Trips With Kids

Guide to Croatia with kids

After weeks in the Albanian heat, Croatia welcomed us about ten degrees cooler, and two days later, in Krka National Park, the kids walked the wooden boardwalks round and round, because each of them wanted to see the waterfalls from a different spot. The next day it was the same boardwalks again, this time above the turquoise Plitvice Lakes, and then a night at a campsite on rocky terraces above the sea.

We spent five nights in Croatia with our kids in mid-August 2017, on the way home from our Balkan road trip. We drove our van with a tent through Trogir, Krka and Plitvice to Kvarner Bay and on to the outskirts of Zagreb, and you can watch this whole part of the trip on our Bałkany 2017 playlist, and our other trips on our YouTube channel.

Croatia with kids means waterfalls, old stone towns and campsites with pools, but in August also crowds and full campsites on the coast. The whole route through seven countries is in Balkans 2017 - a road trip with kids through seven countries, and below you will find everything about Croatia.

Croatia with kids at a glance

  • Our trip: 13 to 18 August 2017, on the way back from a three-week Balkan road trip (about 5,000 km). Earlier, on 31 July, we drove through Croatia in transit from Hungary to Bosnia.
  • How we got there: we entered Croatia from Bosnia and Herzegovina after a swim at the Kravica Waterfalls and left from near Zagreb for Vienna. On the way south we drove from Poland through the Czech Republic and Hungary and crossed the border on the bridge at Barcs.
  • Where we stayed: a campsite at the Baćina Lakes, Camp Marina near Krka, Camping Korana by the entrance to Plitvice Lakes National Park, Camping Klenovica and Camp Zagreb.
  • Kids: we travelled with our four children; the youngest was just over a year old and rode in a pushchair at Plitvice.
  • How much time to plan: we spent one day at Krka and one at Plitvice, and with the driving and Trogir the Croatian part of our trip took five nights.

Practical info

Documents for kids

  • EU citizens can enter Croatia with a valid passport or national ID card, and every child needs their own passport or ID card (as of November 2026).
  • Croatia has been in the Schengen area since 1 January 2023, so there are no regular passport checks at the border with Hungary any more, but keep the whole family's documents with you anyway. In 2017 the bridge at Barcs was our first passport check of the whole trip.
  • The border with Bosnia and Herzegovina is an external Schengen border, and documents are checked there.

Currency

Croatia has used the euro since 1 January 2023. In 2017 we still paid in kuna: entry to Krka National Park cost about 110 HRK per adult back then.

Road tolls

  • Croatian motorways are tolled by distance. You pay at the toll booth when you leave the motorway, by card or in cash (as of November 2026).
  • Croatia plans to switch to a toll system without booths on 1 March 2027 (as of November 2026).
  • If you drive from the north like we did, you need vignettes in the countries on the way: a 10-day e-vignette costs 300 CZK in the Czech Republic, a 10-day e-matrica 6,900 HUF in Hungary and a 10-day digital vignette 12.80 EUR in Austria (as of November 2026).

Campsites

Wild camping is not allowed in Croatia: you can only pitch a tent at a registered campsite (as of November 2026). In August 2017 several campsites on the coast were completely full before we found a pitch in Klenovica, so in high season it is worth booking ahead.

When to visit Croatia with kids

We were in Croatia in mid-August, right in the high season. At Plitvice the narrow boardwalks got crowded, and on the coast it was hard to find a free pitch. But after the Albanian heat, the weather felt perfect to us.

Best places in Croatia for kids

Dalmatia: Trogir and Krka

Trogir

The UNESCO-listed old town sits on a small island linked by bridges to the mainland and to the island of Čiovo. The kids were more interested in the narrow passages between the houses, which stayed nice and cool at noon, than in the carved portal of St Lawrence Cathedral.

On the way we found out that a cousin and his family were also on holiday in Dalmatia, so two families walked the maze of Trogir's streets together. Watch our video from Trogir and read more in Trogir - an old town and an unexpected reunion.

Krka National Park

From the car park in Lozovac we took a bus down to the Skradinski Buk waterfalls, where wooden boardwalks take you right across the water, between the cascades and old stone mills.

In 2017 you could still swim by the waterfalls and the kids did not want to get out, but swimming in the park has been banned since 2021. See Krka National Park - waterfalls and boardwalks.

Lika: Plitvice Lakes

Plitvice Lakes National Park

Sixteen turquoise lakes connected by waterfalls, with wooden boardwalks between the cascades and boats that take visitors across the largest lake. The colour of the water changed from emerald green to deep turquoise, and swimming is not allowed here. We slept at Camping Korana right by the park entrance. Read about it in Plitvice Lakes - the turquoise jewel of Croatia.

Kvarner Bay and around Zagreb

Camping Klenovica

A campsite on a mountainside, with pitches on rocky terraces and a view of the sea. On our concrete pitch, getting the tent pegs in took some creativity, and a strong wind blew all night, but in the morning the kids had a pool. Read more in Plitvice Lakes - the turquoise jewel of Croatia.

Camp Zagreb and kayaks on the lake

A campsite in Rakitje, about 17 km from the centre of Zagreb, open all year and set around a calm lake with kayaks for hire. We took turns paddling with each of the kids, and the rocks sticking out of the water turned out to be fake, which the kids found just as funny. See Camp Zagreb - Kayaking on an Artificial Lake.

All posts: Croatia

Last updated: November 2026