Green Card for Bosnia/ Croatia
 

I am intending to drop into Dubrovnik(Croatia) & travel coastwards towards Split (Croatia)...I believe there is a border that is stopping me Bosnia. To buy a green card...could anyone confirm the price for 1 bike or indeed if Google map is correct!

Thanks in advance

You had to cross Bosnia and you need green card (in the peak of the season they will probably just wave you through, but you never known).

Thanks very much for the prompt response!

You do have to pass through a 12 mile stretch of Bosnia but you will be waved through and you can't buy temporary cover at that crossing.

doing the croatia bosnia croatia border
 

I intend doing exactly the same around 22nd Aug. Have you done this yet ? If not I will try and remember to post my experience for you. If Blocked my plan "B" is to travel to trpanj on the peninsular and by boat to ploce

Normally you won't encounter any problems, just say you are on "tranzit", you will be waved through.

Your plan B is much more interesting, though. It takes maybe 2 more hours, but it is a nice drive.

Kind regards, enjoy your trip.

Groupama do Green cards for Bosnia. You need to be insured with them to start with though. £30 ish

We bought insurance at the border at Metkovic three years ago on the way through Croatia to Mostar in Bosnia.

Don't worry I went though twice this year and twice last year, wave you straight through only stop the Croatian and bosnian plates, I think the border guards are ordered to not interrupted holiday makers on route unless they shoot at you, (I think)

Just looked at plate & gb sticker waved through. No gun fire.

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May 12th 2014
 

We just crossed this morning, Canadian bike, all they asked for was our passports, ( helmets stayed on )

We were through in less than 5 minutes no lineups.

There are no issues on this coastal road. You will be checked if heading through the border into Bosnia proper( towards Mostar) and will require the insurance (Osigoranje) to be bought there.

Crossed in a car Easter 2013 (Macedonian plates) and there was nobody there at the transit bit.

For information green card insurance for a Yamaha XT motorcycle on UK plates: (in May 2014)

Turkey - 20$
Macedonia - 50€ for 15 days minimum, Dzvegor crossing
Kosovo - 15€, Elez Han crossing
Montenegro - 10€, Pec/Peje north crossing
Bosnia - 25€, Cajnice crossing

Charles, thanks very much for posting that summary of insurance costs.

I'm in Zadar at the moment, planning on poking my way through the former Yugoslavian countries, and I have found it very confusing and difficult to find information about the insurance requirements and availability for all these countries.

Your post above is very helpful, thanks again.

Michael

Hi Pan, if you will have any problems or questions about the region just send me a PM. If you're coming through Zagreb, stop by for a cold beer beer

ride on

Dooby

Thanks Dooby, very kind of you to offer that.

Right now, I am in Zadar. I think I will ride to Banja Luka tomorrow, then onwards to Sarajevo, then Mostar, then southward into Albania. But, I might come through Zagreb on the way back, and if I do, I will certainly contact you.

Michael

Hi Pan,

no prob, I would suggest this route: Zadar-Gracac-Doljani-Bos. Petrovac-Kljuc-Jajce-Bugojno-jablanica-Konjic-sarajevo. Skip Banjaluka, its a boring city nothing really to see there at all.

From Sarajevo-Mostar-Ploce-ferry to Trpanj on Peljesac peninsula (Dingac wine region, small coastal road through tunnel)-from Trstenik-Ston (restaurant Kapetanova kuca-try oysters and sea food, amazing ;-) ; then Ston-Dubrovnik-bay of Kotor-NJegus mausoleum-Rijeka crnojevica-Skadar lake-Albania-Tirana-Elbasan pass, and I would stick to the northern part of the country if you're into offroad and gorgeous Albanian alps.

If you need anything more write here or PM me, and I'll keep the cold beer in the fridge just in case ,

ride on

Dooby

Can I make a suggestion for a slight detour from the above route to take in the town of Travnik. Some have described it as a mini Istanbul which is perhaps pushing it a little, but nevertheless a town rich in history and well worth the effort.

