It could be some 15 years since I travelled to Split by bus for the first time. It was a direct line from Vienna. Travelling through Rijeka along the coast down to Split. It took the whole night and a bigger part of the next morning to arrive to Split. It was horrible. I never wanted to travel like that again.
But, of course, all those years of a distance relationship with my future husband made me travel again and again. By bus, of course.
I must have had tried all possible routes, but it was not that much available in those times. I direct never-ending journey through the whole Croatia (once a week), or changing a bus in Zagreb, where I had to wait for a few (night) hours at the bus station . Oh, the Zagreb bus station is such a cold place.
Making a reservation was nearly impossible, as one had to make it in person both in Split and in Zagreb. Not much help, if you are located on Hvar. Travelling by bus in Croatia was a nightmare.
After I moved to Hvar, me and my husband did all of our travelling by car, for many years. So, I was spared all those horrible bus rides. But here we are again. I am a stay-at-home mother and travelling by bus is much cheaper, and it is easier for a child to be able to move around, which is not possible in a car seat.
A friend told me about the BusCroatia.com website. What a progress!! Bus travel in Croatia made it to the new millennium. Online booking, ticket printing and a helpful (and polite) customer service.
I booked a ticket for me and my daughter 2 days before our journey. I changed my mind to an earlier bus the next day and a complete ticket-change was not a problem with the GetByBus.com. After all the changes were done and I had my tickets printed, on the New Year´s Eve a call from the customer service informed me about the cancellation of the bus we booked. The very friendly Vivian handled everything with ease and changed our tickets to another bus and even got us the bus driver cell-phone number, so we could call him in the morning in case the ferry would be little bit late.
There is still some room for a progress, as it is still necessary to have your ticket printed, even though the QR code is on the ticket. I assume it is just a question of time, before the bus companies accept a ticket in your smart phone.
Overall, travelling by bus got easier, you can book a ticket to travel through Croatia and further at the BusCroatia.com website, which is a part of the GetByBus.com. You can even follow them on Facebook – they have a blog about travelling by bus in Croatia with a lot useful info. Wi-fi is available in most lines from and to Split and we even got a free drink on our way to Zagreb. With the hightway all done in Croatia, travelling by bus from Zagreb to Split was never easier and faster.
Unfortunately the bus station in Zagreb made almost no progress in those years and if you plan to travel through Zagreb, make sure not to spend too much time at the bus station.
We made it to our final destination on time and although it was a 12 hours journey, it was much easier than 15 years ago.
