honduras, Hong Kong, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Japan, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Macao, Macedonia, Malaysia, Malta, Mauritius, Mexico, Monaco, Montenegro, New Zealand, Nicaragua, Norway, Panama, Paraguay, Poland, Portugal, Romania, San Marino, Serbia, Seychelles, Singapore, Slovakia, Slovenia, South Korea, Spain, St Kitts and Nevis, Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan, United Kingdom, United States, Uruguay, Vatican City and Venezuela.
Nationals of all other countries
Citizens of all remaining countries need to apply for a visa before travelling to Croatia. If this applies to you, get in touch with the Croatian embassy or consulate in your home country, or the country of your current residence.
Croatia has been part of the European Union since 2013 but is not part of the Schengen area yet, though it has applied for membership. In the meantime, people holding valid Schengen visas don’t need any additional documents to enter Croatia and stay for up to 90 days. A visa granted by one of the Schengen countries is valid in the whole Schengen area.
There are 26 Schengen member states, including four outside the EU. As of April 2013 they are: Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Italy, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden and Switzerland.
States whose citizens do not need a visa to enter Croatia are: Argentina, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Canada, Chile, Czech Republic, Denmark, Ecuador, Finland, France, Germany, Great Britain, Greece, Hungary, Ireland , Israel, Italy, Japan, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Macedonia, Malaysia, Malta, Monaco, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, San Marino, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, USA, Uruguay and Vatican City.
More info about Arriving to Croatia
Time zone
The time zone is CET - Central European Time. This equals GMT plus one hour in winter and GMT plus two hours in summer.
Drinking Water
When it comes to fresh water resources, Croatia is quite rich. Tap water is potable throughout Croatia.
Electricity
As in most of Europe, the standard voltage in Croatia is 230 V. The standard frequency is 50 Hz and the power sockets that are used are of type F. You should check if you need adapters for your phone or laptop chargers and for other electrical appliances.
Currency
The currency in Croatia is the Croatian Kuna (1 Kuna = 100 Lipa). There are coins of 1, 2, 5, 10, 20 and 50 Lipa and coins of 1, 2, 5 and 25 Kuna. There are banknotes of 5, 10, 20, 50, 100, 200, 500 and 1,000 Kuna. Foreign currencies can be exchanged at banks, exchange offices, post offices, travel agencies, hotels and campsites.
Find the exchange rate from your currency on this link:
Shopping and payment
There are plenty of shopping opportunities in Croatia and this is where a credit card comes handy. Standard credit cards - Euro card / MasterCard, Diners, American Express and Visa are a common method of payment in Croatia. All shops, restaurants, agencies, hotels and other facilities that accept credit cards are marked with a visible label with the logos of the credit cards that you can use. You can also withdraw cash at ATMs that are widespread. At the post office, you can withdraw an advance from the Euro card / MasterCard and Diners credit cards. Traveller’s cheques fee is 2%. You should note that products and services in Croatia cannot be paid directly with travellers cheques. These must first be cashed in exchange offices into the local currency. Bank drafts issued by well-known international banks can also be drawn in Croatian banks for Croatian Kunas. Personal cheques are unacceptable as means of direct payment, but they can be cashed in almost local banks.
Opening hours of shops and public services:
The towns on the Croatian coast tend to make the stay of their visitors as comfortable and carefree as possible. This is why, during the tourist season, you can find shops and grocery stores open up to 10 pm. They usually have long opening hours even on weekends. When the tourist season is over, most shops are open on weekdays from 8 am to 8 pm, Saturdays and Sundays until 2 pm. Public services and business offices are mostly open from 8 am to 4 pm from Monday to Friday.
Customs regulations:
Croatia is in the EU since 2013 and therefore there is no customs control for those travelling to Croatia from another EU state. However, travellers arriving from a non EU state have to pass through customs. Here are some basic regulations that they should be familiar with:
Foreign and domestic currencies can be imported and exported freely when crossing the border with another EU country. If you are crossing the Croatian border with a non EU state you must declare al cash and cheques over the value of 10.000 EUR in any currency. When coming from a non EU state, professional and technical equipment of significant value should be verbally declared when entering the country. In addition to personal luggage where the value is not limited (including cameras and video cameras, laptops …), a person travelling from a non EU state is allowed to carry non-commercial goods (goods for personal use) up to 300 EUR in value. The import of some goods from a non EU state is regulated and limited.
When arriving from a non EU state you are allowed to bring the following quantities of these items per person:
- 200 cigarettes (or 50 cigars or 250 g tobacco)
- 1 l of alcoholic beverages
- 2 l wine
- 50 ml perfume
- 500 g of coffee or tea
Internet site: www.carina.hr , e-mail: carina@carina.hr.
