Below is the detailed account of how we (US citizens) traveled from Belgrade, Serbia to Split, Croatia during the COVID-19 pandemic without having to quarantine for 14 days.
To enter Croatia as a US citizen you need to either:
- Have a negative COVID-19 PCR test no older than 48 hours upon arrival or,
- Quarantine for 14 days.
There are a few other conditions of entry, and the best source that we’ve found is this blog:
Travel Off Path: Croatia Has Reopened to Tourists From All Countries
Travel Off Path has been doing an amazing job keeping up with the changing entry requirements of not only Croatia, but every country in the world.
So, we needed to find a testing facility in Belgrade that had same day results to fly to Croatia the next day.
According to the US Embassy’s website (https://rs.usembassy.gov/serbia-covid-19-information/), the Torlak Institute in Belgrade offered PCR tests with same day results and no appointment needed so we went there the day before our flight to Split.
Torlak Institute
Vojvode Stepe 458, Belgrade (link in Google Maps)
(Opens at 8 AM, closed on Sundays)
The Line Outside the Gate
We arrived at the Torlak Institute about ten minutes before they opened and got into the line that had already formed outside the gate. There were several hundred people in front of us. After standing in line a while, we noticed everyone holding small slips of paper. It turned out we needed to pay for our tests ahead of time at a local bank or post office and bring these receipts with us to get tested.
Unfortunately, we missed this key piece of info during our research and had not prepaid. We expected to pay at the time of testing.
But like an angel from heaven, a man from the Torlak Institute walked up and handed us two numbers. He spoke just enough English to tell us to come back in about an hour when our numbers would likely be called. He also showed us an example of the payment receipt (see pic below) and told us where a nearby post office was to pay and come back before our numbers were called.
Using Google Maps and a little help from some locals, we found the post office where we paid for our tests (about $150 each).
If you are in Belgrade, search Google Maps for “Post of Serbia” or “Pošta Srbije.” They appear to be closed on Sundays.
Link to Belgrade area post offices
Once you are in the post office, show them the photo below. I literally just showed them this picture on my phone, and they knew what to do. (You can click the photo for a full size version.)
With our payment receipts in hand, we made our way back to the Torlak Institute to wait for our numbers to be called. After about 10-15 minutes of waiting, our numbers were called and we got to go inside the gates. They call the numbers in Serbian, so look around at other people’s numbers to see what numbers are being called.
All in all, we spent about a total of 2.5 hours waiting outside the gate.
First Line Inside the Gate
Immediately inside the gate, we got into a line where they checked our passports. This only took a few minutes and then they directed us to walk about 100m to another line that had formed in front of a few open windows on the side of the building.
Second Line Inside the Gate
There were two lines in front of two windows. It took us a while to figure out what the lines were, but the line on the left was for results and the line on the right was for testing.
We joined the line on the right and handed them our passports and email addresses (handwritten on a piece of paper). A Torlak Institute employee was inside the building logging each person’s name, passport info, email address, and the sample number from the testing vials they handed to us.
(Side note: they confirmed the spelling of Bill’s email address but not mine. It made me nervous that he was going to get his results but mine would get lost somewhere in the internet black hole.)
They handed us our passports and aforementioned testing vials and directed us to our next line which was about 20m off to the right.
This part of the process took about 10-15 minutes.
Third (and Final) Line Inside the Gate
With our passports and test vials in hand, we got into line to actually be tested. I handed the “nurse” my test vials and payment receipt and she swabbed each of my nostrils and the back of my throat. This part of the process was fast and only took a few minutes.
Interestingly, we left the institute with nothing – no receipt or no proof that we took the test – which made us nervous. In retrospect, I recommend at least taking a picture of your payment receipt with your phone for safekeeping.
The Waiting Game
The end-to-end testing process took us about three hours and then the waiting game ensued.
We heard it was best to bring hard-copies of test results to Croatia since Serbians apparently had a reputation for fraudulent electronic test results. Therefore, we were expecting/hoping to receive our results later in the day so we could print them at a local print shop before heading to the airport the next morning. Sadly, the rest of the day came and went and still no test results.
Flying to Split
We woke up the next morning and still did not have our test results but we headed to the airport to catch our flight to Split anyway.
At the airport, the ticketing agent had to confirm it was alright for us to fly to Croatia without a negative PCR test. We explained we took the test the day before and we were still waiting for our results. We also showed her the information we received from the Croatian Ministry of Tourism stating we could enter Croatia without test results but would have to quarantine until we received our results. She confirmed this with her manager and then politely handed us our boarding passes.
One of the lessons we learned is to print everything out. The rules of travel right now are extraordinarily complex and they change every day. Ticket agents have a hard time keeping up with who can and cannot go to each destination. If you can show them a printed copy of the rules, preferably from a government agency of the country you are trying to travel to, that will go a long way toward getting you to your destination.
Once we reached our gate, I checked my email.
SURPRISE! The email with my test results was sitting in my JUNK folder (probably because the email was primarily written in Serbian). It was such a relief to have my results, and it gave us hope that Bill’s results would be coming soon. Just to be safe, I went to the Air Serbia business lounge where they printed my results for me at no charge.
(Side note: if you get your test results back while you’re still in Belgrade, there are print & copy shops on almost every corner where you could print your results.)
When we approached to enter our gate area, the gate agent had the same concerns as the ticketing agent about our ability to fly to Croatia. We basically went through the same process with her as we did with the ticketing agent. We stood to the side while she called her manager who confirmed it was okay, and then she politely allowed us into the gate area.
During our flight we filled out a form with our personal information, travel plans, and the address of our first accommodation.
Arriving in Croatia
When our plane landed in Split, Bill still did not receive his results.
Fortunately, Passport Control in Split turned out to be pretty easy. I gave the agent my passport and printed test results, and she stamped and returned my passport.
(Side note: a gentleman in front of us only had an email copy of his results, so he forwarded it to the border agent while standing in line. This was sufficient and she let him through.)
Since Bill was still waiting for his results, the Passport Control agent told him he had to self-isolate until he got his results, at which time he should call the local epidemiologist to cancel his self-isolation order. She provided us a list of local epidemiologists in various Croatian cities along with their telephone numbers to call.
Another lesson we learned is to use the local language whenever possible. After arriving at our Airbnb, we repeatedly tried to follow up with the Torlak Institute on the status of Bill’s test. It was frustrating because they did not answer the phone or respond to our emails. After our failed attempts to reach anyone there, it occurred to us that we should try emailing them in Serbian, not English. This turned out to be the silver bullet because they responded right away with his results.
As it turned out, they had a typo in Bill’s email address which is why he hadn’t received them. Regardless, we were very happy to finally have his results!
(Side note: This was kind of funny because, if you remember, they confirmed the spelling of his email address the morning we got tested.)
The last step was to call the Croatian epidemiologist to get Bill’s self-isolation order canceled. He first tried calling the number provided by the Passport Control agent but nobody answered the phone (déjà vu?). He then sent an email to two generic email addresses from their website explaining the situation (including his test results) in both English and Croatian (lesson learned). Within less than an hour, he received confirmation that his self-isolation order was canceled.
Croatia is an incredibly beautiful country with wonderful people so it was absolutely worth the effort getting here! I hope you found our story helpful or at least a little amusing!
