30 things to do in Zagreb, Croatia’s underrated capital

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Here are some of my favourite things to do in Zagreb, Croatia. I recently spent 3 weeks in this brilliant and underrated city so I’ve been excited to write about everything I enjoy getting up to there. Zagreb is a charming city full of interesting history, good restaurants and an amazing craft beer scene. It has a chic café culture, beautiful architecture and the best selection of unusual museums in Europe. There’s a modern lower town with nice shops and bars, which is linked to a quaint and cobbled hilltop old town by a tiny funicular. Lush green parks surround the centre and it has a laid-back atmosphere with the feel of a smaller town rather than a capital.

Having visited Zagreb a couple of times over the years, I adore the city and could easily live there. It does my head in that people overlook it for other places in Croatia and don’t think of it as a good place for a European city break. Some people I’ve spoken to back home hadn’t even heard of it. Zagreb just doesn’t get the attention it deserves. 

If this all sounds up your street, read on for more detail on some lovely things to do in Zagreb that I personally recommend…

Things to do in Zagreb, Croatia

1. Go on the excellent free walking tour 

I probably say this in every blog post, but there is no better way to get your bearings in a new city than with a free walking tour. You get a good overview of the place from a local and a bit of its history. Zagreb’s ‘Free Spirit’ walking tour takes 2 hours and meets at 11am and 5pm by the statue of a horse in Ban Jelačić Square (Google Maps link). It’s obviously free but of course you should give the guide a tip at the end.

The guides are excellent and take you around all the main sights in Zagreb. If you do the 11am tour, you get the added bonus of experiencing the daily cannon fire from a tower over the city (more on that later). The main thing I took from doing the free walking tour (apart from working out where everything was) was more about the modern history of Zagreb. I had a rough idea about the Croatian War of Independence (known in Croatia as the Homeland War) but there’s nothing like hearing it face to face from a local. 

If you only have a short weekend or even one day in Zagreb (which I have an itinerary for there – shameless plug), this is a must-do.

2. Ride the shortest funicular in the world

At only 66 metres long, the dinky funicular in Zagreb is the shortest in the world. What a claim to fame.

Although the funicular is obviously a bit of a fun novelty and mildly pointless, it’s actually quite a handy method of getting from the lower town (Donji grad) to the upper town (Gornji grad). Otherwise, you have to trundle up some steps, which isn’t pleasant in the height of summer.

Every time I visit Zagreb, I find it impossible not to get the funicular at some point. Interestingly, it was built in the 1890s and was the first public transport in the city. It’s also never had an accident, which I suppose isn’t surprising given its size.

You can use your tram/bus pass to get on, if you’ve bought one for your stay. Otherwise, you can buy a ticket at the booth. About 0.70€ is all it takes to experience the whole 55 seconds of pure unfiltered funicular action. It goes from 6.30am to 10pm, every 10 minutes.

3. Have drinks at Garden Brewery – one of the best things to do in Zagreb for craft beer enthusiasts 

The Garden Brewery is probably the best craft brewery on mainland Europe. A grand claim, I know. But I stand by it. Their beer is excellent. I’m very fussy with craft beer as I like sours and they’re so often a crushing disappointment and not really that sour. Garden Brewery does a proper sour sour.

Beers from Garden Brewery have exploded in popularity in recent years. If you’re into beer, you’ve probably heard of them: they’re sold in hipster bars all over Europe. But you really have to experience them fresh from their home brewery in Zagreb.

The brewery is gorgeous. It lives up to the garden-themed name with a big old warehouse outside of the city centre, full of houseplants and two full-size trees reaching up to the high ceiling. It’s set in a small garden with plenty of outdoor seating, strewn with fairy lights. I love it.

Although it’s not in the city centre of Zagreb, it’s dead easy to get to the Garden Brewery. Hop on tram number 3 and get off at Elka. It’s then a few minutes’ walk alongside a big road into this industrial-estate-type area, and you can’t fail to spot the big Garden Brewery sign. It’s always busy and has a great atmosphere, especially at the weekends. Take a tote bag so you can buy some cans to take home, as well as maybe a t-shirt or sweatshirt with their very cool logo on.

