One way car hire in Croatia from Dubrovnik Airport lets you collect at Dubrovnik Airport and hand the car back in another city. In the searches we ran in September 2026, cars collected in Dubrovnik could be returned in Split, Zagreb, Zadar and Pula, the cities offered in the drop-off tab of the booking form.
Choose Dubrovnik as the pick-up, pick the drop-off city, and the search lists only the cars whose companies accept that return. Each car shows before you book whether there is a deposit and how much, the card rule, cancellation and any mileage cap. The Pelješac bridge keeps the drive from Dubrovnik to Split inside Croatia. The same search covers hiring a car in Dubrovnik for a return trip.
What should I check on the car for a one-way hire?
Read the price and the conditions on the car before you pay. The hire terms do not set out a charge for leaving a car in another city, so confirm what the one-way return costs before you book.
Check the mileage line. Some Dubrovnik cars carry a daily kilometre cap, and a one-way drive to Zagreb or Pula covers a long distance on its first day.
Check the deposit and how long it is held. Some companies keep the deposit for 30 to 45 days after the return, and a traffic fine or an unpaid motorway toll that reaches them later is charged to it.
Licence
A valid national licence with the details in Latin script, expiring no earlier than the end of the hire. No copies, no electronic licences.
Card
Some cars need a physical embossed credit card in the main driver's name; the car says so before you book.
Deposit
Set per car, zero on some, and shown before payment. Some companies hold it for 30 to 45 days after the car comes back.
One-way
Cars from Dubrovnik come back to Split, Zagreb, Zadar and Pula on the cars that allow it.
How do I drive from Dubrovnik to Split?
The routed fastest path runs north on the D8 and crosses the Pelješac bridge, so it stays in Croatia and passes no border. The bridge is free to cross. From the airport's rent-a-car map point to the Riva in Split it is 252 km and about 3 h 40, rounded up, before traffic.
The older coast road through Neum is still open, but it crosses a short stretch of Bosnia and Herzegovina with two border checks, Klek-Neum I and Zaton Doli-Neum II. A hire car needs permission arranged in advance to leave Croatia, so the bridge route is the one to follow. On the Split road, Ston is 72 km from the airport and the Ston bypass leads onto the bridge.
| Destination | Km | Drive |
|---|---|---|
| Ston | 72 | 1 h 25 |
| Makarska | 203 | 3 h 15 |
| Split | 252 | 3 h 40 |
What is the road like to Zadar and Zagreb?
After the bridge the routed path joins the A1 motorway, which runs from Zagreb past Split to its current southern end at the Ploče interchange and the Karamatići toll station. South of there the road back towards Dubrovnik is the D8 and the Pelješac bridge access roads, which join the D8 at Duboka. Zadar is 371 km and about 4 h 55 from the airport by routed time.
On the way to Zagreb the A1 passes through the Sveti Rok and Mala Kapela tunnels, each close to 6 km long, and the operator calls Mala Kapela the longest tunnel in Croatia. Dipped headlights stay on in every tunnel. In strong bora wind the A1 between the Sveti Rok and Posedarje junctions has been closed to all traffic on some days, or left open only to cars; HAK and Hrvatske ceste publish those closures.
From 15 November to 15 April winter equipment is compulsory on designated winter sections of Croatian roads, which include stretches of motorway. For a car that means four winter tyres, or summer tyres with at least 4 mm of tread plus snow chains or type-approved traction devices for the driven wheels.
| Destination | Km | Drive |
|---|---|---|
| Zadar | 371 | 4 h 55 |
| Plitvice Lakes (Entrance 1) | 473 | 6 h 15 |
How do motorway tolls work on a one-way drive?
Croatia has no vignette. On the A1 you take a ticket at the entry toll station and pay at the exit, by distance and vehicle class, unless you use an ENC device; an ordinary car up to 1.90 m high is Class I. The toll plazas take cash in euros, Diners, Mastercard, Maestro and Visa, and ENC devices. Losing the ticket costs double the toll for the longest route on that motorway, counted from your exit.
The motorway company plans to replace the barriers with free-flow tolling, read from number plates, with a nationwide start set for 1 March 2027. Until then the ticket system applies. Tolls, fuel, parking and fines are the renter's cost under the hire terms, and the car goes back with the fuel it left with. Dipped headlights in tunnels, the 0.5 per mille alcohol limit and winter equipment on designated sections from 15 November to 15 April are rules for driving in Croatia on every leg.
Can I drop the car in Pula?
Pula returned cars in our September 2026 searches. For a drop-off there, check the mileage line on the car before choosing it.
Can I end a one-way hire outside Croatia?
The drop-off list on this site offers Croatian cities only. Any trip over the border, even a short one on a round-trip hire, needs permission arranged by email with the booking help desk before you go, with a price and conditions that depend on the trip, the car and the company. Kotor is 58 km from the airport with the Kamenari ferry, and driving into Montenegro for the day needs that permission too.
Where do I collect the car?
Dubrovnik cars start at the airport, from city delivery or from a second Dubrovnik pick-up place, and the car shows which. The airport links one map point for its rental companies, the "Parking lot and drop off point", and the rental voucher decides the exact meeting place. Licence, card and phone rules at the airport are the same for a one-way hire as for a return trip.