Medical Service
Let’s hope that you won’t be needing these services and that you will have a carefree vacation. Nevertheless, it is good know the following:
Hospitals and clinics exist in all major cities, whilst there are health centres and pharmacies in many smaller towns. Foreign tourists that have a valid European Health Insurance Card (EHIC) and a valid medical insurance in their country, during a private visit to the Republic of Croatia, are entitled to emergency health care. EHIC covers the costs of urgent health care, for which a doctor at the respective medical institution abroad claims it cannot be postponed until your planned trip back home. Urgent health care also concerns chronic or pre-existing diseases, if the aim of the trip is not treatment itself, as well as healthcare provision concerning pregnancy and childbirth, as long as your stay abroad is not with the purpose of giving birth. Also, urgent healthcare services include dialysis, oxygen therapy, and asthma treatments, however you should make an agreement with the healthcare facility of the country you will be travelling to.
Health care (including transport) is used for emergencies in a manner and according to regulations valid for insured Croatian citizens. In some cases a participation fee is charged for certain treatments and pharmaceuticals. Persons that do not have a valid EHIC card bear the costs of medical treatment.
Veterinary service
To many of us, our pets are like family members, so there is no way we would go on a vacation without them.
Should your pet need any medical attention, rest assured by the fact that Croatia has a network of veterinary clinics and centres.
Find the nearest veterinary clinic on the following link:
http://www.veterinarstvo.hr/UserDocsImages/mrezaVeteUsl/Upisnik_vet_ambulante_18_10_2017.htm
Important phone numbers
Country calling code for Croatia: +385
Emergency calls 112
Police 192
Fire brigade 193
Ambulance 194
Sea rescue 195
Roadside assistance 1987
General information: 18981
Phonebook information for Croatia: 11888
International phonebook information: 11802
Weather Forecast and the traffic information: 060 520 520
Croatian automobile club HAK: Internet: www.hak.hr e-mail: info@hak.hr.
In case of emergency, call 112!
This number can be called at any time of day or night, regardless of where you are in Croatia. In the event of an accident 112 enables you to talk in one of the following foreign languages:
- English
- German
- Italian
- Hungarian
- Slovakian
- Czech
Public holidays
The following public holidays are non-working days in Croatia, nevertheless you will find that some grocery stores, cafes and restaurants remain open on these days.
- January 1st - New Year
- January 6th – Epiphany, Three kings
- Easter and Easter Monday
- May 1st - Labour Day
- Corpus Christi (60 days after Easter)
- June 22nd - Day of Antifascist Struggle
- June 25th - Statehood Day
- August 5th - Victory and Homeland Thanksgiving Day
- August 15th – Assumption of Mary
- October 8th - Independence Day
- November 1st - All Saints' Day
- December 25th - Christmas
- December 26th – St. Stephen’s day
Telecommunications and post offices
Croatia is widely covered with cell phone signals and there are plenty of wi-fi hotspots, so getting in touch with your loved ones or keeping track of the news back home won’t be a problem.
There are three major mobile phone networks in Croatia: T-Com, A1 and Tele2.
If you are planning on making frequent phone calls within Croatia, or texting and calling home, you could consider buying a local pre-paid SIM card. They are widely available in stores, newsstands, gas stations...
The cell phone frequencies used in Croatia are: GSM 900 MHz and 1800 MHz, UMTS 2100 MHz and 900 MHz, LTE 800 MHz and 1800 MHz. If you are not from Europe, you should probably check if your mobile phone supports these frequencies, especially if you are from North America. There should be no problem with modern smartphones. You’ll probably want to switch off data roaming if you have a smartphone as data charges are very steep when roaming. We also suggest you ask your operator for special holiday packages that enable you to save quite a sum when roaming. Some of these packages even include data roaming.
Payphones appear pretty much everywhere. You can use them with a telephone card that you can buy at a post office or a news stand.
Post offices are usually open from 7 am to 7 pm on weekdays, in smaller towns from 7 am to 2 pm, while some work in two shifts. In larger cities and tourist resorts, post offices are also open on Saturdays and Sundays.
Fire prevention
The summers can be very hot on the Croatian coast and this makes the vegetation very dry and flammable. Ensure that you have done everything to prevent a fire. Do not throw lit or flammable objects such as cigarette buds into the environment. It is also not allowed to light open fires in nature. Make sure that your parked vehicles do not obstruct firemen’s access to the fire.
Radio news in foreign languages during the tourist season
You like to be informed even when you are on vacation? No problem, Several Croatian radio stations broadcast news in English, German, Italian and other languages during the tourist season. The first channel of the Croatian Radio broadcasts news in English, throughout the year, at 8:05 pm.
During the summer season, the second channel of Croatian Radio broadcasts traffic info every hour in English and German and in August also in Italian after the news in Croatian language. News in Croatian language every hour (8:00 to 21:00) news in English, German, Italian and Czech, and HAK reports on road conditions in English and German, are broadcasted. In the same period every hour are broadcasted news and reports on traffic directly from the studios of the Third Austrian radio, RAI Uno, British Virgin Radio, Radio Prague and the International Program of Croatian Radio - Voice of Croatian. During the summer Radio Prague once a day inform through regional radio stations: Radio Split, Dubrovnik and Radio Rijeka Radio.