25 Best Things to Do in Zagreb (Croatia)

Croatia’s capital is a city divided between Upper and Lower Towns.

The hilltop Upper Town has been Croatia’s seat of power for centuries, with cobblestone streets through corridors of palaces from the 1700s.

Beside it is the Episcopal City, or Kaptol, where the cathedral pierces the skyline and holds the tombs of Croatia’s national heroes.

Down the slope, the Lower Town is all Neoclassical grandeur and vibrant plazas.

Zagreb has a workmanlike reputation, which could hardly be further from the truth when the promenades and squares bustle with street musicians, artists and couples in summer.

You’ve got monuments and cultural attractions befitting a capital, as well as a central market that still brings the entire city to its stalls.

1. Upper Town (Gradec)

Zagreb’s hilltop Medieval core is mostly traffic-free and a joy to discover on foot.

Posted above the Lower Town (Donji Grad) atop the Grič Hill, the Upper Town can be reached on the historic funicular, which we’ll talk about later in this list.

Once you’re up there you’ve got a matrix of cobblestone streets, courtyards and stairways to explore.

The way is flanked by lovely old palaces, mostly dating from a rebuild after fires in the 17th and 18th century, and occasionally you’ll be surprised by views over the Lower Town city.

Wherever you go you’ll probably find yourself back on the monumental St Mark’s Square in front of the church of the same name.

This has been Zagreb’s political hub for at least 500 years.

Crowned by the cathedral, on the other side of Tkalčićeva Street is the Episcopal City, or Kaptol, rare for the fact that several religious communities continue to be based here.

2. Tkalčićeva Street

Carrying you north into the Upper Town from Ban Jelačić Square is Zagreb’s most sociable street.

Tkalčićeva is named after a stream that flowed along this route, between the Gradec in the west and the Kaptol in the east.

Where now there’s a parade of restaurants, cafes, boutiques, hostels, nightclubs and an almost unbroken line of terraces, Tkalčićeva looked very different before the 20th century.

Riverside industry in the form of paper mills, soap factories and then tanneries jostled for space on the banks.

Later, in the first half of the 20th century, many of the properties on Tkalčićeva were brothels.

A sense of propriety required these establishments to use opaque glass and red lanterns, making Zagreb Europe’s first city to have a genuine red light district.

Those days long gone, this cosy thoroughfare, traced by low, 18th-century houses, means good times, nightlife and a globe-trotting menu of cuisines.

3. Zagreb Cathedral

The largest place of worship and the tallest building in the country, Zagreb Cathedral presides over the city from the historic Kaptol quarter.

This monument, rising to 108 metres and always visible, owes its current neo-Gothic appearance to Austro-Hungarian architect, Hermann Bollé (1845-1926) who took charge of the reconstruction after the nave collapsed in an earthquake in 1880. The cathedral has been here for almost 1,000 years, and elements of the current building date back to the 13th century.

There’s a ton of interesting things to see inside, like tombs of Croatian heroes and martyrs, one of the world’s finest organs and opulent Baroque marble altars.

The tomb of cardinal and Archbishop of Zagreb, Aloysius Stepinac (1898-1960) is highly venerated and has a relief carved by the famed Croatian sculptor, Ivan Meštrović.

There’s also a hint of the Medieval cathedral in the 13th-century Fresco of the Annunciation.

4. Museum of Broken Relationships

What began in 2003 as a high-concept installation remembering a four-year relationship between two artists, snowballed into a massive collection of everyday items loaded with meaning after breakups.

The collection toured the world over the next few years, travelling as far and wide as the United States, Germany, South Africa and The Philippines.

In 2010 it all found a permanent home at an 18th-century palace in Zagreb’s Upper Town, helping people come to terms with grief and loss through creativity and no little humour.

For instance, there’s an axe used by one jilted lover to chop her partner’s furniture into pieces.

The accompanying descriptions are what help the museum shine, and these can be funny, sad, life-affirming and poignant, often all at once.