You're totally right Paco, I was thinking to mention the old town and beautiful fortress, and famous Travnicki cheese. Travnik is also a birthplace of famous writer and nobel prize winner Ivo Andric,

ride on

Dooby

Hi Dooby:

Thanks very much for the route suggestions and the invite.

Since I last posted on this thread, I have travelled south through Bosnia, Montenegro, Albania, gone all around the Peloponnese in Greece, and I'm now in Skopje, Macedonia, heading north. The most enjoyable countries so far (since leaving Bosnia) have been Montenegro and Macedonia.

I plan to go into Kosovo later this week, then duck into Montenegro again so as to enter Serbia via Montenegro (rather than from Kosovo, which I understand might vex the Serbs). I'm not sure of my route after that, whether or not I will go north into Hungary, or west into Croatia.

For sure, if I come near Zagreb, I will look you up. I was in Zagreb once before, but that was a long time ago, when Tito was still running the place. I suppose it has changed a bit since then. :)

Michael

Hi Michael,

no probs, I'm glad I could be of help for your plans.

Like for every HUBB-er or ADVrider inmate I'll keep cold beer in the fridge of Lobagola B&B just in case you stop by to say hi bier

Since Tito Zagreb has changed a lot. Guests tend to say that it's just started to look like Prag, bohemian vise.

Enjoy the ride, I wish I could come along :clap:

Dooby

Some great ideas on routes there :thumbup1:

I'm hoping to be down that area next year and was wondering how long it will take from Bihac to Mostar via Jajce? Similar question to how long is a piece of string I know, so exclude any stops, and not breaking the speed limit (too often), though Jajce looks a nice place to have a wander around.

Hi John,

It's totally doable in one day, without big stops, you'll be fine :thumbup1:

Thanks :thumbup1: google maps reckon on 4.5 hours at 70kph average, which isn't excessive, the difficulty is knowing how accurate they are.

You should be fine doing that route in a day. Just keep an eye out for speed guns.

Duibhcek is right, speed guns, especially in the area around Doboj if you ride in that area. Monte negro police is the craziest one regarding the fines, bribing etc, totally crazy :thumbdown:

I just finished driving all the way across Montenegro today - I entered from Kosovo, and exited into Bosnia. More or less followed the eastern border of the country all the way.

The tricky thing about Montenegro speed limits is that they often don't make a lot of sense. For example, a twisty road way out in the middle of no-where will have a 40 km/h speed limit, even though it is very safe and prudent to travel at 80 km/h on most parts of it. Speed limits in towns and villages tend to be posted at 40 km/h, rather than the 'national' limit of 50 km/h in urban areas.

Best suggestion I can offer is that you just 'do what the locals do', and also try to be following behind a local when you enter a built-up area.

I saw 3 police checkpoints today, but was not stopped or flagged at any of them.

Michael

Riding behind a local cager is the best thing to do ;-)

Frgich:

I'm overnighting in Kutina tonight (about 80 km to the east) and will be passing through Zagreb early Sunday afternoon. Send me a SMS if you would like to get together for a coffee. I sent you a private message with my cell phone number.

Michael

Thanks for the stopover Michael, it was a pleasure to chat with you yesterday.

I'm glad we met, enjoy the ride,

Dooby

Balkans Insurance (Sept 2014)
 

Hi,

Having just got from Bulgaria via the non EU Balkan countries I thought I would post up the current costs of buying your motorbike insurance at the border crossings.

It would seem that most insurance companies don't offer green cards (or any sort of cover) for the 5 non EU countries (even though they are all in the process of applying to join)

All the crossings were very easy (the crossing from Albania to Montenegro was very busy..mega line of cars/lorries) but just bimble up the outside and there was a separate lane for bikes (the footpath between the booths....honestly)

They usually went like this:-
1. Pull up and hand over your passport and V5 doc (I took a colour photocopy (the original was in the lid of my pannier) and each border were happy with this.....saved the original getting dog-eared).
2. "Green Card"?...No, we need to buy insurance.....ok go there (point to office somewhere just across the border...
3. I would get off and walk to buy insurance (V5 needed)and was always asked for Euros in cash (be prepared)
4. Come back to border with insurance paper, show to border guard and off you go...simples...all the concerns we had were totally unfounded.

