Bus Travel

Though sometimes crowded in midsummer, Zadar's bus station will almost certainly figure prominently in your travel plans unless you're driving or flying directly here. The trip to or from Zagreb takes around four and a half hours, for around 105 Kn. Timetables are available at the station. The luggage room (garderobe) is open from 6 am to 10 pm, and costs 1.20 Kn per hour.

Getting to Nin from Zadar is easy by bus. The half-hour trip follows the coastal road north; the fare is 11 Kn one way, with buses running daily out of Zadar's station every 45 minutes or so. By bus, getting to Murter—to its tiny main square, Trg Rudina, which is where you're dropped off and get back on—from Zadar is certainly doable, if a bit complicated. You can transfer either at Sibenik or at Vodice; although the former option looks longer on the map, given the crowded confusion at Vodice's small station, Sibenik—around 12 buses daily from Zadar—may be a less trying experience (and a surer way of getting a seat) even if it might take a bit longer; about 9 buses go on from Sibenik to Murter (via Vodice). Travel time via Sibenik is 2½ hours or more (i.e., 90 minutes from Zadar to Sibenik, up to an hour of waiting time, then another 45 minutes to Murter via Vodice). The total cost: around 70 Kn via Sibenik and around 50 Kn if you go straight to Vodice (travel time is under two hours, and an even harder-to-predict wait time, since the bus from Sibenik might be contending with heavy traffic). Numerous buses ply the one-hour route daily between Zadar and Starigrad for access to Paklenica National Park. The one-way cost to or from Starigrad—via the Zadar-Rijeka bus—is between 25 Kn and 34 Kn, depending on the company. There are two stops in Starigrad; the national park information office is between the two, and the access road to the park is near the first stop (if you're coming from Zadar).

Around half a dozen buses daily ply the one-hour route from Zadar to Pag Town, on Pag Island (35 Kn).

Last but not least, the easiest way to get either from the bus station to Zadar's town center, or from the center to the Borik complex (with its beaches, hotels, and restaurants) on the northern outskirts, is by any of several, user-friendly local buses. You can buy tickets at news kiosks for 6.50 Kn (single ride) or for 8 Kn from the driver; be sure to validate your ticket on boarding by inserting it into the stamping device.

Information

Zadar Bus Station (Ante Starcevic 2, Zadar, 23000. 023/343-700.)