Also vital to the ongoing project is an interactive space where you can record your own tale of heartbreak.

Website: https://brokenships.com/

5. Maksimir Park

East of the city centre is one of the oldest public parks in the world.

Over 316 hectares and initially in a Baroque style, Maksimir Park was founded in 1787, but was given a Romantic English redesign under Bishop Juraj Haulik (1788-1869). This is the layout that remains today, with a rambling landscape of meadows, woodland with century-old oaks, streams and lakes.

It’s a habitat for many animals, including more than 100 bird species.

Beautiful 19th-century monuments are dotted around the park, like the wooden Echo Pavilion from 1840, the neo-Gothic St Juraj Chapel (1864) and a summer villa from the 1840s for Bishop Haulik.

The park is also setting for the fully accredited Zagreb Zoo, keeping 2,225 animals from 275 species.

6. Lotrščak Tower

Save for a gate and a few fragments of wall, there isn’t much left of Zagreb Upper Town’s Medieval defences.

But this tower constructed to defend the southern approach is still intact and has Romanesque stonework from the 13th century.

Hoisted above the Lower Town and standing next to the funicular, Lotrščak Tower is a proud symbol for Zagreb.

The structure gained its name in the 17th century when it was installed with a bell that signalled the closing of the town gates every night.

Now it contains a shop and gallery, as well as the Grički top (Grič Cannon). This has been fired to mark noon since 1877, in a custom only interrupted by the First World War and the earthquake that struck Zagreb in March 2020.

7. Archaeological Museum in Zagreb

In a 19th-century mansion on Zrinski Square, the Archaeological Museum has a history reaching back to the National Museum founded in 1836. In the holdings are more than 450,000 artefacts, mostly from around Croatia and its historical territory.

But this institution also stands out for its important collections of pieces from abroad, most notably Greek and Roman statuary, ancient coins, painted Greek vases and a rich array of Egyptian artefacts.

A famous “exotic” exhibit is the Zagreb Mummy, which is actually Etruscan from the 3rd Century BCE, even though it was purchased in Thebes, Egypt in the middle of the 19th century.

The museum’s main sections are Prehistory, Egypt, Antiquity, Middle Ages and Coins and Medals.

A couple of other objects not to be missed are the Chalcolithic Vučedol dove, a ritual vessel from around 2800 BCE, and Lumbarda Psephisma, a stone inscription from the 4th century BCE detailing the foundation of a Greek colony on the island of Korčula.

Website: https://www.amz.hr/

8. Klovićevi Dvori Gallery

An 18th-century Jesuit monastery in the Upper Town houses what is Croatia’s largest gallery institution and one of its most-visited museums.

The museum has a large inventory of painting, sculpture, watercolours, drawings, graphics and more by Croatian artists like Slavko Kopač and Oskar Herman.

But this space is perhaps most famous for its high-profile travelling exhibitions.

There are up to 30 shows every year, and in the last few years alone these have featured names like van Gogh, Mondrian, Picasso, Chagall, Titian, Tintoretto and Veronese.

Recent landmark shows have dealt with German Expressionism, the art of Pompeii, early Impressionism and the works of Croatian illuminator and miniaturist Julije Klović (1498-1578).

Website: http://gkd.hr/

9. Mirogoj Cemetery

Many famous Croatians have been laid to rest at this multi-faith cemetery, regarded as one of the most beautiful in Europe.

Inaugurated in 1876 and designed by the feted Herman Bollé, Mirogoj Cemetery rests on the slopes of Medvednica mountain, north of Zagreb, but is easily reached via the 14 tram or the 106 bus.

It has been described as an open-air art gallery, for the richness of its funerary monuments by some of Croatia’s most celebrated sculptors, as well as for its regal architecture.

Central to this is an almost unending succession of arcades crested by copper-clad cupolas and connecting with the cemetery church.

Laid with tiles, wreathed with ivy and sporting beautiful pastel decor, these provide a resting place for a long list of noteworthy figures, including Bollé himself.

