Car to Croatia cheaper than a year ago. How much will we pay for highways and fuel?

In 2024, more than 1 million Poles went on holiday to Croatia again. A significant number of Polish tourists still choose to travel by car. So we check how much you have to pay in 2025 for a trip to the Croatian Adriatic coast from the largest Polish cities.

Before we get to specific amounts and a detailed description of our calculations, a short conclusion. Despite more expensive trips on foreign motorways, and due to the slightly cheaper euro and, above all, lower fuel prices, the cost of a car trip to Croatia on holiday in 2025 may be on average 10 percent lower than last year.

At least this is what results from the analysis of several dozen routes leading from four Polish cities (Warsaw, Wrocław, Gdańsk and Kraków) to three Croatian cities located in Dalmatia, popular among Poles: Dubrovnik, Split and Zadar.

In our simulation, we assumed that two weeks would pass from departure to return. In the case of those travelling to the Adriatic from Warsaw, Wrocław and Gdańsk, we considered two (out of many) possible routes. The route leading through the Czech Republic, Austria and Slovenia and the route running through the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Hungary. Importantly, these are roads whose lengths differ by only about 20 kilometres, and the travel time from a dozen or so minutes to about half an hour.

For those travelling from Krakow, we have also chosen a route leading only through Slovakia and Hungary, which allows you to save on the purchase of vignettes valid on Czech motorways as well as fees for the tolled and still renovated section of the Polish A4 motorway from Krakow to Katowice.

We have estimated fuel costs for the currently most popular car among Polish individual customers – the hybrid Toyota C-HR, for which the fuel consumption on the route – according to the Autocentrum website – is 6 litres per 100 km.

We also used data from the e-petrol website, according to which in mid-May 2025, the average price for unleaded 95-octane petrol in Poland was PLN 5.80/l.

For convenience, due to slight differences in the price of unleaded petrol between Poland, Croatia and most transit countries, we used data for Poland in our estimated calculations.

Average prices of unleaded petrol (95 octane) in individual countries:

• Poland – 5.80 PLN/l
• Croatia – 5.90 PLN/l
• Czech Republic – 5.79 PLN/l
• Slovakia – 6.33 PLN/l
• Hungary – 6.15 PLN/l
• Austria – 6.33 PLN/l
• Slovenia – 6.03 PLN/l

So what kind of vignettes will we need to get if we have 14 days from leaving Poland to returning? The matter is a bit more complicated than in the case of a maximum 10-day trip. None of the transit countries offer the possibility of buying a two-week vignette.

Vignettes in the Czech Republic:

• 1 day – 210 crowns (approx. PLN 35.70)
• 10 days – 290 crowns (approx. PLN 49.30)
• 1 month – 460 crowns (approx. PLN 78.20)
• 1 year – 2,440 crowns (approx. PLN 414.80)

Vignettes in Slovakia:

• 1 day – 8.10 euros (approx. 34.30 PLN)
• 10 days - 10.80 euros (approx. 45.80 PLN)
• 1 month – 17.10 euros (approx. 72.50 PLN)
• 1 year – 90 euros (approx. PLN 381.60)

Vignettes in Hungary:

• 1 day – 5320 forints (approx. PLN 53.20)
• 10 days - 6620 forints (approx. PLN 66.20)
• 1 month – 10,710 forints (approx. PLN 107.10)
• 1 year – 59,210 forints (approx. PLN 592.10)

Vignettes in Austria:

• 1 day - 9.30 euros (approx. 39.40 PLN)
• 10 days - 12.40 euros (approx. 52.60 PLN)
• 2 months - 31.10 euros (approx. 131.90 PLN)
• 1 year – 103.80 euros (approx. 440.10 PLN)

Vignettes in Slovenia:

• 7 days – 16 euros (approx. PLN 67.80)
• 1 month – 32 euros (approx. PLN 135.70)
• 1 year – 117.5 euros (approx. 498.20 PLN)

If we need a vignette longer than 10 days to travel back and forth through Austria, another temporary option is to buy a 2-month vignette. However, if we decide that we will not be able to use it again, we can buy two one-day vignettes, which will save us 12.50 euros, or about PLN 53 at the exchange rate of 15 May 2025.

