Bridge on Una river between Croatia (right) and Bosnia & Herzegovina at Hrvatska Dubica-Kozarska Dubica Border Crossing

We had a comfortable night's sleep at Zagreb, after our long day crossing in from Venice via Slovenia's Lake Bled and Ljubljana. The morning sun rose, golden light slipping between baroque spires and red-tiled rooftops. It was the kind of morning that practically demands a flaky pastry and strong coffee—which is exactly how we started our day, perched in a café off Tkalčićeva Street. Today was another legend, we overlanded three countries on our beloved Shehzadi (meaning "the Princess") and also paid our respects at profoundly somber memorials at a horrible Yugoslav concentration camp site.

Bled Castle overlooking Lake Bled, Slovenia

The day started with a cappuccino in Venice, fresh off our Simplon Tunnel crossing, silk workshop tour and night in Piazza San Marco, our spirits as high as the tide. Shehzadi, our trusty Toyota Tundra, and Chetak, the Odyssean Journey Toyota Hilux, were humming with anticipation. Today we would not just cross one, but two international borders — three countries, a shimmering lake, a wine-soaked sunset and at least six kinds of road trip snacks.

We were headed for Slovenia, then into Croatia, in one of the most charming cross-border days of our Silk Road expedition so far. The route was postcard-perfect: Venice → Valico di Sant'Andrea → Lake Bled → Ljubljana → Maribor → Obrežje border → Zagreb.

The D8 (Adriatic Highway) at Podimoć, Croatia: One of Europe's Most Beautiful Roads

Iceland & South-Central Europe Road Journey

This 12-episode travel series follows a sweeping journey from Washington, DC to Iceland’s volcanic wilderness and onward into the imperial heart of Central Europe. What begins as a full circumnavigation of Iceland’s Ring Road evolves into a cross-border road loop through Austria, Germany, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, Croatia, Bosnia & Herzegovina, and Slovenia.

Along the way, the series moves from glaciers and geysers to Habsburg palaces, medieval old towns, Alpine fortresses, film locations, Tesla’s birthplace, and the dramatic Adriatic coast. It is a geographically continuous, historically layered, self-drive journey linking raw landscapes with Europe’s cultural and architectural backbone.

The D8 highway at Pisak, Croatia, where the road clings to cliffs like a determined lizard This view explains why car sickness bags were standard equipment in Yugoslavian rental cars

After our inland detour to visit the childhood home of Nikola Tesla in Smiljan, we came back down to the coast for the drive everyone told us was the good one. Split to Dubrovnik. Two spectacular Croatian cities, one coastline, and a route that sounds simple right up until you look at a map and notice a small strip of Bosnia and Herzegovina sitting directly in the way. The Neum Corridor hands you bonus passport stamps on what should be an afternoon drive.

The D8 Adriatic Highway, known locally as Jadranska magistrala, runs 643 kilometers along the Croatian coast and is widely considered one of the best scenic drives in Europe. It stitches together the Dalmatian coast with the stubborn persistence of a grandmother sewing a quilt. Built through the 1950s and 1960s, this road has seen everything from vintage Yugos puttering along to modern tourists in rented SUVs white-knuckling the curves.

We drove it in July. The plan was straightforward: get from Split to Dubrovnik, eat seafood, avoid plunging into the Adriatic and maybe learn to pronounce "Živogošće" correctly. We managed three out of four. Our route map looks like someone tried to draw a straight line and got interrupted by mountains, sea and that pesky bit of Bosnia.

Nikola Tesla Memorial Center in Smiljan, Croatia. The structure is a classic Lika-style home with a stone ground floor (originally for livestock) and wooden living quarters above, capped by a hipped shingle roof. It is the modest parsonage where the architect of the modern world was born on a stormy night in 1856.

Driving from Zagreb south toward the Adriatic glitter of Split, we delayed our arrival at the sea. Instead, we exited the A1 motorway at Žuta Lokva. From here, we shunned the coast to take the D50 state road, winding south through the Gacka Valley and Otočac into the heart of the Lika highlands.

Vagabond Tip: If you're driving from Zagreb, take the A1 highway only until Karlovac, then switch to the old D1 road (Lička magistrala). The two-lane blacktop winds through the hills like a Tesla coil and you'll pass crumbling Austro-Hungarian fortresses that remain largely unmarked on modern GPS. Pack a picnic - there's a perfect pull-off with a view of the meandering Lika River near the village of Bilaj at 44.545°N, 15.375°E.

Most folks think of Tesla and picture New York labs or Colorado Springs experiments. They forget his roots were planted in the rocky, wind-swept soil of a tiny village called Smiljan. This detour wasn't just a checkbox for nerds. It was a quest to understand the 'where' behind the 'why'. What kind of place breeds a mind that dreams in alternating current?

The Croatian countryside rolled by, a tapestry of emerald fields and limestone outcrops under the shadow of the massive Velebit mountain range. This is a land defined by high altitude and thin air. Tesla famously credited this harsh, highly oxygenated mountain atmosphere for his recovery and mental clarity, later noting that the malaria contracted in the swampy lowlands of Karlovac had permanently weakened his constitution.

A medieval flex in glazed ceramic St. Mark's Church showing off Croatia's historic coat of arms like a 13th-century Instagram post

We drive into Zagreb from Budapest, Hungary, swapping the Danube's imperial skyline for a capital that runs on espresso and medieval self-confidence. This is the Croatian chapter of our 2019 Central Europe road trip, and Zagreb makes a strong first impression before we even find parking.

We have one packed day before the A1 motorway pulls us south, and Zagreb intends to make every hour count.