Joining him is a roll-call of writers, composers, mathematicians, painters, architects and scientists.

Website: https://www.gradskagroblja.hr/

10. Zagreb City Museum

At a preserved historical complex anchored by the 17th-century Convent of the Poor Clares, this museum, charting Zagreb’s past, is an exhibit in its own right.

You’ll go on a 45-stop tour through the history of Zagreb’s capital, going right back to a prehistoric settlement from the 7th century BCE.

From there you’ll be whisked through time, calling into Roman Andautonia and visiting the Upper Town and Episcopal City (Kaptol) in the Middle Ages.

You’ll find out about the looming threat of the Ottomans in Early Modern Age and the Croatian National Revival of the mid-19th century.

There’s also lots of detail about WWII, the socialist period and the capital in modern, independent Croatia.

These themes are all fleshed out with interactive stations, scale models and a collection of thousands of artefacts, from maps to furniture, paintings, statuary, flags, uniforms and all sorts of ephemera.

Website: http://www.mgz.hr/en/

11. Stone Gate

Much older than its present 18th-century appearance, Stone Gate belongs to the Upper Town’s original Medieval system of defences.

These were built between 1242 and 1266, and apart from fragments of the walls this gate is the only piece still standing in the 21st century.

The gate has been damaged in fires on no fewer than four occasions.

There’s a passageway zigzagging between the two portals, and as you go you’ll see a votive chapel containing the image of Zagreb’s patron saint, Mother of God of the Stone Gate.

This painting, now behind an intricate Baroque screen, previously stood above the portal, and is said to have been discovered undamaged after the fire of 1731. For centuries people have stopped here to light a candle and say a prayer.

12. St Mark’s Church

Sharing St Mark’s Square with the Croatian Parliament Building is one of the oldest monuments in the city.

The roof is clad with glazed tiles displaying the coats of arms of Zagreb and the Kingdom of Croatia-Slavonia.

St Mark’s has long been a landmark for Zagreb, and has a medley of architectural styles starting with 12th-century Romanesque elements that you can see on the main facade from the south.

Here take a closer look at the south portal, and the marvellous Gothic and Baroque carvings in the tympanum over the doorway.

Go in to savour the Gothic vaulting, gilded with 22-carat gold leaf, and a chancel carved by Croatian 20th-century master Ivan Meštrović.

13. Mimara Museum

A palatial building on Roosevelt Square in the Lower Town holds the gigantic collection of philanthropist and art collector Ante Topić Mimara (1898-1987). Now, something that has to be said right away is that Mimara was a controversial figure, believed to have stolen or forged much of this glittering cache of painting, sculpture and decorative art.

The collection, numbering more than 3,000 pieces, was donated to the city in 1972. It constitutes a who’s who of Spanish, Italian, French, German, Dutch, Flemish and English painting, with names like Rubens, Delacroix, Degas, Holbein, Veronese, Gainsborough, Bosch, van Dyck, Rembrandt, Murillo and Velázquez.

Also on display are archaeological finds and collections of icons, ceramics, Medieval manuscripts, sculpture, metalwork, ivory furniture and pieces from the Far East.

14. Strossmayer Promenade

This scenic, chestnut-lined promenade was laid down along the course of the Upper Town’s Medieval fortifications and gives romantic vistas from high on the hillside.

There’s no better place in Zagreb to just sit and enjoy the scenery, gazing out over the Lower Town to landmarks like the twin towers of the Cathedral of the Assumption.

Permanently admiring this vista is a statue for the highly influential Croatian writer Antun Gustav Matoš (1873-1941). The promenade begins just below the Lotrščak Tower, and at noon it’s a perfect place to catch the daily firing of the Grič cannon at noon.

This ritual has taken place every day for more than 140 years.

If there’s a big event, the walkway will be thronged with food stalls, artists and souvenir sellers.