4. Try all the other craft beer in Zagreb (other than the Garden Brewery)

Okay so as you can probably tell from the above, the Garden Brewery is quite something. I think its presence and popularity have really elevated the status of craft beer in the city. There are more and more bars popping up that have a great selection of local craft beer and more from around Europe.

I’ve done the hard work and researched the best craft beer spots in Zagreb for you, other than the Garden Brewery. A gruelling task but someone has to do it. You’re welcome. 

• Goblet Beer Store – This is a shop mainly, so it’s ideal for picking up some beers to enjoy back at your hotel/apartment. But there are a few tables for drinking at while you’re there too, as well as about six taps of draft craft. It has a good selection of Croatian and international craft beer in cans and bottles. 
• Grif Bar – A cool craft beer bar-café, serving their own draft craft beer. It has a great atmosphere and is popular with all the hip locals. You can also drink their beer next door at the adjoining Vintage Industrial Bar, which is one of the best bars/clubs for a night out in Zagreb. It’s proper packed at the weekend: there’s a dancefloor and 80s tunes. 
• Ambasada – Another bar/shop but more on the bar side. It does high-quality Croatian and European cans and bottles, as well as four or so beers on tap. The staff are friendly and helpful; the owner pointed me towards some excellent sours and even made some salted popcorn (with Croatian salt of course!).

5. Admire the roof of St Mark’s Church

Photos don’t do the roof of the 13th-century St Mark’s Church justice. It’s a real icon of Zagreb and when you first see it when walking up the cobbled street from the funicular into the old town, it’s a remarkable sight. The tiles are very bright red and blue against the crisp white of the building. It’s loud and unlike any other church roof I’ve ever seen really.

The tiles feature the medieval coat of arms of Croatia, Dalmatia and Slavonia alongside the emblem of Zagreb. This includes some amusing-looking lions!

The detail is brilliant and you’ll probably be surrounded by other tourists gawping at it. In fact, I struggled to get a photo without people walking through it even when I was in Zagreb for 3 weeks. So it’s worth wandering past a few times if you have time/patience, and hopefully you’ll get it to yourself for a moment.

6. Indulge in a cruffin at Balance Brunch & Bakery

Balance Brunch & Bakery (Google Maps link) is the place to go for brunch in Zagreb. It’s slightly out of the centre in a trendy residential area but it’s only a short walk or you can get the bus. Combine it with a trip to Miragoj Cemetery (see #22 of this list) as it’s en route.

I love the fact you don’t see other tourists here, only locals. 

If you can drag yourself away from the incredible pastry counter, get a table outside on a sunny day and start with the avocado toast. It’s delicious, but TBH it’s just a precursor to having something sweet. Got to get some greenery down you first. And then you can move on to the sugar.

I recommend going for a seriously decadent cruffin in Nutella or vanilla flavour. A cruffin is a croissant crossed with a muffin, for those of you who’ve been living under a brunchless rock.

7. Get to know Zagreb’s many statues and sculptures

Zagreb is chock full of statues. There’s one or more on nearly every street in the centre. And a lot of them are designed so that you can interact with them, which makes for some good photo opportunities.

Here are a few of my favourite statues in Zagreb and where to find them.

• The Croatian poet and writer Antun Gustav Matoš is immortalised in shiny silver at the top of the funicular. He’s sat on a bench on Strossmayer Promenade (Google Maps link). And he’s more than happy for you to sit next to him.
• The statue of feminist Marija Jurić Zagorka, the first female journalist in Croatia, is one for a rainy day. She’s stood with her brolly at the ready on Tkalčićeva ulica (Google Maps link). This is the main street for nightlife in Zagreb, so make sure you say hello to her before going for drinks.
• ‘Kumica Barica’ or ‘Godmother Barica’ (Barica being a generic old lady name in Croatia) stands in Dolac Market Square (Google Maps link) at the top of the stairs. She’s got a basket on her head, presumably full of fruit and veg from the market. I personally like to think it’s full of rakija and she’s off to join Maria Jurić Zagorka for a heavy night out on Tkalčićeva ulica.
• There are also a few statues in Zagreb sitting on chairs at cafés dotted around town. You can sit at the same table as them – but don’t worry, they’re all very cheap dates.

8. Catch the ‘noon boom’: Zagreb’s daily cannon fire

If you do the morning version of the free walking tour I mentioned at the start of this blog post, you’ll already have done this. Feel free to skip ahead to number 9. 

