Brotherhood and Unity Highway

Understand

The highway project was initiated by the long-time Yugoslavian leader Josip Broz Tito to improve road transport and unify the country according to the Communist Party motto "Brotherhood and Unity" which would also become the name for the highway. The road had a length of 1,182 km (734 mi) and work was begun in 1947. It was built in parts, and was intended to become a divided highway/motorway throughout but come 1991 and the beginning of the Yugoslavian wars only half of it was built to that standard (the rest as two-lane undivided highway). Unsurprisingly the highway was numbered 1 in the Yugoslavian road network, today the routing is made up of highways A2 in Slovenia, A3 in Croatia, A3 and A1 in Serbia, and A1 in North Macedonia. In addition, since 1975 the whole road is part of the European highway network, and signposted as E61 from the Austrian border to Ljubljana, as E70 to Belgrade, and as E75 to the Greek border.

History and myth During the Cold War the road indeed became an important route, perhaps even the route between Western and Southeastern Europe, for example for so called "guest workers" travelling between West Germany and Turkey, which made this road (simply referred to as "The Autoput") a part of the Gastarbeiterroute. As there was plenty of traffic and it was common to drive long distances with little sleep, accidents were common and it earned a reputation as one of the most dangerous roads in Europe. The cars of both locals and visitors were often not up to the latest standards and - especially those of so called guest workers - overloaded with all sorts of things that were carried from the old home to the new or vice versa. Some cars also ended up having the Autoput as the last dive they'd ever take - either intentionally as barely roadworthy cars were transferred that way to take it apart at the destination to use the salvageable parts and scrap the rest or in an unplanned fashion as accidents, the strain of a long distance drive, or poor maintenance gave an aging car its coup de grâce. The road became legendary for its abysmal quality (which certainly grew in the telling) and the sheer never-ending drives experienced by a generation on

Prepare

The road is a toll road throughout. In Slovenia you pay for a "vignette", a pass valid for a week, a month or a year and you can drive as much as you like on Slovenian motorways during the time it's valid. In the other countries there are toll booths and you pay for the distance you drive. Along the road you will always be close to populated areas, and it doesn't take much effort to find places to eat, sleep and fill up. Slovenia and Croatia are, like Austria and Greece, part of the European Union, Schengen area and Eurozone. Kosovo (a short sidetrip away) uses the euro as its currency. The other countries have their own currencies, border formalities, visa and other requirements. For example, to drive into Serbia and North Macedonia, you need a vehicle document known as a "green card" showing you have a valid traffic insurance. To drive in Kosovo, you have to buy a national traffic insurance at the border. While the border crossings are relatively painless by global standards, they are for the most part not the "you barely notice you're in a new country now" of the rest of Europe and especially if a member of your party is traveling on an "exotic" passport, it is useful to read up on current visa regulations and whether you'll need a multiple entry Schengen visa if you plan to head back to the Schengen Zone afterwards. The famously petty at times foreign relations between Balkan countries do sometimes affect travel, but the case that tends to flare up most often (Serbia/Kosovo) isn't directly on this route. Still, read up on it before your trip, lest you find yourself at a closed border due to some diplomatic incident you don't care to understand or opine on other than that it negatively impacts people who are definitely innocent in the whole matter. If you plan to make the trip in a rental car, check with the rental company beforehand if they allow you to take the vehicle across borders. Sometimes it's easier to rent a car in country A and take it to country B, so if you intend to do the trip by car in only one direction, check that early when making plans. The countries have a developed bus network, so you can travel the itinerary without driving. See Bus t

Go

Distances in this itinerary are given in kilometres from north to south, and to the first motorway exit serving the city in the marker (when coming from the north).

Slovenia The Slovenian section is 174.5 km long and follows highway A2. It begins at the 7.864 km long Karawanks tunnel connecting to the Austrian highway A11. Like all of the itinerary the Slovenian section is tolled, but this toll is paid by purchasing a vignette which you can do online or at vending points in Slovenia or border countries and if you haven't done it yet, do so at the border. It's not a windscreen sticker any longer but a virtual vignette connected to your car's license plate. The motorway has barely emerged out of the tunnel before it crosses a branch of the Sava river, a river that will follow the highway until Belgrade, though at some places tens of kilometres away from the road. Like Austria, Slovenia is also part of the EU and Schengen area so the border crossing isn't much notable and the landscape is still clearly Alpine. Not far away is the first city, 1 Jesenice (7 km) – a town with a long tradition in mining and metal industry. After Jesenice Sava is crossed again, and then comes the exit Lesce where a road goes to Bled, and after that 2 Radovljica (24 km), an old historical town with an agriculture museum. At the other side of Sava, and a bit south is 3 Srednja Dobrava (exit Brezje, 28 km), a village with nice views of the mountains, close to Bled, Radovljica and Kropa. Next up is a somewhat bigger city, 4 Kranj (39 km), the historical capital of Carniola set on the Kokra river flowing through a deep canyon and famous for the Khislstein Castle. Outside Kranj, the road passes next to Ljubljana airport. An interesting fact is that this highway will pass next to the airports of all four national capitals along it. By now the landscape has become notably flatter but there are still mountains further away on all sides.

At the outskirts of the Slovenian capital, the road crosses Sava once more. 5 Ljubljana (exit Šentvid, 65 km), the picturesque pint-sized capital, is passed on the western and southern side but the city is definitely worth a stop. The hilly city is known for

Go next

Thessaloniki is the obvious choice for going next if you've ended the trip at the southern end. From there you can explore the rest of Greece or head to Istanbul. In the northern end, cross the Karawanks tunnel to Austria. Villach is the nearest major city and Central Europe is ahead of you.