Zagreb

I had visited Croatia once before, in 2016, making a brief overnight stop in the city of Zadar as part of a trip around Europe in a small six-seater airplane. This was the highlight of our month-long flight training course that we underwent to complete our air traffic control training. I knew back then, that I needed to return to Croatia eventually. With plenty of direct flights from Zurich to Zagreb, its capital, this proved the most obvious choice.

SUNDAY, June 24th

Flew with Croatia Airlines, an uneventful flight with a punctual arrival in Zagreb.

I took a taxi into town, as the options for public transport were quite erratic late at night. I met up with the very helpful owner of my airbnb apartment in order to “check-in”. After unpacking and relaxing a bit, I went out to explore Zagreb’s nightlife.

MONDAY, June 25th

Slept in a bit after a late night. I had breakfast at a restaurant just a block away from the apartment. They served good food, but had horribly slow service. Went for a stroll around the Old Town of Zagreb. I passed, among other things, the Stone Gate, where there were some candlelight memorials. The Stone Gate used to be one of the entry points into the walled-in parts of the Old Town.

Next stop on the route became St. Mark’s Church, one of Zagreb’s landmarks with its colored roof tiles showing multiple coats of arms.

The 13th-century church had a large event in honor of Croatia’s Statehood Day. It was presumably a mass, with a bishop holding a prolonged speech.

The church was packed full of spectators and worshippers. There were even several TV crews filming inside the church. This definitely indicated it wasn’t just an ordinary church service.

I walked outside and around the church, to photograph some of the surrounding buildings. These include several government offices and the presidential residence.

Having explored the square surrounding St. Mark’s Church, I continued to the Museum of Broken Relationships, a short 5-minute walk down one of the streets adjacent to the square.

This museum houses mementos with incredible stories from failed relationships. It has been a traveling exhibit for a few years, before settling in Zagreb.

There are stories from all over the world. Some are quite simple, regular break-ups, other stories are very detailed and really sad. All of the items and stories have been submitted voluntarily by those who experienced it first hand.

Upon exiting the Museum of Broken Relationships, a small military parade had begun down the street. I initially thought this was part of Statehood Day. It turned out it was more likely to be a simple change of guard at the presidential residence.

The nearby Jesuit Church was closed until Mass in the evening, so I skipped that for now. The Lotrščak Tower would’ve been my next stop, but it was closed for lunch. I decided to walk down to Zagreb’s lower, “new” town to visit the Botanical Gardens. On the way I passed some interesting examples of architecture, namely the modern University of Zagreb’s Academy of Music building. It contrasted nicely with the more old-fashion Croatian National Theatre, across the street.

Eventually I arrived at the Botanical Gardens. The timing was quite nice, because the gardens would anyway close early in the afternoon.

Having gone for a relaxing stroll throughout the park, I then went for lunch a few blocks away at a Croatian restaurant called Tip Top.

The schnitzel that I ordered for lunch. It was better food and better service than what I had experienced in the morning for breakfast.

After lunch, I walked back towards Zagreb’s Upper Town to have a closer look at the main square. I had already crossed it a couple of times going to and from the apartment. Called Ban Jelačić Square, it’s named after Governor Jelačić who fought against Hungarians in the 19th century. The equestrian statue of him was first put up in 1866, but was removed during the era of communist Yugoslavia. After 1990, the original statue was re-installed.

Having photographed the statue and seen the buildings surrounding the square, I went to visit Zagreb’s Cathedral.

The cathedral was originally constructed in the 13th century, but not much remains from that era. Its outside façade is a bit hampered by reconstruction, which apparently has been going on for years. The inside of the Gothic-style church was more appealing.

Next I took the tram out east to Maksimar Park for a stroll. In the morning it was quite cloudy and even rained for a brief moment. By now it had become beautiful weather.

Many locals were out enjoying their holiday for Croatia’s Statehood Day. Maksimar Park is one of the largest green spaces within Zagreb itself. The park has a lake, several pavilions/cafés and statues, in addition to several kilometers of trails and footpaths.

When I wanted to return to downtown Zagreb, I decided to take the same tram in the opposite direction, towards the main square. From there it would be a short walk to the upper, Old Town. Because the Old Town sits on a hill above the New Town, there’s few public transport links between them. The tram took a weird turn after the driver had yelled three Croatian words into the mic. By the time I realized it was off-route, it was a 15-minute walk back to the main square, where I thought the tram would have passed by.

I walked over to the Croatian Naïve Art Museum, which showcases a particular Croatian type of art. The museum was supposed to be open according Google, however, it was closed. The nearby Mestrović Atelier, another art gallery, was the exact same story. The Jesuit Church that I had skipped in the morning was however already open, although it was only 5:20 PM. A sign on the door said it would open at 6 PM for mass, but not before.

Because it was very close by, I decided to visit the Lotrščak Tower as well. You can go up to the top for great panoramic views of the entire city of Zagreb.

Looking south from the Lotrščak Tower, across Zagreb’s lower New Town towards its southern suburbs.

From the tower there’s also a nice view of one of the world’s shortest funicular railways. It sits just below the tower, and connects the lower, New Town with Zagreb’s upper Old Town. The funicular was constructed in 1888, and its track is only 66 m (217 ft) long.

The funicular might seem slightly pointless just based on the picture. It was however necessary for transporting goods up the hill in the old days. There’s plenty of staircases between the two parts of Zagreb anyway, but only very few streets that connect them. Today it’s still actually a convenient way to quickly get from the Upper Town to the Lower Town. You would otherwise have to make a large walking detour from this particular location. That being said, most of the riders probably are tourists trying it for the novelty experience.