If not, then you have to experience it.

Get yourself to the upper town for about 11:50am and join the crowd waiting around outside the 13th-century Lotrščak Tower. You’ll be just in time to hear/see Zagreb’s famous Grič cannon being fired from one of the upstairs windows. Locals automatically cover their ears as they walk past so be prepared. It is LOUD. The man who fires it waves out the tower window afterwards. What a job he’s bagged for himself.

The cannon has been booming on the daily since 1877, only pausing twice: once after the First World War and again recently after the 2020 earthquake. There are various local legends about the cannon. One of the best is that a shot from it went right over the river and into the camp of the enemy of the time (the Turks). It landed slap-bang on the leader’s chicken dinner and he was so freaked out by the accuracy of the shot that he was too scared to invade. So in a way, the cannon saved Zagreb.

Today, the cannon is a much-loved quirk of Zagreb and something you can’t miss while there.

9. Gorge on traditional food from Zagreb

When you’re travelling in Croatia, you’ll see lots of Dalmatian and Istrian food. These cuisines are served prolifically in Zagreb too, but if I was you I’d wait until you’re in those regions to try them and ‘when in Zagreb’, as they (don’t) say, try the local dishes.

Here are some of the most famous foods from Zagreb:

• Orehnjača – a sweet walnut cake, rolled into a log shape. It’s traditional at Christmas, so if you visit Zagreb in winter when the Christmas markets are on, you’ll be able to get it. A close relation is makovnjača, a poppy seed roll.
• Sir i vrhnje – a mixture of cottage cheese and sour cream. Normally eaten with bread.
• Štrukli – this is essentially some sir i vrhnje in a pastry. You can have it sweet or savoury. Zagreb even has a specific restaurant that only serves Štrukli, called La Štruk.
• Zagrebački odrezak – a ‘Zagreb steak’. I don’t eat meat so this is very much not for me, but if you do then it’s a breaded, stuffed steak. It’s often calf meat (veal), which I know even meat-eaters often avoid as it involves some of the worst cruelty in the farming industry, but it can also be made with chicken or pig meat.
• Purica i mlinci – roast turkey with bits of flatbread that look like noodles. The place always guaranteed to have this on the menu is Vinodol, which is a fairly fancy but affordable restaurant in the centre. It has old-fashioned white tablecloths – you know the kind of place. Although it does attract tourists, it’s got a very traditional menu and everything is good quality.

10. See Zagreb Cathedral (hopefully without scaffolding)

Poor old Zagreb Cathedral has had a rough ride over the years.

The original cathedral on this site dated back to 1093 but was destroyed by the Mongols in 1242. It was then rebuilt but later very damaged in the fairly well-known Zagreb earthquake of 1880, which ruined lots of buildings in the city. It was a whopper at 6.3 on the Richter scale.

The cathedral was once again patched up and was alright until 22 March 2020 when it was damaged by another severe earthquake in Zagreb. Yep, that recently. You might not know about it because of course, at the time, the whole world was reeling from the start of the pandemic and the news was 24/7 ‘rona updates.

The 2020 earthquake was 5.3 or 5.5, so not as strong as the 1880 one but still enough to cause terrible damage to the city. It was followed by several aftershocks, one of which was a magnitude of 5 so was almost as bad as the main thing. Nearly 2,000 buildings were damaged to the point of becoming uninhabitable. Luckily it didn’t cause mass fatalities: only one person was killed; 27 others were injured. The cathedral’s right-hand spire still has scaffolding on it today as they’re repairing it. Hopefully next time I visit, it’ll be restored to its former glory and visitors will be able to go inside again.

11. Immerse yourself in the National Museum of Modern Art

Zagreb is home to Croatia’s excellent National Museum of Modern Art. It’s in the centre of Zagreb (Google Maps link) and holds a collection of art from the 19th and 20th centuries, all by Croatian artists.

The museum building is beautiful: just look at that ornate staircase. I loved how they’d not left all the rooms plain old white, too. They’ve painted some in rich, deep tones that really set off the paintings and sculptures within them. They have a permanent collection and some ever-changing exhibitions. When I visited recently, I was in awe of the magnificent botanical pieces by Ivo Friščić in one of the exhibitions. The flowers top-right below are by him and almost look like a photograph or a painting in 3D. Brilliant.

