Jam-free drive to the Adriatic: Budapest-sea motorway’s last section finished!

After nearly twenty years of anticipation, the final missing stretch of the motorway linking Budapest to the Adriatic Sea will open this fall in Croatia. This new connection promises a faster and more convenient route for Hungarian travellers headed to the coast, cutting travel time between Budapest and Osijek to just two hours and eliminating traffic bottlenecks.

Two decades of work, EUR 46 million investment

The expressway project leading to the Adriatic has been underway for almost twenty years, according to Tőzsdefórum. The last stretch to be completed is a mere five kilometres connecting Beli Manastir to the Hungarian border, linking Croatia’s A5 motorway to Hungary’s M6.

The project cost EUR 46 million, fully funded by the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development. Eight new engineered structures were built along the section, including the 318-meter Karasica Viaduct, which spans both a river and a railway line.

Smooth ride to the Adriatic – almost

Thanks to the new motorway section, drivers can now travel from Budapest through Osijek and Sarajevo all the way to the Adriatic Sea via expressway—at least through the Hungarian and Croatian segments. However, the portion crossing Bosnia and Herzegovina remains incomplete.

Between Sarajevo and the coast, travellers still alternate between motorways and regular roads, and the southern sections of the A1 motorway are not yet continuous. By 2028, the entire Budapest–Ploče corridor could be completed under the Corridor Vc project.