Although international trains are slowly being replaced by a network of intercity bus routes, train travel still can be a convenient and comfortable way to get to Croatia. Anyone transporting bikes, pets, small children or cumbersome baggage may well prefer trains to buses or flights. Nearly all international trains to Croatia end in Zagreb's main train station, Glavni Kolodvor, which is right in the centre of town. There you can get a train connection to Zadar, Rijeka, or Split. The Zagreb bus station is also an easy tram ride away.
Following are the daily train connections from neighbouring countries to Croatia:
There are no direct trains between Italy and Croatia. There are trains from Venice or Trieste to Zagreb with changes in Villach, Padova or Ljubljana, Slovenia.
[See more options for getting from Italy to Croatia]
Ljubljana-Zagreb
There are four daily trains which take about 2 1/2 hours. Book on thetrainline.
Ljubljana-Rijeka
There are two daily trains that take about 3 hours.
Ljubljana-Istria
There are two trains daily to Pula that take about five hours.
See bahn.de for schedules but the trains cannot be booked online.
[See more about getting from Slovenia to Croatia]
Vienna-Zagreb
There's one non-stop train daily from Vienna to Zagreb that takes about 6 1/2 hours and five other trains with one to four stops. Check schedules and book with thetrainline.com.
Budapest-Zagreb
There's one non-stop train daily that takes about 5 1/2 hours and two more trains with stops in Salzburg. There's also an overnight train in summer. Check schedules and book with thetrainline.com.
Buying your tickets to Croatia in advance can save you a huge amount of holiday hassles. Of course you could always go to the train station in whatever city you're in, wait on line and deal with a clerk who may or may not speak English. But do you really want to spend your vacation in train stations? I don't! I would much rather do other things which is why I find booking train tickets online a wonderful convenience.
National railroad lines usually offer online booking but seem to have trouble handling some international routes. That's why I highly recommend experienced online booking agencies such as thetrainline.com.
It's unlikely that you'll be train travelling enough within Croatia to justify a Croatia Rail Pass (see getting around Croatia by train) but a rail pass could be a good idea if you'll be combining Croatia with other countries. Read more.
Last Updated: January 4, 2023
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