Back from the trip, thanks for the advice from all, went with Neil’s opinion and went for 2 different routes as it a holiday and with that in mind split the journey down and back with an overnight stay on each leg. Hard to sightsee at 110kph in the dark. For me the drive was as good as the holiday, the roads were great, not that much traffic and everything is clean. The views were stunning all the way down, just a great driving journey.
We left home at 10.00, its a 15 minute drive through back roads until we hit the E75 north of Częstochowa, from there we head south to Katowice turning off towards Tychy, this part of the route is a fast expressway with lots of traffic lights, somehow its fun as everyone jostles for position. from there we head toward Bielsko-Biała and lose the traffic by routing towards Żywiec as we are using a quite crossing into Slovakia, so quite the road is un-named, but the nearest town in SK is Skalite. Not sure were the border is, but the shop at the top of the hill is Slovakian, so lets say its about there 
The shop sells us Slovakian road tax, we are still to travel in SK 8 days from this point, so we buy a months at 14 euros.
shop at the top of the hill…
We drive a few B-roads until we hit the Zilina were I get some diesel and from there on its motorway all the way to Hungary. We stop at a rest area, not a spot of rubbish to be seen, its spotless, play area for kids and a small cafe which serve a damm fine cup of coffee. A couple of policeman are outside, hear my English and we have a chat, one of them has a son working in Manchester, the weather is late 20’s and a blazing sun, I am liking the holiday already.
We hit Bratislava around 15.30, the traffic builds up a bit, but nothing to slow you down, I would say that its the signposts on this journey that give me a tingle, we past signs from Bratislava, Zagreb, Budapest, Split, for me it borders on exotic… On a postscript to SK, they drive real slow on A roads, but give them a motorway and they are off, but seem to have a habit of trying to scrape the insects of you front bumper when pulling in.
15 minutes from Bratislava we arrive at the Hungarian border and time to buy some more road tax. The Croatian version is a very ■■■■ pink sticker, the HU version is just a bit of paper for 12 euros for 10 days, still one less thing to try and scrap of the window. The M15 is busy and boy the HU people drive like the wind. We were going to do the whole trip in one go, but as its holiday we put a stop in, my route was turn off onto A roads before Gyor and drive local to the HR border, so the stop is about halfway and thats a place called Papa, I doubt anyone has a reason to go there, its not on a main route at all. The hotel was chosen from a web-site, looked really good on that web-site, did i say hotel, well perhaps a motel…did I say motel, okay how about 6 rooms on top of some garages. No one is there, so we call the number and a guy arrives with a key to let us in, also we get a key so the car can be parked in a compound, the area looks like a council estate, no idea if its rough, but Hungarian is not a language thats easy to deal with, so we go to a supermarket and manage to buy something to eat. Still the motel is not to bad, they made a nice job of it
the breakfast room…
the room, no photo’s of the inside as the camera would not fit 
one for euromat
The owner arrived in his car at 8.00 with a Hungarian breakfast, a great selection of meats, cheese and bread, warm enough to eat outside, All in all it cost 25 pounds for the both of us, we liked the place. We set off via a million b-roads through beautiful small villages until we arrived at the E66, an almost traffic free A-road, turning off towards Zaaegerszeg and south to the M7 and the border to Croatia.
We changed some money at the border for a very bad exchange rate, in my defence we booked the holiday as it was an offer a few days before travel so preparation was not the best. At the border we show our passports at the HU side and again at the HR side were a very important bloke with badges galore has the power of making it hard or easy, he goes easy and we are on the A4 were the scenery picks up a bit, rolling mountains covered in forest. No tax for cars in HR, its tolled, so first toll is 3km from the border and that ends near Zargrab and starts again at the start of the A1, each exit has a toll station to collect. We are keen to arrive, so only stop for a coffee on the motorway once and press on. We exit at the motorway towards Seni, nice and pretty A roads, but sometimes you see scares from the war. We crest a hill and this is the view.
Its a steep decent to the bottom, we meet an old Mercedes artic struggling up the hill with half of the Croatian cars following it or so it seemed. At the bottom we arrive to this.
Its just beautiful here, the weather is hot, the drive was great, its looking good.
We travel along the coast for about 70km until we arrive at Zigljen were we need to catch a ferry to our destination on Pag, no sign our ferry but this one was docked here.
It seems we are a bit early, but after an hour we are aboard for a 20 minute crossing to Prizna, from there its a 30 minute drive to Jakisinca and the hotel, we are given a super room or rooms really, we get a sea view, i like mountains and I like the sea, so I have both here heaven.
We get outside and to the sea which is about 30m from the hotel and watch the sunset.
the local village
another one for euromat
a trip out to the city of Pag
Pag
couple of old 'uns
the local wine is very good, and they sell it in old beer bottles very cheap, good recycling in my book
the pool in the evening
Can recommend this place, the food was great, the locals seem friendly, great weather, beautiful surroundings. Not so many westerners, mostly PL, SK,SLO,HU and Croatians, from the west it was Germans, Austrians, but everyone at the hotel spoke English.
Time to leave and back to the ferry. We turn right at the dock as we are going another route out, just 20km to Karlobag an then turn left to start the assent. This is a 40km longer route, but this one gets my vote and I would come in this way as the views are not hidden by forests as the way in was. It seems just as you think you have seen the last view of the sea, the next corner brings it back. we park at the last possible view and take one last look. The descent back down is replacen with tree lined mountains and is as stunning, so my choice of route would be Gospic to Karlobag, its all on this route, beautiful villages, mountains, forests, then wham, the sea view from 900m above and the hairpin bends to sea level.
From Gospic we are back on the A1 40km perhaps further south than we left a few days earlier, its a weekday but no real traffic, just sit back and enjoy the mountains, tunnels and smooth highway.At Zagreb my sat nav informs me the next turning is left in 325km. Back into Hungary and as we near Budapest the traffic builds up, we arrive at 16.30, not the best tine as Budapest has no ring road as such, so we go through the centre, its as arse as you can imagine
Budapest
Once through the city we are heading to the Slovakian border at Sahy were we will stay the night a little further in at Dudince. The roads are busy, some motorway, some dual, some single, steady away really. We arrive at the hotel at 20.00. Its a 70’s disaster of a hotel, check in took 20 minutes, it reminded me of hotels in Belarus, not a good night really, so we were up at 6.30 and ready to get the hell out.
this should give you the feel of the place.
The weather at 7.00 was misty with sun poking through, so i am still in shorts and flip flops. We are using the E77 towards Poland, at Banska Bystrica I fill the car up again and all hell breaks loose, rain like nothing i have ever seen, this becomes the theme of the day 
from this city i use the A roads towards Poprad, cutting off to B roads and over mountain passes, alas mostly covered in storm clouds.
From Poprad head a little further and then turn towards Poland dropping down into Zakopane, but the High Tatra mountains are hiding in the clouds today We arrive at lunchtime, the town is busy as its a Friday, we eat at a restaurant, i wanted to end the holiday here as its were I proposed to my wife 5 years ago, if only the weather had been better, the sight of me changing from shorts and flip flops into something more befitting of the weather seem to have upset the locals
The journey back home should have taken 4 hours, but took 7 hours, ahh bad weather and a Friday in Poland, I should have guessed it would not go well.
Again thanks for the advice, it was a perfect holiday and trip
