UK to Pula

[cohenadmirer]

I and i'm sure others would appreciate any advice on travelling to Pula from the uk.... and accommodation options/prices??

~Looks like a great venue but less than straightforward to get to from where i live

[Mabeanie1]

Jet2.com operate direct flights to Pula from several UK airports, including Manchester and Leeds-Bradford. The problem is they only operate on one day of the week (Manchester flights are all on a Saturday) so not much use if you don't want to go for as long as a week. For that reason, I opted to fly Ryanair from Stansted. They have several direct flights per week, making a 3 night trip a realistic option. Not remotely cheap but worth it I think for the convenience. I will probably drive down to Stansted overnight but you always have the option of staying in one of the airport hotels the night before the 6:30 am flight.

Thomson also fly to Pula from several airports but their prices are even higher than Ryanair.

There are several options for hotels - try Booking.com or Ryanair Hotels (which pops up when you make a flight enquiry on their website!)

Wendy

[margaret]

From Tom's post on page 10 of the thread Hope for Europe


Pula is nice town (some 85,000 inhabitants), on sea side, but only 3 hours by bus or car from Zagreb and Ljubljana, which both have big international airports.

As well, it's 1 hour from Venice or Trieste with local bus (or 2 hrs regular ferry ride).


Easyjet flies to Zagreb and Llubiana but not from Liverpool or Manchester More choice from the London airports
Flights also to Venice, but expensive at such a peak time. The Gatwick to Venice route is more reasonable.

I'd love to go but the travel at this end is a bit complicated at such a peak time.

[tomsakic]

Ken and Jarkko and Ciarran and others are coming, so I guess they will have many advices as they booked flights and hotels.

Hotel Riviera in city center, near arena, is old fashioned Austro-Hungarian hotel, and seems reasonably cheap for international standards (not for mine, though:)

And yes, it's peak time of Summer season in Pula and Croatian coast as well - it's enough to mention that Croatia has 4 millions citizens of which 1 million or more moves to seaside in July/August, plus more than 1 million of Europeans on vacations in Croatia in Summer and Aug 2 is in the midst of season ::))

[cohenadmirer]

I'd love to go but the travel at this end is a bit complicated at such a peak time.

Thanks for the advice , especially from wendy but
Alas i've come to the same conclusion as margaret , especially given the promise of easier concerts to get to

[tomsakic]

Well, I still think Pula is easy to come to:) Zagreb and Ljubljana are easily accessible at any time of year. And then it's 3 hours drive to Pula. (Or train from Ljubljana. Or ferry from Venice.) And it's connected with new highways to Venice-Trieste-Ljubljana roads.

Btw I didn't know Pula has an airport (!) so I guess all flights to it have to be very small, seasonal (charter) and quite expensive.

Btw there's also airport Krk (Rijeka). But easiest way is to reach big cities (Venice, Trieste, Zagreb, Ljubljana) and then use regular bus or ferry lines.


http://wikitravel.org/en/Pula

By plane
Pula has its own international airport with daily flights to Zagreb, and direct services from many European cities including Amsterdam, Edinburgh, London, Manchester, Oslo, Vienna and Zurich. Ryanair operates direct flights from London three times a week. Many flights to Pula are charter rather than scheduled, while other flights are seasonal (summer only).

There is a scheduled bus service from the bus station in town to the airport. Buses are operated by Brioni and connect to most major flights. The cost of a one-way ticket is 25kn. A taxi from the bus station to the city should be around 85 kuna in the low season and much higher in the summer.

It is possible to also consider Rijeka Airport on the island of Krk and Trieste Airport in nearby Italy to access Pula as they are close by and offer flights to different destinations.

By land
There are direct buses from Zagreb, Rijeka, Split, Trieste, Ljubljana, Belgrade and Venice.

There is also a train station near the waterfront with services serving Istria and into Slovenia due to historical circumstance rather than back towards the rest of Croatia (though a connecting coach service operates for services to Rijeka and Zagreb). [TRAIN IS LJUBLJANA-PULA]

By sea
Hydrofoil services operate from the wharf both around the Croatian coastline, and across to Venice. These are pricey, though provide a quick journey and provide some great views.

Venezia Lines ferry connects Pula with Venice. It runs five times a week, travel time is around 3hr.

[ladydi]

After a couple of days feeling very confused on how to reach Pula, I finally opted to fly from the US to London (this is not a great problem as I work for Delta and will use them from Detroit to Heathrow and back). Transfer to Stansted. Overnight in a hotel close to the airport (probably asleep most of the time to catch up on jetlag), and then booked (full fare..yikes) on RyanAir VERY early in the morning to Pula. Returning the same route on Sunday the 4th, but with an overnight stay at the terminal 4 Hilton. As much as I've always wanted to see Venice, being by myself in the middle of prime tourist season just didn't make sense. Especially when Croatia is incredibly reasonable. And coaches from Zagreb seemed to take many hours.

Perhaps will rent a car in Pula to explore a little, as it is such a beautiful country....even inland. However, feel very relaxed now to have flights, hotel in Pula, and most importantly, a concert ticket! Thanks Jarkko!