TOUR INFORMATION
SOME MORE THINGS THAT YOU MIGHT LIKE TO KNOW |
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This hopefully will be one of the most laid back and relaxed tours you’ll have ever been on. It’s a holiday after all, and it’s your holiday. I normally
aim to start at about 9 or 9.30 in the morning, have a leisurely lunch and arrive at about 5pm, although a couple of days might be a bit later. There is one long day, mileage wise, but it’s
one of the most enjoyable of the whole trip. You should never be too tired to enjoy the spot that you are staying in for the evening.
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Unfortunately at this time of year most of the campsites along our route are closed, so this means that we will be
staying in hotels, pensions or guesthouses. The good thing though is that it is low season so the accommodation is
actually pretty well priced, normally between £10 to £16 a person to maybe £30 a person on the coast. But this is
well worth the cost. The last two nights will be in the stunning medieval village of Hum, or a nice hotel on top
of the hillfort of Motovon.
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I reserve the accommodation for everyone weeks before the tour, including the first Monday night. So aim to get to the meeting point Monday afternoon or
evening, so we can all have a nice relaxing afternoon together before the tour starts on the Tuesday.
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I won’t be escorting you through Europe, but my recommended route is, Calais towards Brussels (Brugges and Gent are well worth a few hours detour!)
to Luxembourg where the fuel is a bit cheaper. Then Saarbruken, Karlsruch, Munich, Salzburg, not forgetting your Vingette sticker, a toll for driving on
Austrian motorways, although I always seem to forget and have never been questioned about it. Over the Alps to Ljubijana where
you'll be stung for 35 Euros for driving on the Slovenian motorways and then towards Zagreb. There are a couple of tunnels that you will have to pay £6 for and some tolls in Slovenia, but they are only £1
or £2 a time. This is about 850 miles and will take about 17 hours driving time at 60 mph. Stopping for fuel, food and excursions all adds time, so leave
yourself at least 2 full days from Calais to get there. I start the tours on the Tuesday so that you have all weekend to travel and the tour fits into a 2 week
window.
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There is a possibility that at least one of the passes we cross on the off-road route will be, if not completely, then partially blocked
by snow drifts. It might be possible to dig our way through, although we might need to back-track and re-arrange the
itinerary to compensate. |
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You will be given fairly comprehensive directions to the meeting point. A map, directions and GPS points. It is about 8 miles from the border and is easy to
find. You’ll also have my phone number, the hotels number and how to ask directions in Croatian on the sheet.
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I don’t really like to advertise the itinerary, but if you can convince me that you are not about to set up a rival company I’ll send it to you and you will receive
it without any interrogation upon booking. I reserve the right to change it due to weather conditions, such as snow, and other unforeseen circumstances though.
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The tour itself is 10 days. This doesn’t include the couple of days it will take you to drive through Europe, so yes, you will have 10 full days off-roading in
Croatia. We normally take the Sunday off, in the town of Zadar on the coast and I’ll give you all the directions you need if you want to go on ahead one day
and just relax in the hotel we’ll be getting to later.
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All the A to B trails are pretty easy, it’s when we turn off them that it gets pretty interesting. I know that this type of off-roading doesn’t appeal to some people,
in expensive vehicles or a long way from home, so these routes are always optional. One is up the back of a ski slope, and then yes, off the end of it, another is
a 3 hour inch by inch decent of a waterfall. The terrain constantly changes, there’s always new exposed boulders, fallen trees and washouts no negotiate. They’re
certainly not established trails.
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Yes, we do actually drive through active minefields. It’s a hard packed trail, just about 2 cars width wide, but the verge has been cleared to about 3 meters either
side of the track. There is no possibility of slipping off the track and the signs make excellent backdrops for photos. It’s not just a macabre day out, this trail
happens to be one of the best I have ever driven, the mines are just incidental.
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Wild camping in Croatia, especially in the National Parks in now unfortunately illegal. I know what romantic thoughts
the idea of sitting around a campfire on the side of a mountain
conjure and for those that understand what I mean, I know a few places that no one would ever find us. Officially though, we’ll be in a hotel every night.
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It is more than likely that there will be snow in the high passes, especially in shaded areas, so please include a largish snow shovel in your kit. Also if you have
some bridging ladders bring them along, as it might only be a 100 meter patch that impedes our process.
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If you drive sensibly and don’t opt for any of the harder stuff then your vehicle will not bear any marks from this holiday. There have been several brand new
vehicles on this tour and all have returned home with nothing more than the odd T-cuttable scratch.
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As part of this tour we will organise a green laning get together somewhere in the UK a few weeks before we leave, so that you can meet and get to know
the people who are going to be on your tour with you and to ask me any questions you have about the tour face to face.
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The Croatia trips are more off-roading holidays than winching through endless forests. This is what makes Croatia enjoyable for all of the family. It’s just as
much eating in nice restaurants and staying in cosy hotels as it is driving. If you want some hardcore mud plugging have a look at what we do in Russia!
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If there’s still something that you would like to know then please just drop us an email or call 07919 070560. |
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