Pula to Zagreb
one-way car hire.

How far is Pula to Zagreb by car?

Pula to Zagreb is 265 km by road from Pula Airport to Ban Jelačić Square, a drive of 3 h 30. Zagreb Airport is 276 km from Pula Airport, 3 h 40. Rijeka, just past the end of the Istrian Y, is 106 km and 1 h 35 from the terminal at Pula.

Times are without traffic or stops; summer queues and toll plazas add to them. Leave that margin when you set the return time.

Can I collect at Pula Airport and return the car in Zagreb?

Yes. Zagreb is the nearest of the one-way returns from Pula, ahead of Zadar, Split and Dubrovnik, and one of the four cities the Pula search returns cars to on a one-way hire. Choose Zagreb in the Drop off tab of the form above before you search: the price each car then shows already includes the one-way charge, which varies from car to car. One-way cars from Pula to Zagreb go back at Zagreb Airport (ZAG).

The car’s own conditions travel with it: the deposit, the card rule, the mileage limit and whether it has free cancellation are shown on the car before you pay.

Which motorways run from Pula to Zagreb?

Every drive east out of Istria by car starts on the same 91 km of motorway: the A9 north to the Rovinj junction at Kanfanar, then the A8 east through Pazin, Lupoglav and the Učka tunnel to Matulji above Rijeka. At Matulji the A7 takes the route round Rijeka to the Orehovica junction, where the A6 turns inland for 81 km, past the Čavle, Kikovica, Oštrovica, Vrata, Delnice, Ravna Gora and Vrbovsko junctions, to Bosiljevo 2 on the A1. From Bosiljevo 2 the A1 runs 67 km north past Novigrad, Karlovac, Jastrebarsko and Donja Zdenčina to the Lučko junction on the edge of Zagreb, where it ends. For the airport the route turns east there onto the A3 Zagreb bypass as far as the Kosnica junction, and state roads carry it the last few kilometres, the D430 the final 2.1 km to the terminal in Velika Gorica.

Round Rijeka the A7 passes four tunnels, Škurinje II, Škurinje I, Katarina and Trsat, the longest at 854 m. The A6 has twelve more in about 78 km between Orehovica and Bosiljevo 2, from Hrasten at 278 m to Tuhobić at 2,143 m, the longest on the A6, with Javorova Kosa at 1,450 m and Veliki Gložac at 1,100 m among them. North of Bosiljevo 2 the A1 has one, Sveti Marko, 262 m, on the Novigrad to Karlovac section.

How much are the tolls from Pula to Zagreb?

An ordinary car, with two axles and no higher than 1.90 m, pays class I, and tolls are the renter’s to pay (clause 12). Bina Istra’s for the Istrian Y is 12.10 EUR from the Pula plaza, where the route joins the A9, to Matulji through the Učka tunnel, on the price list in force since 15 May 2026; HAC’s is 10.10 EUR from the Rijeka (Grobnik) plaza on the A6 to the Zagreb (Lučko) plaza at the end of the A1.

Until the barrier-free Crolibertas system applies in full, planned from 1 March 2027, both work by ticket: take the ticket at the entry plaza and pay at the exit, in cash or by card. Keep the Pula ticket until the Istrian Y’s plaza, because a missing or damaged ticket, or one issued more than 24 hours earlier, pays the price of the longest journey from that exit. A higher van or a car towing a trailer is class II and pays more.

Where can I stop for fuel between Pula and Zagreb?

Seven service areas with fuel lie on the way to the A1: on the Istrian Y a fuel stop on the A9 between the airport and Kanfanar, Rebri on the A8 and Ina Kvarner just past the Učka tunnel; Vrata Jadrana on the A7, on the carriageway towards Rijeka; and on the A6 Cernik-Čavle, before the Rijeka (Grobnik) plaza, then Tuhobić and Kupjak, which also has food and rooms. Matulji, at the end of the Istrian Y, has parking and food.

On the A1 north the carriageway towards Zagreb has fuel at Vukova Gorica, Draganić and Desinec, about 18 km before Lučko, and the A3 between Lučko and Kosnica has no service area. The car goes back with the fuel it left with (clause 3), so Desinec is the last motorway fuel stop before the return.

Where is the car returned in Zagreb?

Zagreb Airport is in Velika Gorica, at Ulica Rudolfa Fizira 21, 16 km from the city centre. Passenger flights use one passenger terminal, opened in 2017. Car hire companies work at the airport, and your rental voucher names the return point for your car.

The outdoor car park in front of the terminal has two rent-a-car areas, Rent-a-Car Premium by the forecourt and Rent-a-Car further along the car park, with EV chargers for rental cars; your rental company tells you which one to use.

Can I drive and park in central Zagreb?

Zagreb has five parking zones, I to V, with sub-zones, and zones I and II carry a maximum stay; zone V is Park and Ride. Paying for street parking by SMS works on Croatian mobile networks, so on a foreign SIM pay at a meter: there are 442 across the zones, the newer ones taking coins and bank cards, the older ones exact coins with the ticket shown behind the windscreen.

Motor traffic in the pedestrian zones needs a city permit. They include Ban Jelačić Square, Ilica from the square to Gundulićeva, Tkalčićeva from Splavnica to Mikloušićeva, Radićeva, Dverce and the Strossmayer promenade, so park in a zone around them and walk in.

What do I need for a one-way hire from Pula?

A national driving licence with its details in Latin script, valid to the last day of the rental, and a physical embossed credit card in the main driver’s name where the car asks for one (clauses 14 and 16). Under the insurance and deposit rules for a Pula hire, standard cover leaves out damage to the wheels, the undercarriage, the windscreen and the interior (clause 5). The minimum charge is 24 hours, the car goes back with the fuel it left with, and some companies hold the deposit for 30 to 45 days after the return (clauses 1, 3 and 17).