It’s around 7€ to get in and worth every cent. Check opening times on the official site as they do vary by time of year.

12. Stroll through Ban Jelacic central square

Ban Jelacic central square is named after Zagreb’s 19th-century military hero, Josip Jelačić. Like all military heroes, he’s now straddling his horse for the rest of time in the city’s main square.

This square is where everything is going on. Trams, newspaper kiosks, locals meeting under the big clock, and tourists waiting for the walking tour to start. There’s often a pop-up market or a performance or something happening in the evening.

It’s the perfect place to absorb the atmosphere of Zagreb.

13. Spot some interesting street art

Wandering around Zagreb, you’ll notice various pieces of street art. But if street art is of interest to you, it’s worth seeking out a few specific ones.

Here are some good spots for street art in Zagreb. All the links are to the Google Maps location.

• Art Park Zagreb – there’s a big cat in a suit here, among other pieces.
• The University of Zagreb Student Centre – this is where the human-owl hybrid shown below is. It’s ‘Blast from the past’ by Lonac. You have to walk through the student buildings and into the exhibition/events outhouses at the back to find it.
• Sunken Mural Park – this is right by the view over Zagreb from the upper town. 

14. See the shrines inside the Stone Gate

The Stone Gate is an important landmark of Zagreb. It’s more of a sort of mini passageway than an open gate as it has a small interior area. This is lit by candlelight and there are shrines within the walls, as well as some pews where people can go and pray.

Some believe that a painting of Mary and Baby Jesus, which you’ll see inside the gate, has special powers because it survived a huge fire in 1731. Stone slabs line the walls, engraved with praise and messages related to this.

The Stone Gate dates back to 1242/1266 although it was revamped in the 18th century. You’ll probably naturally walk through it when exploring the upper town, but it’s worth keeping an eye out for.

15. Laugh and cry at the Museum of Broken Relationships

The Museum of Broken Relationships is brilliant. I’ve been twice over the years and recommend it to everyone I know visiting Zagreb. It’s one of the most memorable museums I’ve been to (and that’s a lot in all my years of travelling). 

The concept of the museum is that people from all over the world send in an item from a relationship that has broken down. They provide an anonymous caption to go with it, explaining its significance, and the museum displays the best ones. Most of the relationships are romantic, but it also includes friendships and familial relationships. It showcases all the highs and lows of relationships through small, everyday objects that appear to have no meaning on the surface but all have a tale to tell in the context. It’s a unique and excellent idea.

And it is such an emotional rollercoaster. One minute you’ll be reading someone’s mum’s suicide note and welling up. The next minute, you’re snorting laughing at something like the ‘toaster of vindication’ shown in my photo below.

Check the official website for opening times. Tickets are around 7€ and you can buy a skip-the-queue ticket online if you’re visiting in summer when it may be busier.

16. Enjoy breakfast or an ice cream at Melt

One of the best places for breakfast in Zagreb centre is Melt, a cool pink café serving delicious homemade food. It all happens to be gluten-free and they have plenty of vegan options too. Everything is freshly made and really good.

There’s an open kitchen, which I always think is a good sign, and the interior is beautiful if you’re unlucky enough to have a day when it isn’t sunny enough to sit outside. If it’s warm though, do sit outside on the street and soak in some continental café culture vibes.

17. Discover a unique style of ‘naive’ art

The Croatian Museum of Naive Art is only small but it’s absolutely worth a visit.

The artwork is unlike anything I’ve seen before. It’s all done by artists who were not traditionally trained and has a simple, primitive feel to it that gives the pieces a wonderful uniqueness. The artists are mostly Croatian, but it has a few other well-known Naive artists too.

I really like the style. It’s hard to describe in words, so you’ll just have to go and see it for yourself. It’ll be unlike any modern art museum you’ve done before, I’m sure.

It’s about 5€ to get in. Check opening times on the official website before you rock up.

18. Get the Sljeme Cable Car for stunning mountain views

One of the new things to do in Zagreb only opened a few months before I visited to do research for this post. The Sljeme Cable Car takes you up Medvednica mountain, which I could only admire from afar on my first visit to the city a few years ago. So I was very excited to give it a go.

