Where do I collect a rental car at Pula Airport?
Car rental at Pula Airport means collecting at Pula Airport (PUY), the place the search lists for the cars offered in Pula, with City delivery as the second place in the form; your booking voucher names the meeting point for your car. A hire collected here can also end in Zagreb, Zadar, Split or Dubrovnik on a one-way car hire from Pula.
Marked spaces in the short-term car park, Parking B, are reserved for rental companies’ cars under a lease with the airport; the voucher tells you where to find yours.
Where is Pula Airport, and how busy does it get?
Pula Airport, IATA code PUY, is run by Zračna luka Pula d.o.o. at Valtursko polje 210, Ližnjan. It is about 5 km from the city centre, and 8 km by road to the Arena, a drive of 20 min. Its access road is state road D401, a 1.5 km spur from the D66 at Valtura, and drivers coming down the Istrian Y are signposted to the airport a few kilometres before Pula.
The terminal building dates from 1987 to 1989. Traffic peaks in July and August, traditionally its busiest months, and in 2025 it handled 554,247 passengers. The airport’s shuttle bus leaves for Pula bus station 30 minutes after a flight lands, and taxis wait by the bus stop.
Search cars at Pula Airport
Search carsHow far is Pula Airport from Rovinj, Poreč and Rijeka?
The drive from Pula to Rovinj is 41 km from the airport, a drive of 55 min, and Poreč 58 km, 1 h 00, both by the A9 north. Times are without traffic or stops; summer queues and toll plazas add to them. Medulin, on the southern tip, is 14 km on county roads. The longer drives to Zagreb, Zadar, Split and Dubrovnik can end with the car returned in that city.
| Istria and Kvarner | Road km | Drive time |
|---|---|---|
| Pula (Arena) | 8 km | 20 min |
| Medulin | 14 km | 25 min |
| Rovinj | 41 km | 55 min |
| Poreč | 58 km | 1 h 00 |
| Opatija | 99 km | 1 h 30 |
| Rijeka | 106 km | 1 h 35 |
| Slovenia and Italy | Road km | Drive time |
|---|---|---|
| Trieste | 117 km | 1 h 55 |
| Ljubljana | 202 km | 2 h 40 |
| Venice (Piazzale Roma) | 283 km | 3 h 35 |
Can I drive a Pula rental car to Italy or Slovenia?
The drives to Trieste and Ljubljana, like the drive from Pula to Venice, leave Croatia on the A9 north and the D510 to the Kaštel crossing into Slovenia. A rental car needs permission to leave the country: travel outside Croatia is added during booking as a cross-border option, for a fee, and the permission and its conditions are arranged with the help desk by email, as clause 9 of the rental conditions sets out; the price and conditions depend on the length of the trip, the car and the rental company.
Can the car be delivered in Pula instead of collected at the airport?
City delivery is the second Pula place in the form above. Where a car offers it, the delivery charge is shown on the car before you pay. City delivery is listed for Pula itself; confirm on the car you choose that it covers your address.
Where can I park a rental car in Pula?
Paid parking in Pula is run by Pula Parking d.o.o., in zones that took effect on 1 April 2026. Zone 0, the old-town core, is reserved for residents and local businesses. Zone 1 (red) covers the centre and the sights with a 2-hour maximum stay, Zone 2 (yellow) the wider centre, and Zone 3 the rest of the city, used seasonally. Karolina, in front of the Arena, is the centre’s one barrier car park and runs on its own hours.
Under the rules in force since 1 April 2026, from 1 June to 30 September every zone is charged daily from 07:00 to 23:00, and Karolina around the clock. From 1 October to 31 May the zones are charged Monday to Friday 07:00 to 20:00 and Saturday 07:00 to 14:00, and are free on Sundays and holidays. A ticket has to be paid within 10 minutes of parking, at a meter, at the Pula Parking office, by QR code or by app, with the paper ticket behind the windscreen. Pedestrian zones in the centre are closed by bollards.
What do I need to know about returning the car at the airport?
The car goes back with the fuel level it left with: a lower level is charged at the rental company’s rates, and extra fuel stays with the car (clause 3). A car returned so dirty that it hinders inspection is washed at the customer’s expense (clause 4). Rental days run in 24-hour blocks, so a car collected on Monday morning and returned on Tuesday afternoon counts as two days (clause 1).
At the airport, Parking A is the long-term car park open to everyone, and Parking B, the short-term car park, is restricted to listed users, with a 10-minute stop on marked spaces for dropping passengers off.
What do I need to collect a rental car at Pula Airport?
A valid national driving licence with its details in Latin script, valid until the last day of the rental, as the original card rather than a copy or an electronic licence; an International Driving Permit is strongly recommended where the licence is valid in its home country alone (clause 14). Where the car asks for one, a physical embossed credit card in the main driver’s name; some companies take a debit card instead, which the car and the voucher state (clause 16).
The minimum age and driving experience are listed on each car (clause 13), and the phone number you booked with has to be reachable from the day before pick-up (clause 11). For car hire insurance in Pula, the country conditions say that standard cover leaves out damage to the wheels, the undercarriage, the windscreen and the interior (clause 5), and some companies hold the deposit for 30 to 45 days after the return (clause 17).