15. Zagreb Funicular

The oldest public transport system in Zagreb is a 66-metre funicular railway shuttling between Tomić Street in the Lower Town and the Strossmayer Promenade in the Upper Town.

Now preserved as a cultural monument, the Zagreb Funicular was born in 1890 and for the first 44 years of its existence had a temperamental steam propulsion system that was finally abandoned for a reliable electrical engine in 1934. And while the track length might be just 66 metres, there’s a height difference of just over 30 metres between the lower and upper stations.

So with an incline of 52% this is one of the steepest funiculars in the world.

The journey takes 64 seconds on the dot and there are services every ten minutes right up to midnight.

16. Croatian Museum of Naïve Art

This highly-regarded museum exploring self-taught art has its roots in the Peasant Art Gallery that opened in Zagreb in 1952. Since then the museum has gathered a collection of more than 1,900 works, dating mostly from the 1930s to the 1980s.

A small selection from this large inventory is on show on the first floor of the 18th-century Raffay Palace in the Upper Town.

Much of the vibrant and playful painting, sculpture, print and drawing at the Museum of Naïve Art is by domestic artists from the famed Hlebine School.

A few of the names from this hotbed of creativity by the Hungarian border are Mirko Virius, Krsto Hegedušić, Franjo Mraz and Ivan and Josip Generalić.

17. Jarun Lake

This man-made lake near the Sava River in the south-west of Zagreb was built to host the rowing events for the 1987 Universiade, world student games.

You can get out to Jarun Lake on the 17 tram and, in the absence of a coast, it’s a popular place in summer to sunbathe, swim, walk, cycle, skate and go boating.

Edged with greenery and little beaches, the water is ringed by six kilometres of paved paths and since the early 1990s has been a big party spot.

There’s a row of beach bars and clubs on the east side, and in June the lake is the venue for INMusic, Croatia’s largest open-air contemporary music festival, attended by 100,000+ and recently welcoming the likes of The Cure, PJ Harvey, Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds and Queens of the Stone Age.

On a normal summer’s day you could take a dip, picnic by the water, hire a pedal boat and retreat to one of the many cafe terraces around the shore.

18. Dolac Market

Zagreb’s main food market is a few steps from the central Ban Jelačić Square in the pedestrianised heart of Zagreb.

This site was chosen in the late-1920s and consists of an open-air market on a raised platform and sheltered stalls for dairy, meat and fish below.

Dolac Market is frequented by everyone, young and old and from all social backgrounds.

The produce sold here comes from all regions of the country, as far away as from Dalmatia in the south.

This is the place to come for a true snapshot of city life, but also to check out some local staples.

Surely the most famous of these is sir i vrhnje, essentially cottage cheese and sour cream, normally seasoned with paprika and diced onions and served with kružnjak (cornbread) and either špek (bacon) or local cured sausage.

19. Ban Jelačić Square

Just south of the Dolac Market in the Lower Town is Zagreb’s main square, at the core of a system of pedestrian streets and framed by a mix of 19th and 20th-century architecture.

This plaza was first laid out in the 17th century and today is the city’s gathering place, served by ten tram lines (three of which are nightly) and fringed by cafe terraces.

If Croatia has an important World Cup or Euros fixture, Ban Jelačić Square is sure to be packed with fans.

In its current form the square and surrounding streets go back to the Universiade in 1987, when the Lower Town was revitalised.

The square is named for Josip Jelačić (1801-1859), military mastermind in the war against the Kingdom of Hungary 1848, and Ban of Croatia from 1848 to his death.

His horseback statue, cast in 1866 is pointed north towards Hungary.

20. Nikola Šubić Zrinski Square (Zrinjevac)

A greener and more ceremonious partner to Ban Jelačić Square is this park a few moments along Praška Ulica, dedicated to Croatian national hero Nikola IV Zrinski (1508-1566). Zrinjevac is fronted by prestigious monuments and institutions like the Supreme Court, Archaeological Museum and the Strossmayer Gallery of Old Masters.