It’s a bit out of the centre, in the suburb of Dolje, but dead easy to get to in about 30 minutes. Take tram 8 or 14 to Mihaljevac, where you can change to tram 15 to Grac Dolje. This delivers you right outside the cable car station. A return ticket on the cable car is about 17€. Make sure you check the official website for running times as it does vary (and you don’t want to get stranded!). The journey takes about 20 minutes each way and the scenery is outstanding, so I thought the price was quite decent value for money.

You can see for miles across Zagreb and further into the country from the top, which is also home to a ski resort. There’s a nice café with windows all the way around so you can take in the stunning views over a drink. 

19. Try artisan Croatian food at Heritage

Heritage is probably my favourite lunch spot in Zagreb. It’s tiny. There’s only room for two or three people to eat inside, and a further two tables outside. But it’s SO worth waiting for a space if it’s full when you go.

Heritage is all about locally sourced artisan produce from around Croatia. Dishes are mainly bruschetta-based, such as sheep’s cheese, honey and walnut (my favourite). They have a map showing where each dish originates from and it’s all prepared freshly as you wait. The staff will explain each item, too.

It gives you an excellent introduction to Croatian food and everything is really reasonable. You can also buy foodie treats to take home as a souvenir from their little on-site shop.

21. Browse ‘the stomach of Zagreb’, Dolac Market

Dolac Market is a big open-air farmers’ market located just behind Ban Jelačić Square. All the stalls have bright cherry red covers on them and it’s a colourful, bustling atmosphere as locals mingle, chat and do their food shopping.

If you’re staying in a self-catering apartment in Zagreb, you can pick up some excellent local produce to cook with. Make sure you get there before noon, though, or all the good stuff is sold out. The market is known as the ‘stomach’ of the city, so it’s a must-do if you’re a bit of a foodie.

22. Walk through the atmospheric Mirogoj Cemetery

Wandering through a massive graveyard wouldn’t normally be my choice of activity when travelling, but I really like Mirogoj Cemetery. It’s known for being one of the most beautiful cemeteries in Europe and I think it’s nicer even than the famous one in Paris, Père Lachaise. It’s also a lot quieter and you may not bump into another (living!) soul while walking around it.

With its Gothic arcades, tree-lined avenues and spectacularly ornate tombstones, it’s no wonder that the great and the good of Zagreb’s history are buried in Mirogoj. Look out for the grave of Hermann Bollé, who actually designed the cemetery itself. This is like a chef eating in their own restaurant, isn’t it?

I like the fact that Mirogoj is not for anyone of a particular religion. Anyone can be buried within its grounds and you’ll see graves for Jews, Atheists, Catholics, Muslims and more.

23. Drink unlimited liquid chocolate at the Chocolate Museum

Muzej Cocolade, Zagreb’s chocolate museum, is an absolute treat. Pun intended. 

I was mildly concerned it would be a bit of a naff museum aimed at children (and full of them screaming) but it’s a really very classy and interesting museum that’s definitely good for adults. As I’ve said before, Zagreb has SO many unusual museums and it knows how to do them well.

You get a ‘ticket’, which is a little box (pictured below) with pictures on it. You can open compartments within the box as you go around, following the symbols in each room of the museum to open the right bit at the corresponding place. It starts with explaining the history of chocolate, moving through history until chocolate became what it is today. 

The best bit is a room with three pumps (dark, milk and white) where you can squirt it directly onto a wooden spoon to your heart’s content. I naturally pushed my luck until I felt sick. The next room features the tandem bicycle used to power the chocolate machines in Willy Wonka’s magical factory, so you can attempt to burn off a few of the thousands of calories there.

The museum is about 7€ to get in. Check the official website for opening times.

24. Wander through the pretty botanical garden

If you end up having very hot weather when you visit Zagreb, one of the best things to do is to have a break in the shady and cool botanical garden. Or to give it its full name, the Botanical Garden of the Faculty of Science, University of Zagreb (Google Maps link).

It’s only small so don’t go with expectations of it being like Kew or Berlin’s versions. You can walk from one end to the other in about 10 minutes. But with a very nominal entrance free and some lovely ponds and shady trees to pause by, I think it’s worth a visit.