Next I walked to Kaptol Sq. to take a bus to Mirogoj Cemetery, in the northern suburbs of Zagreb.

I went there to have a walk around. It was mostly just to kill some time, as it was the only interesting spot still open. The Mirogoj Cemetery does have some beautiful shrines and memorials. Pictured above, just behind the main entrance, is the grave of Franjo Tudman, the first president of modern-day, independent Croatia. To celebrate Croatia’s Statehood Day, a small ceremony had been held here also it seems. The wreaths were definitely placed in order to mark the anniversary of Croatia gaining its independence, which it achieved with the help of Tudman.

The cemetery covers a vast area. Apart from bigger tombs and shrines dedicated to notable Croatians, such as former politicians and artists, most of the graves are just ordinary locals.

I decided to walk back downhill instead of taking the bus to return to the downtown area. It took me quite a while until I found a suitable, local restaurant for dinner. Sure, I could have had Asian food or gotten a burger somewhere sooner. When I’m in Croatia I want to sample Croatian food though. After dinner I simply went back to my apartment to relax for the evening.

TUESDAY, June 26th

Woke up relatively early to get breakfast at a nearby café. However, I picked a different place than the one I had used the day before.

Couldn’t complain about the breakfast spread or the service this time around.

There was a fruit and produce market on the square immediately in front of the apartment. I made a brief stop there to have a look around.

I wasn’t shopping for anything, but the Dolac Market is a nice atmospheric spot to take a walk among the stalls and see what’s for sale. Then I walked west towards Britanski Square. From there, I took a bus towards the suburban village of Seštine, on the southern slopes of Mt. Medvednica.

It is a mountain that sits immediately northwest of Zagreb.

I hiked up for a few hours, before turning back around a different trail to visit Medvedgrad Castle. The medieval castle was undergoing repairs, so some parts were closed. There weren’t much in the form of exhibits or even signage, but the entrance was free because of that.

The views from the castle walls were great and the visibility was fantastic on a clear day. You could see as far as the airport, on the opposite side of Zagreb. The airport terminal is the large curved structure visible in the background.

The castle’s tower was still open despite the renovations. I went up there for a different angle, and an overview of the castle itself.

Having seen what was open at the castle, I hiked back down. I had lunch at a restaurant in the village of Seštine, before catching the bus back to central Zagreb again. That proved to be a bit more puzzling than I thought. The bus route looks like an upside-down horseshoe when seen on a map. It didn’t entirely matter which direction I took back to Zagreb. I did prefer the bus traveling in the direction I didn’t come from. For whatever reason this bus never showed up. I decided to wait between the two bus stops (opposite sides of the same road, offset by 100m), and took whichever came first. The wait was well over 30 minutes. A bus finally showed up traveling in the opposite direction, back to Britanski Square where I had started in the early morning.

After arriving back at Britanski Square, I walked back to my airbnb to shower and freshen up after several hours of hiking in the sun. Next stop was the City Museum of Zagreb. Its exhibits detail the history of the city from pre-historic times all the way up to present day. They had a significant collection of ancient coins, and even had exhibits about the War of Independence.

A large necklace with coats of arms, also displayed inside the Zagreb City Museum. This necklace was for more of a ceremonial purpose, not meant to be worn.

I had wanted to stop by Zagreb’s Archaeological Museum too. However, I spent so much time at the City Museum that it became too close to its closing time. The only options that remained were art museums. I settled on the Galerija Klovicevi Dori, with an exhibition related to Russian Empress Catherine the Great and the St. Petersburg Winter Palace.

Having already seen the Winter Palace and its Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg itself, it wasn’t all that interesting. There were some old weapons on display, original portraits and an 18th century map of the Russian Empire though. All of those objects did make it worthwhile going there nonetheless.

Eventually it was time for dinner. I stopped by a place not far from the art gallery, a restaurant serving tasty Croatian food.

Before I finished up, the World Cup group stage game between Iceland and Croatia began. The restaurant had a TV in the dining room showing the game. I was the only customer at the time, so most of the staff were standing around watching it.

The staff members were all grouped up out of frame on the left.

Before the game had finished, I left the restaurant and walked back towards my apartment. I crossed the Jelačić Square, which was on the way towards my airbnb flat regardless. A large World Cup Fanzone had been erected at Zagreb’s main square, with a big screen showing the game.

It was quite atmospheric, with plenty of locals and some tourists in attendance. What I found really cool was that you could see there were all kinds of locals there. Young and old, policemen, businessmen wearing suits, all of them out to watch the game at the square. I even spotted an Orthodox priest in robes inside a tent, also at the Jelačić Square fanzone.

I didn’t hang around to watch the entire game though, as I had an early flight the next morning. But I could still hear them cheering at Jelačić Square from my apartment. 

WEDNESDAY, June 27th

Woke up shortly before 7AM to shower and pack my bags. Then I walked downtown across the main square to catch a Uber to the airport. It was a lot quicker to do it this way, rather than getting a ride from the Upper Town. It would have taken a long detour for the driver to get back downhill. I chatted a bit with the driver regarding the soccer World Cup. Croatia had won the game against Iceland the night before. I could tell the driver was quite optimistic about Croatia’s chances, even though he didn’t expect them to get too far. A couple of weeks after my visit, Croatia had eventually made it to the World Cup final which they lost. That Croatia’s national soccer team made it that far surprised most people, including probably a lot of Croatia too.

I had breakfast in Zagreb’s airport before boarding my flight. My Croatia Airlines flight back to Zurich left on time and arrived punctually as well.