Macedonia (from Bulgaria) 50 Euros
Kosovo (from Macedonia) 15 Euros
Albania (from Kosovo) 13 Euros
Montenegro (from Albania) 10 Euros
Bosnia (from Montenegro) 16 Euros

So Macedonia was the only one that seemed expensive but that was offset by everything there being soooo cheap (and I thought Bulgaria was cheap)

These countries are great and worth a visit before they do enter the EU and change much more.

Archival Note:

Additional information (as of summer 2014) about insurance prices and availability in the countries of former Yugoslavia can be found at this discussion:

Balkans Insurance - Here's the story, with details & sample documents.

Michael

Up to date info for insurance
 

Does anyone have any up to date information for getting insurance for Bosnia or do the previous post still stand for prices? I have been in touch with my insurers and I am covered for most of the Balkan area I would like to visit. But I will need to get insurance for Bosnia. Looking at entering from Croatia and leaving into Serbia.


Wayne

Wayne - I crossed from Croatia into Bosnia on the 12th June - just two weeks ago. I bought insurance at the border. The cost was 40 Marks (about 15 quid.) Use local cash (not euros) to settle the premium.

If you cross at the Novi Grad border, as I did, then note that there's a bank ATM just down the street from the little border insurance office; therefore getting some BiH Marks quickly, shouldn't be a problem for you.

Furthermore, please give my regards to the customs officer there, Aleksandar Pavkovic (Top Bloke), always assuming he's on duty at the time. Aleks and I have even exchanged a few private e-mails since then.

Serbia insurance? The Serbian border officials never asked for it, or even advised that I needed it .. so I just carried-on riding through to Romania [a-hem] uninsured, so to speak. Not recommended ..obviously! :innocent:

best

Keith

Keith

Great info thanks a lot, and will say hi if I cross there. My insurer covers me for Serbia. The list below is what they sent me. Through Carole Nash with Aviva and for a 90 day stretch at any one time and includes breakdown.

Please find below a list of EU countries allowed on your policy.

EU Countries

Austria
Belgium
Bulgaria
Croatia
Cyprus
Czech Republic
Denmark
Estonia
Finland
France
Germany
Greece
Hungary
Ireland
Italy
Latvia
Lithuania
Luxembourg
Malta
Netherlands
Poland
Portugal
Romania
Serbia
Slovakia
Slovenia
Spain
Sweden

No EU countries/Principalities not requiring green card

Andorra
Liechtenstein
Monaco
Norway
San Marino
Switzerland
Vatican City
Iceland

This seems to be a common thing - my insurer too (Adelaide) told me they'll cover me in Croatia and Serbia (no green card needed), but won't cover any further even if I pay them.

I'm planning a trip to Istanbul via Greece in September and will only cross the small "transit" part of Bosnia (Naum corridor), so I hope to get through with no insurance there. Plan B is the ferry to the peninsula. I have Russian passport which means even though I don't need a visa, this will probably raise more questions hence more chance to ask for insurance.

I will report back once I've done the trip, but any reports on the current status beforehand would be very helpful!

I crossed into Bosnia this morning at the ivanice crossing, near Dubrovnik and the Montenegrin border. Bought insurance right at the border post for 30 euro. I'm sure I got ripped off, but at least it was quick and easy...

The road to Sarajevo, route 20, which runs near the Montenegrin border, is one of the best I've been on...great scenery, no traffic. Great ride today!

Ouuuuuuu yeaaaah that route is amazing, love that road and at the end treat yourself with some good cevapcici and baklava :thumbup1:

Dooby

Anyone crossed that bit of Bosnia around Neum to get from Split to Dubrovnik this year? Might be there in September, so just wanting to check that it is still a non-issue.

Also, just in case, is the Ploče-Trpanj ferry (Jadrolinija 633) reasonably reliable?

Iain

We just rode the Neum Corridor last month. Nobody checked for insurance.