Keep an eye out for the collection of creepy carnivorous plants inside the main building. Mind your fingers…

25. Go to the Museum of Contemporary Art

The Museum of Contemporary Art is located slightly out of the central zone of Zagreb, but you can get there in under half an hour on tram number 6 (Google Maps link). There’s a permanent collection and up to four exhibitions. The building it’s in is very modern and architecturally interesting in itself, and it’s very spacious so the art is really well displayed. There are no translations for all the little notes by the pieces, though.

If you happen to be in Zagreb on the first Wednesday of a month, the museum is free to enter. Otherwise, it’s between around 4 to 8€, depending on how many exhibitions you want to visit. Check the official website for opening times. It’s worth visiting to see Croatian art and some really interesting pieces. However, I do prefer the National Museum of Modern Art, as mentioned in #11 of this list, so if you only have time to go to one, I’d pick that if I was you.

26. Find the solar system – Zagreb’s ‘9 views’

Zagreb is a quirky city, which is one of the many reasons I love it. One of its many little quirky features is the scale model of the solar system it has dotted around the city. The sun and all the planets (plus Pluto, which I suppose isn’t a planet!) are displayed to scale in both size and distance from each other. The sun is as shown below, so you can imagine how teeny weeny some of the planets are. You could easily spend a few hours one afternoon hunting them all down and stopping at a few bars or cafés en route.

Of all the things to do in Zagreb, this is one of the least known but most unique. Here are all the locations with their Google Maps links if you fancy doing a solar system treasure hunt.

1. The Sun – Bogovićeva Street (obviously massive)
2. Mercury – 3 Margaretska Street
3. Venus – 3 Ban Jelačić Square
4. Earth – 9 Varšavska Street
5. Mars – 21 Tkalčićeva Street
6. Jupiter – 71 Voćarska Street (pleasingly large!)
7. Saturn – 1 Račićeva Street 
8. Uranus – 9 Siget
9. Neptune – Kozari 17
10. Pluto – Bologne Alley (in the underpass between two lanes of traffic so be careful if you want to take a photo of it).

27. Walk through Grič Tunnel

Grič Tunnel was built during WW2 as a bomb shelter and a means of safely getting underneath the hill of Gornji Grad. It fell into disrepair soon after and was much neglected over the years before getting a new lease of life in the 90s, when it hosted raves (of course – what else would it do in the 90s?!).

In 2016, it was fully reopened to the public as a pedestrian tunnel that also hosts exhibitions and events. Photo shoots, music gigs and fashion shows all pop up from time to time in Grič Tunnel, and they plan on opening a museum inside it in future. It’s not the most fascinating thing but it makes for some excellent photo opportunities and is worth going through while you’re in the area.

28. Buy a licitar heart as a souvenir

When browsing the markets and gift shops in Zagreb, you’ll notice lots of little red hearts, dolls, birds and horseshoes. These are ‘licitars’, hard decorated biscuits made of honey dough. They’re Zagreb’s official symbol, so they make a nice souvenir.

Croatian people have been making and giving licitars since the 16th century. They’ve always been really prized because each one takes about a month to make, from baking to decorating. This is why they used to be a popular gift between couples as a symbol of love, although today they’re given as presents generally, especially as Christmas decorations.

Licitars look a bit like gingerbread as they’re adorned with patterns in white icing like people do on gingerbread people. But there’s no ginger involved, just honey, flour, eggs and water. And although they can be edible, most of the ones for sale around Zagreb are painted and intended to be decorations. Some of them, especially the heart-shaped ones, even have a tiny mirror glued into the middle of them. Definitely not for nibbling, then.

29. Relax in Zagreb’s many parks

Zagreb doesn’t have that many trees on its main square and shopping streets, but the city centre is encircled by parks and leafy little spots that make up for it. Make sure you stroll through Zrinjevac, Strossmayer and Tomislav parks. These three green spaces run from the railway station to Ban Jelačić Square, bordered by some beautiful buildings and boulevards. In Zrinjevac, which is the nicest IMO, there’s a hollow tree you can get inside. What more do you want in life?

If you’re after a bigger park, head to Maksimir. This is the city’s oldest and best park, full of lakes and different wildlife habitats. It also has red squirrels! I’m from somewhere in the UK that’s a red squirrel stronghold so they’re very special to me. Also, it is the place for dog walkers. If you want a relaxing afternoon, head there to sit in the sun with some nibbles, watching dogs playing on the grass for a few hours. There are a few cafés you can stop at. 