On a rectangular plan, the park is defined by the elegant avenues of mature plane trees crossing the lawns and running along its boundaries.

These meet in the centre at a dainty music pavilion erected in 1891. At the southern end, partly tracing a little crescent are busts for prominent Croatian personalities like the Renaissance illuminator Julije Klović and poet and politician Fran Krsto Frankopan (1643-1671).

21. Meštrović Atelier

Croatia’s foremost sculptor, Ivan Meštrović (1883-1962) spent much of the first half of the last century living and working in Zagreb before emigrating to the United States after WWII.

In the Upper Town you can find his adapted home and studio, now preserved as a museum in his honour.

Meštrović lived and worked here for some 20 years up to 1942, and the museum has a permanent exhibition of around 100 works, roughly from the 1910s to the 1940s.

Among them are sculptures and reliefs in stone, bronze, wood and plaster, as well as graphics and drawings to give you a real insight into his creative process.

Website: https://mestrovic.hr/en/museum/atelijer-mestrovic/

22. St Catherine’s Church

St Catherine's Church, Zagreb — St Catherine’s Church, Zagreb

The Jesuit church beside the Klovićevi Dvori Gallery also merits your attention, and has a history that can be traced back to the 14th century.

When the Jesuits came to Zagreb in the early-1600s, they reworked St Catherine’s Church in an ostentatious Baroque style as a Counter-Reformation statement.

The sober, whitewashed exterior, based on Rome’s Church of the Gesù, belies the exuberant interior.

This has a single nave with six side-chapels, each with an altar carved in the 1600s (five from wood, one from marble). Look up at the profuse stuccowork in the walls and vaults dated to 1732, and take a moment to study the pulpit from 1690, with a statue of Pope Leo the Great (400-461) topping the canopy.

23. Grič Tunnel

Cutting under the Upper Town is a 350-metre tunnel excavated during the Second World War as a shelter and promenade.

The Grič Tunnel fell into obscurity in the post-war years but was unofficially revived in the 1990s, and hosted one of the country’s first raves in 1993. The tunnel is made up of a 100-metre central hall with two main entrances, at Mesnička Street in the west and Radić Street, as well as four passageways exiting at yards on Tomić Street and Ilica (two of these are unfinished). Just look for Zagreb’s coat of arms and you’ll know you’re at one of the entrances.

Since its revival the Grič Tunnel has been open daily, and has become an out-of-the-ordinary venue for events, from fashion shows, to a multimedia chronology of Croatia and festivities to coincide with Advent Zagreb.

24. Museum of Contemporary Art

In 2009, this museum opened in Novi Zagreb, across the Sava River at a cost of more than 80 million dollars.

As an institution, the Museum of Contemporary Art has been on the scene since the 1950s when it opened in the Upper Town.

The collection has been gathered since those times and has grown to more than 12,000 pieces, from the 1920s to the present.

About 600 are on display in these galleries, allowing you to dip into the key movements in 20th and 21st-century Croatian art.

Look out for the geometric abstraction of the EXAT 51 group from the first half of the 1950s, by the likes of Ivan Picelj, Vlado Kristl and Vjenceslav Richter.

Website: http://www.msu.hr/stranice/About%20us/1/en.html

25. Nature Park Medvednica

For those craving peace and nature this towering massif is always on the horizon to the north of Zagreb and can be accessed on the tram.

Medvednica runs south-west to north-east, and its tallest peak, Sjelme rises to 1,033 metres and is the location for a winter sports station that has staged a number of FIS World Cup skiing events.

With a western portion protected as a nature park, containing 12 different forest communities and over 1,200 plant species, the range has long been a blissful hiking getaway for city-dwellers.

Awaiting you on some 70 trails are mine entrances, historic churches, caves and bunkers.

Perhaps the most exciting walk departs the tram terminus at Gračani, beckoning you through WWII-era tunnels on the ruined property of former dictator Ante Pavelić (1889-1959).