Flight time
2h 20m
Best season
April–June & September–October
Budget
Budget to mid-range
Best for
Culture, food, coffee culture, value, authenticity
Overview
Why Zagreb for a city break?
Zagreb is Croatia's most underrated destination — a Central European capital of Austro-Hungarian grandeur, excellent museums, one of the finest coffee cultures in the Balkans and a food scene that has genuinely arrived in the past decade. Where Dubrovnik is overwhelmed and Split is seasonal, Zagreb is a proper functioning capital city that rewards visitors year-round with the things that actually make a city interesting: the markets, the museums, the neighbourhood bars and the remarkable Museum of Broken Relationships, which is both more moving and more entertaining than it sounds.
From most UK airports it's around two hours twenty minutes — direct flights from London and a handful of regional airports, with good connections via Vienna or Munich. Zagreb Airport is 17km from the centre (bus €7, 30 minutes). The city is excellent value by Western European standards — a good dinner with wine costs £20–25, coffee culture is a way of life rather than a habit, and most of the best things to do are free or very cheap. Plitvice Lakes National Park — one of the most beautiful natural sites in Europe — is two hours away by bus.
Where to stay & explore
Zagreb's best neighbourhoods
Gornji Grad (Upper Town)
The medieval upper town — St Mark's Church with its coloured tile roof, the Croatian Parliament, the Lotrščak Tower and the funicular connecting upper and lower towns.
Donji Grad (Lower Town)
The Austro-Hungarian grid — the main square (Trg bana Jelačića), the tram network, the museums and the café terraces that are the heart of Zagreb's social life.
Tkalčićeva Street & Gornji Grad
Zagreb's most atmospheric pedestrian street — cafés, bars and restaurants in 19th-century buildings, the most vibrant outdoor social scene in the city, and the gateway to the upper town.
Things to do
What to see in Zagreb
1
Museum of Broken Relationships
The most original museum in the Balkans — a global collection of objects donated by people from ended relationships, each with a short explanation of the story behind it. A Russian army officer's coat. A prosthetic leg. A garden gnome. The cumulative effect of 100 stories of love and loss, displayed in a beautiful upper-town palace, is genuinely affecting and often darkly funny. One of the most visited museums in Croatia. Book online.
2
Dolac Market
Zagreb's main open-air market, operating since 1930 on the edge of the upper town — the red umbrella stalls selling vegetables, fruit, flowers and local produce every morning (busiest Tuesday to Saturday) are the finest introduction to Zagreb's daily life. The covered fish and meat market below has the best cheese (paški sir from the island of Pag, the finest in Croatia) and the best dried figs. Go before 10am; stallholders pack up by noon.
3
St Mark's Church & the Upper Town
The 13th-century St Mark's Church with its extraordinary coloured tile roof displaying the coats of arms of Croatia, Dalmatia and Slavonia alongside the Zagreb city emblem — one of the most photographed images in Croatia. The upper town around it — the Lotrščak Tower (climb it for the view; the canon fires at noon daily), the Croatian Natural History Museum, the Croatian Museum of Naïve Art — is the finest historic area in Zagreb.
4
Mirogoj Cemetery
The finest cemetery in the Balkans and one of the most beautiful in Europe — the arcaded entrance designed by Hermann Bollé in 1876, the tree-lined avenues, the extraordinary variety of funerary monuments from the 19th century to the present. Zagreb's notables (politicians, writers, artists, footballers) are buried here in a park-like landscape of surprising beauty. Free, open daily. 10 minutes by tram from the city centre.
Food & drink
Where to eat in Zagreb
Noel
Modern Croatian / fine dining
The finest restaurant in Zagreb — chef Goran Kočiš's modern Croatian tasting menu uses the extraordinary produce of Croatian regions (Istrian truffles, Pag lamb, Adriatic seafood, Slavonian pork) with technique and precision that has brought Zagreb to the attention of serious food travellers. Book well ahead.
Vinodol
Traditional Croatian / covered courtyard
The most atmospheric traditional restaurant in Zagreb — in a covered courtyard just off Tkalčićeva Street, Vinodol serves the classics of Croatian cooking: lamb under peka (slow-cooked in embers), mlinci (pasta-like flatbreads with roast meat), strukli (baked cheese dumplings) and excellent Plavac Mali red wine. Order 24 hours ahead for the peka.
Mundoaka Street Food
Street food / casual
The finest casual lunch in Zagreb — a creative street food menu with an Adriatic focus (octopus salad, grilled fish, seasonal vegetables) in a relaxed courtyard space. The most popular lunch spot in the city centre. Go early or queue.
Itinerary
3 days in Zagreb — a suggested itinerary
Day 1
Dolac Market, upper town, Museum of Broken Relationships
Bus from Zagreb Airport to the bus station (€7, 30 minutes), then tram to the main square (Trg bana Jelačića). Walk to Dolac Market first thing — the red umbrella stalls, the cheese from Pag, the bread and the flowers. Coffee at one of the Dolac-adjacent cafés. Funicular to the upper town (€0.66 for the 64-metre ride, the world's shortest funicular with a ticket system). St Mark's Church and the surrounding streets; the Lotrščak Tower (noon canon). Museum of Broken Relationships (book online, allow 90 minutes). Walk back down through Tkalčićeva Street — the café terrace culture of Zagreb at its finest. Vinodol for dinner.
Day 2
Mirogoj Cemetery, the museums, Plitvice option
Tram to Mirogoj Cemetery in the morning (10 minutes, Line 106) — the arcaded entrance, the avenues of extraordinary monuments, the Bollé architecture. Back to the lower town for the museums: the Mimara Museum (an extraordinary private collection of Old Masters, Chinese art, pre-Columbian artefacts and decorative arts — one of the most diverse collections in Central Europe), or the Zagreb City Museum in the upper town for the local history. Mundoaka for lunch. Afternoon in the Lauba gallery (contemporary Croatian art in a former factory) or shopping along Ilica Street. Tkalčićeva for evening drinks; Noel if booked.
Day 3
Plitvice Lakes day trip or a slow market morning
Plitvice Lakes National Park — a UNESCO World Heritage Site of 16 turquoise lakes connected by 90 waterfalls, all in karst limestone canyon — is two hours by bus from Zagreb's main bus station (around €15 return). The wooden boardwalks pass directly over the clearest water in Croatia. Allow four hours at the park; take the Upper and Lower Lake circuits. Return to Zagreb by late afternoon. Alternatively, a slow final morning in Zagreb: the Antique Flea Market at Britanac Square (Saturdays, 8am–2pm, the best antiques market in Croatia), the British Square café terraces, lunch at one of the Tkalčićeva restaurants. Tram to the bus station for the airport bus.
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