30. Buy proper Croatian-made souvenirs from Take Me Home

Wherever I go on my travels, I’m always drawn to little shops selling postcards, tote bags, jewellery, mugs and all those other appealing wee trinkets. But so often, you go in and find that everything is generic and imported: stuff you could get at home or in any other European city.

Luckily for Zagreb, the wonderful Take Me Home is not like that. It sells Croatian-made artisan designs, lots of them handmade and completely unique. I always love having a browse in there. I recently bought a lovely tote bag with an unusual and cute design on it, showing all of Zagreb’s landmarks together in one place (in reality they’re spread out). I’m currently travelling full time and it’s already become my go-to bag for food shopping.

Bypass all the naff shops selling plastic rubbish and tacky fridge magnets. Take Me Home is way better for souvenirs and presents for your friends/family at home (or just for yourself!).

More things to do in Zagreb: day trips

Okay so that’s (nearly) the end of my list of 30 things to do in Zagreb. I hope it’s useful for anyone planning a visit.

If you’re aiming to spend a long period of time in or around Zagreb, I’d recommend doing some day trips. There are a few interesting and pretty places worth seeing, and Zagreb’s public transport links are excellent.

• Samobor – This beautiful and quaint nearby town is the home of Croatia’s beloved creamcake, the kremšnite. It’s worth going just for that, TBH. But Samobor also has a gorgeous cobbled central square, a ruined castle on a hill, and a small local museum. The best cafés to try kremšnite are Slastičarnica Sweet Family or Slastičarnica u Prolazu (the former also has a branch in Zagreb right next to the apartment I recommend booking!). Samobor is just the right size for a leisurely afternoon. Bus 155 from Zagreb central bus station takes about 45 minutes to deposit you in Samobor. It stops at Samobor’s bus station, just outside the historic centre.
• Karlovac – This is a pretty, star-shaped town, famous in Croatia for brewing Karlovačko beer. It’s full of rivers and parks, so is a relaxing little place to stroll around. The train from the main station in Zagreb takes an hour to get to Karlovac, and it’s a regular service.

Things to do in Zagreb, Croatia – useful information for your trip

How to get around Zagreb, Croatia

Zagreb is a very walkable city but also has an excellent, clean and frequent tram network called ZET. Tram tickets are so cheap: the ZET website has a useful table of prices. If you’re in Zagreb for more than a day, it’s worth buying a multi-day ticket. You can get tram tickets from ZET’s ticket offices or at the newsagent kiosks around town. Tram drivers can also sell one-journey paper tickets when you board.

Where to stay in Zagreb, Croatia

I massively recommend booking Hendrix Bridge Apartment 2. It’s around 70€ a night (at the time of writing). It’s super stylish and has a lovely big balcony (overlooking a dog-walking area so you can see lots of cute dogs while you’re sitting having breakfast out there!). The tram into Zagreb centre is just outside the door. As regular readers will know, this travel blogging job means I stay in a lot of places and since I’ve been travelling full time, I’ve become a quick judge of what makes a good one. This apartment is one of the best. Whenever I stay in a bad apartment, I long for it! If it’s fully booked, the owner also has Hendrix Bridge Apartment 1, which I’m sure would be just as good.

However, if you want a hotel in the centre of Zagreb, there are some good options too. Have a look at Canopy by Hilton (around 130€ a night) or B&B Fotic (around 85€).

When to go to Zagreb, Croatia

I like visiting Zagreb in September as it’s the perfect temperature for exploring. But any time from April to September has good weather. Obviously, avoid the height of summer as it may be too hot, but it’s not a city that gets completely overrun with tourists. 

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You might also like my other Croatia and Central Europe posts:

• One day in Zagreb: a perfect itinerary
• 3 days in Split: the perfect itinerary
• 20 things to do on Korcula, Croatia’s most beautiful island
• 33 things to do in Ljubljana, Slovenia’s fairytale capital
• One day in Bratislava, Slovakia: the perfect itinerary
• 3 days in Dubrovnik: an itinerary [coming soon].

If you’ve used one of my travel guides and enjoyed it, you can also buy me a drink. Cheers. 

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