Roadtrip: Czech Republic to Austria, Slovenia, Croatia, and back

I recently had the experience to travel by car from Czech Republic to Austria, Slovenia, Croatia, and back. I was in the company of my fiance and his mother, the latter speaking only Czech, while I speak almost only English. Our situation had an interesting dynamic, but we had a lovely week camping, walking around cities, passing time in the car, and trying out local food. Unfortunately the weather was colder and rainier that we had hoped for, and camping in thunderstorms and snow was quite an unexpected adventure.

We started in Prague, and headed south to Austria. We didn’t have much of a plan, just a week to spare for traveling, and our first night we wound up camping on the side of the road. We cooked a small meal and went to bed somewhat early to get a quick start the next day.

We stopped briefly in Mariazell, Austria, but other than that we were in a rush to get to Slovenia. We found a campsite in near Lake Bled that was really really nice. They had showers, a pub/restaurant, free wifi, and the grounds were well kept and clean. A few miles walk through the woods and along the road would lead you to Lake Bled. The weather was perfect.

Lake Bled was probably one of the most picturesque places I’ve been. There are swans, castles, a thick forest, and the sunset over the lake was perfect. The campsite near by was fun, but I can imagine that staying in a hotel right on the lake would be a very nice experience as well.

After a couple of days in Slovenia, we headed to Croatia. Our first stop was at the waterfalls in Plitvice. The entrance fee was around $30, but the views were worth it. We only had a couple of hours because we got there later in the day, but again, worth it. We camped in Plitvice for the night, where it stormed non-stop.

The next day, we stopped in Split for a few hours, then stayed at a hotelin Brela, a town on the coast. In Split, the old town area was amazing, the ground was and walls were white stone, everything so bright in the sun you almost couldn’t look.

Brela was the perfect seaside town to spend time relaxing and strolling along the coast. The sunset was intense and drawn out.

 

Driving through Croatia was weird. Sometimes the highway would just suddenly be shut down, and you would have to find an alternate route to where you were going. There were abandoned buildings and houses along the way, the signs of recent war obvious. Still, the coast and mountains were breathtaking.

We had planned to drive to Dubrovnik, but with the weather acting up we decided to head home earlier. We cut along the west to see the Italian Alps, and even down in the valley the towns were still covered in snow in May. The hotels were pretty much all closed for the season or renovation, so we camped again, sleeping in the laundry room to keep warm. By the time we made it back to Czech Republic a couple of days later, the temperature was finally rising.

The countries we visited were beautiful, and the people were friendly and accommodating pretty much everywhere we went. I would love to go back and spend more time in Slovenia and Croatia, especially during the summer. I’ve seen Austria in the summer and it’s also one of the most beautiful places I’ve been. In my book, you can go wrong when you’re near the mountains!

 

 

 

 

 

Posted by | Comments (1)  | June 22, 2014
Category: Europe, General


One Response to “Roadtrip: Czech Republic to Austria, Slovenia, Croatia, and back”

  1. cici Says:

    HI There,
    I was just wondering if you have a map of your journey? I am doing the same trip, and your photos are amazing, so I would like to take in the same areas.

    Thank You.