Expat Insight, Croatian consumers are conservative

Those who have spent a vacation in Istria the last couple of years surely remember that the road conditions in this part of Croatia was anything less then good! Well, that has now changed as the new highway in Istria has been completed. Guests arriving in Istria from Italy or Slovenia can access the Istrian “Ipsilon” by the border crossing in Plovanija from where the highway A9 is connected to Pula at the south peak of the peninsula. Arriving from Austria one would properly enter Croatia at the border crossing in Rupa; upon entering Croatia they will be on Motorway A7 which connects to the Istrian highway (A8) in Matulji which goes straight across Istria and intersects with the A9 in Kanfanar (Close to Rovinj). As already mentioned, the Istrian Motorway is also called the Istarski Ipsilon; looking at a map it is quite obvious why the Istrian highway got this name; A8 and A9 build an almost perfectly shaped Y. The total length of the 4 lane Istrian Highway is 140 km.

With the completion of the Highway in Istria, the traditional summer traffic jams will hopefully be history. The only place where this still may occur is by the Milna bridge.

Highway A9

As mentioned, the highway A9 streches from Plovanija in the north to Pula in the south of Istria. The A9 has a total length of about 75 km and on the A9 you have the following highway exit points:

Umag
Buje
Nova Vas
Visnjan
Baderna
Medaki
Kanfanar
Vodnjan sjever
Vodnjan jug
Pula

Rest areas on the A9

Buje-istok: lighted parking, WC
Buje-zapad: lighted parking, WC
Mirna-istok: WC, Children’s playground, SOS-Telephone
Mirna-zapad: WC, Children’s playground, SOS-Telephone
Bacva-zapad: lighted parking, Petrol Station (INA), Children’s playground, WC, Restaurant
Bacva-istok: lighted parking, Petrol Station (INA), Children’s playground, WC, Restaurant
Limska Draga-zapad: WC, SOS-Telephone
Bale-zapad: lighted parking, Restaurant, WC, Children’s playground, SOS-Telephone
Bale-istok:lighted parking, Restaurant, WC, Children’s playground, SOS-Telephone

Highway A8:

As mentioned, the Highway A 8 starts in Matulj, east of Rijeka, and ends in Kanfanar where it connects to the A9. On the A8 the following highway exit points can be found:

Matulj
Veprinac
Vranja
Lupoglav
Cerovlje
Ivoli
Rogovici
Zminj
Kanfanar

On the Highway A8 there are tree rest areas in each direction

Matulji-jug: lighted parking, Restaurant
Matulji-sjever: lighted parking, Restaurant
Kvarner-jug: lighted parking
Kvarner-sjever: lighted parking
Vranja-jug: lighted parking, Petrol Station, WC
Vranja-sjever: lighted parking, Petrol Station, WC

Toll fees in the Highway in Istria

The amounts of toll which apply depend of the type of vehicle, the toll fees are divided in the following categories:

Category: IA – Motor vehicles with the characteristics of motorcycle, motor tricycle and quadricycle

Category I – Vehicles with two axles, the height to 1.30 m measured at first axle, except for motor vehicles from IIb

Category II – a) Motor vehicles with three or more axles, height of 1.30 m measured at first axle
b) Motor vehicles with two axles of height greater than 1.90 m, the maximum permissible mass not exceeding 3500 kg

Category III – Motor vehicles with two or three axles of height greater than 1.30 m measured at the first axis, a maximum mass exceeding 3500 kg, including motor vehicles of category IIb with a trailer

Category IV – Motor vehicles with four or more axles, height greater than 1.30 m measured at the first axis, a maximum mass exceeding 3500 kg

Click on the pictures below to see Toll fees

Information about toll costs on other highways in croatia you can find here

For those who are planning to drive around in Istria, we can recommend to buy an ENC device which is a charging device enabling “drive through” charging at separate lane at the toll stations. The ENC device can be bought on several petrol stations along the highway. The device currently costs 100 Kuna (13 €); by first purchase a minimum of 200 kuna prepaid toll has to be added to the device, which has to be spend within 90 days. For holders of an ENC device, there is a 50% discount for passing the Ucka tunnel and 30% discount on other parts of Istrian Highway.