~1,900 km, 2 days, four countries. The eastern route via Regensburg and Slovenia — what Tesla mapping picks for this trip, and what years of doing it have taught us.
We have driven Copenhagen to the Adriatic in our Tesla for the past 4+ years. About 1900 km via the Storebælt bridge, Jutland and Germany. We do it in 2 days — it is the Supercharger stops that make it bearable. We never take the ferry, and we never drive the Sweden route.
The route runs Copenhagen → Storebælt → Jutland → Padborg border → Hamburg → Würzburg → Regensburg (overnight) → Passau → Salzburg → Slovenia → Zagreb → Zadar. About 1900 km if you aim for Zadar in northern Dalmatia. With Superchargers every 200-300 km the breaks happen on their own. Our typical rhythm: 12-13 hours on day 1 ending around Regensburg, then 6-8 hours on day 2 down to the coast. Day 1 is long on the clock but not long behind the wheel — there is a difference, and it is the whole reason the trip works.
Copenhagen → Regensburg
Storebælt bridge, Jutland, Padborg border, German autobahn — Superchargers set the pace. Overnight in the UNESCO-listed medieval city.
Regensburg → Zadar
Passau, Salzburg, Slovenia's green corridor, the Maslenica drop to the Adriatic — the moment the holiday begins.
We do not drive the Brenner pass. We take the eastern route via Regensburg, Passau, Salzburg and Slovenia — it has the densest Supercharger coverage and the most flexible overnight options.
| Leg | Distance | Driving time | Breaks |
|---|---|---|---|
| Copenhagen → Padborg (DK-DE border) | ~320 km | ~3.5 hrs | 1 Supercharger + Storebælt bridge stop |
| Padborg → Hamburg → Würzburg | ~520 km | ~5 hrs | 2 Superchargers + lunch |
| Würzburg → Regensburg (overnight) | ~220 km | ~2.5 hrs | 1 Supercharger + dinner |
| Regensburg → Salzburg/Slovenia | ~430 km | ~4.5 hrs | 1-2 Superchargers + lunch |
| Slovenia → Zadar (Croatia) | ~410 km | ~4.5 hrs | 1 Supercharger + dinner break |
Total: about 1900 km, around 20 hours of pure driving. We normally do day 1 = 12-13 hours (~1050 km to Regensburg) and day 2 = the rest (~870 km to Zadar).
We almost always pull in at the Fakta supermarket in Harrislee, the first town south of the German border. Classic Danish-German cross-border shop — soft drinks, beer, snacks at meaningfully lower German prices. It has become part of the rhythm. For anyone heading south from Denmark it is worth ten minutes.
The breaks make the difference. 12-13 hours on day 1 is NOT 12 hours behind the wheel — it is 8-9 hours of actual driving spread across Supercharger stops every 200-300 km.
That is the most important mental shift for anyone new to long-distance EV driving: the Supercharger breaks are part of the pace, not an obstacle to it. If you plan as though they are NOT breaks, you will arrive exhausted. If you plan as though they ARE breaks (and they are), you arrive relaxed even after 13 hours on the road.
German autobahn is fine. But Slovenia is where you actually start to relax — the autobahn ends, the Alps soften into hills, and you can feel the holiday begin before you have even hit the coast.Bo
Our rhythm looks like this:
The short version: you are never more than about 50 km from a Supercharger on this route. Tesla has built out density across all four countries in recent years.
Germany has Europe's densest Supercharger network. On this route you pass, among others, Hamburg (Stillhorn), Hannover, Kassel, Würzburg, Nürnberg and München. The majority are V3 (250 kW) or faster V4 sites. Prices in 2026 sit in the region of 0.40-0.50 EUR/kWh — verify in the Tesla app, as Tesla now uses dynamic pricing that shifts with grid load.
Salzburg has a large Supercharger just outside the city, plus Spittal an der Drau if you take the Tauern tunnel route. Austrian prices are typically in the same range as German.
Maribor and Ljubljana both have Superchargers. Slovenia is surprisingly well covered for a small country — it sits on the through-route for all of western Europe's EV traffic heading to the Adriatic.
Zagreb has multiple Superchargers, Karlovac has one beside the A1 motorway, and the coast has sites at Zadar, Šibenik, Split and further south. The A1 south to Dalmatia is the well-covered axis. The Karlovac site sits roughly midway between Zagreb and Plitvice.
If you are heading north toward Istria (Pula, Rovinj) you will NOT pass many Superchargers — plan for charging in Rijeka or use the Ionity CCS network. The motorway south to Dalmatia is the well-covered axis; the coastal road through inland Croatia is thinner.
This is where people get expensive surprises. Sort them in the days before departure, not at the border crossing where kiosks charge a healthy markup.
| Country | System | Price | Where to buy |
|---|---|---|---|
| Germany | None for passenger cars | 0 EUR | — |
| Austria | Digital vignette | ~€12 (10 days) | shop.asfinag.at |
| Slovenia | E-vignette (DarsGo) | ~€16 (7 days) | evinjeta.dars.si |
| Croatia | Pay-per-km (motorway) | ~€12-17 Zagreb–Split | ENC transponder or cash/card at toll gate |
Prices are approximate and verified 2026-05-24. Official adjustments happen annually — check the official sites before your trip.
(1) Do NOT buy at petrol stations right before the border — they often add a 30-50% markup. Buy online the day before.
(2) Slovenia's e-vignette is plate-recognition. Buy it pointing at the correct number plate. If you have an old Croatian ENC transponder in the car, make sure it still works before the gate.
We take one overnight, almost always around Regensburg — roughly 1050 km from Copenhagen, a near-perfect halfway point.
Search Regensburg hotels on Booking.com — filter on "EV charger". For an alternative midway point, search Salzburg hotels.
This is what we have learned that does not appear in the Tesla forums.
The A1 passes within 30 minutes of Plitvice Lakes. If you have any flexibility on day 2, leaving Regensburg early and finishing day 2 at Plitvice turns the trip into an actual holiday rather than just transport.
Two "clever" alternatives exist for the Tesla driver heading south from Scandinavia — we take neither.
The deeper take with numbers: bridge vs. ferry to Sweden — our choice on the way down.
For a car traveller heading to Croatia it is 4-5 hours longer, more expensive (Øresund toll plus the Trelleborg ferry to Germany), and you miss the Slovenia leg entirely. The Sweden route only makes sense if you were already going to Sweden.
If you do not own a Tesla but still want to drive yourself (recommended — public transport outside the major cities is sparse), fly to Zagreb or Split and rent a car there. We recommend Discover Cars as the aggregator — better cancellation terms than the smaller local firms. Also read: rental cars in Zagreb — the companies to avoid.
Tolls, Superchargers, ferries, speed cameras, parking apps — the practical Denmark layer of this exact trip is on our sister site.
Read on Road Trip Denmark"Remember — you are on holiday."
Day 1 ends when you are tired, not when the spreadsheet says so. The Bavarian village 40 km before the planned stop is a better midpoint — every time.
Why we never take the Rødby-Puttgarden ferry and skip the Sweden route entirely.
A natural day-1-in-Croatia stop right off the A1 — UNESCO turquoise lakes and waterfalls.
What you actually do once you arrive — our structure for a long summer with kids on the Adriatic.