The same procedure can be performed in the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Hungary. However, Slovenia does not offer one-day passes. If we do not plan to stop in Slovenia on the way, we will have to pay 16 euros (approx. 68 PLN) for a 7-day vignette or twice as much for a vignette valid for a month for a drive on a mere 60-kilometer section of the local motorway.

Traveling through the Czech Republic, Austria and Slovenia, we will spend 420 CZK and 50.60 euros, or about 286 PLN, on vignettes. Choosing the route through the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Hungary, we will pay again 420 CZK, 16.20 euros and 10,640 forints, or about 246 PLN.

In each of these variants, those travelling in hybrids that can be charged from a socket, i.e. plug-in, will pay less, for which the Czechs have provided separate, lower tariffs.

Yes, those coming from Warsaw, Wrocław and Gdańsk can avoid the Czech Republic. However, as our calculations show, saving the aforementioned 420 crowns (approx. PLN 72) will mean an additional 80 km one way and, due to avoiding some motorways, an extension of the one-way trip by two to two and a half hours.

Those travelling from Krakow can bypass the Czech Republic, while shortening the route and slightly extending the travel time. Then they will pay 175 PLN for vignettes, which is twice 8.10 euros in Slovakia and twice 5320 forints in Hungary.

In Poland, travelers from Krakow will have to pay for motorway use (choosing the route leading via the A4 motorway). The cost is PLN 34 one way. In turn, those traveling from Gdańsk will pay PLN 29.90 each way at the toll booths for using the toll section of the A1 motorway (Rusocin - Nowa Wieś) starting in January. Yes, you can shorten your motorway journey and exit in Nowe Marzy near Grudziądz onto the S5 expressway, but this way you will save about PLN 12 one way and add about 140 km.

You will also have to pay for motorways in Croatia, where payments continue to be made at the so-called toll gates.

Choosing the route through the Czech Republic, Austria and Slovenia will take us to Croatia via the A1 motorway near the town of Trakoscan (entrance Macelj). As last year, the nearly 670-kilometre route to Dubrovnik will cost us 36 euros, or about 153 PLN. Less – 30.40 euros, or about 129 PLN, will be spent on driving along motorways to Split. Driving from Trakoscan to Zadar, we will pay 22.40 euros, or about 95 PLN.

If you choose the route through Slovakia and Hungary, you will enter Croatia at the border crossing near the town of Gorican. Then, for the motorway to Dubrovnik, you will pay 35.40 euros (approx. 150 PLN), to Split 29.80 euros (approx. 126 PLN) and to Zadar 21.80 euros (approx. 92 PLN). Importantly, unlike vignettes, these are only one-way motorway tolls.

For fuel, due to the distance to be covered, those travelling to Croatia from Gdańsk will pay the most. Driving the approx. 1850-kilometre route to Dubrovnik, they will spend, according to Bankier.pl estimates, approx. 1284-1299 PLN. If their destination is Zadar (approx. 1530 km), the cost of fuel will be approx. 1062-1077 PLN.

Due to the distance, those travelling from Krakow will pay the least for fuel. From around PLN 736-780 for a trip to Zadar (1060-1120 km) to around PLN 966-1002 if the destination is Dubrovnik (at least 1400 km).

If the travel destination is Zadar, the total cost of the trip to Croatia (return) will range from less than PLN 1,100 (Krakow) to almost PLN 1,600 (Gdańsk).

The cost of a car trip to Split ranges from around PLN 1,273 to PLN 1,750. In turn, a trip to Dubrovnik, the furthest of the cities analyzed, will cost from PLN 1,440 to PLN 1,935.

To sum up, compared to last year's expenses, assuming the use of the same car model, this year's car trip to Croatia may be even 10 percent, or nominally less than PLN 200, cheaper than a year ago.

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