The capital of Croatia is often overlooked by travellers, but is such a cute little city with some great things to see. To be honest, we decided to stop in Zagreb during our world trip based almost entirely on its location. We were heading from Budapest to the Croatian coast, but at almost 10 hours, we wanted a way to break up the bus journey. Zagreb is conviently about halfway between Budapest and Split. We managed to find some great things to do in Zagreb. We’re so glad we ended up stopping for a couple of days, as the city is so charming!
Much of the architecture in the city is Austro-Hungarian, dating to the 18th and 19th century, but there are also some incredible gothic buildings. The city is incredibly walkable, and there are some amazing sites and activities to check out. One of the added bonuses about Zagreb (and much of Croatia) is that it’s a very budget-friendly destination. Not only is it affordable for accommodation and food, but many activities are also low cost or free.
If you find yourself passing through Zagreb, we’ve compiled a list of some of the best things to do to fill a few days on a budget. Whether you like museums, shopping, eating or relaxing, there will be plenty of options to keep you entertained.
Walk the City
Cost: Free
The Old Town of Zagreb is well worth some time to wander around, and can be found in the upper part of the city. There are some beautiful old cobbled streets to walk down and lots of shops to browse or grab a bit to eat from. It won’t take too long to look around the area, but we would recommend at least a couple of hours to explore.
In the north of the old town, keep an eye out for Kamenita Vrata – a stone gate built between 1242 and 1266. There is a small chapel dedicated to Mary built into the stone, with prayers carved into the wall. St Mark’s Church, Zagreb Cathedral, Lotrščak tower, Dolac Market and the Museum of Broken Relationships are all located in the Old Town, and we will discuss them all in more detail below.
St Mark’s Church and Zagreb Cathedral
Cost: Free
One of the best things to see in the city is the Church of St. Mark, which has one of the coolest exteriors of any church we’ve seen before. Originally built in the 13th century, it was reconstructed in the second half of the 14th century. There have been several discussions of demolition, but luckily none successful. The church is one of the most popular attractions in Zagreb.
On the exterior there are 15 wooden sculptures above a large wooden door and you can go inside for free during mass times. The real draw for this church is the roof, which is covered in thousands of tiles. They form a mosaic of two coats of arms, one of the city of Zagreb and the other of the Triune Kingdom of Croatia, Slavonia and Dalmatia.
Another amazing landmark to keep an eye out for is the Zagreb Cathedral. This cathedral was built between 1880 and 1906 and is built in a Gothic architectural style. It used to be open to the public, but unfortunately one of the two spires was seriously destroyed in an earthquake in 2020. Because of this, as of May 2024 it is still closed for renovations, but you can still admire the beauty from outside!
Zagreb Funicular
Cost: €0.66 cents one way
If you want to do something unique in Zagreb, riding the funicular is the way to go! It dates back to the 1890s and is the first form of public transport in the city. The coolest thing about the Zagreb funicular is that it is the shortest in the world at only 66 meters long. It runs from the upper town to the lower town, taking only one minute. It departs every 10 minutes, can hold 28 passengers, and costs €0.66 one way. We would recommend catching it up, to avoid having to walk from the lower to upper parts of town!
Lotrščak Tower
Cost: €2.60
Just behind the upper town funicular station is the Lotrščak Tower, from the 13th century. Standing at 30 meters tall, it is one of the cities most well known landmarks and tourist attractions. The tower was built to defend the southern gate and in 1646, a huge bell was hung in the tower. In the 19th century, an additional floor was added to the tower to house Grič Cannon.
Since the first day of the year in 1877, the cannon has been fired at exactly midday every day. It was used to help signify the time to all the churches around the city and is now just a fun tradition. Just before noon, lots of people will crowd around the tower to wait for the shot and it really is louder than you think! You can also climb the five stories of spiral staircase to the top of the tower for only €2.60. There are some art exhibitions on the lower levels and the view from the top is amazing.
You can just see the cannon poking out of the top right window.
Markets
Cost: Free
There’s a couple of wonderful little markets in Zagreb that are worth visiting if you’ve got the time:
- Dolac Market – This is the main farmers market for locals in Zagreb that has been trading since 1926. It is located in the city not far from Zagreb Cathedral. It is open Monday to Saturday from 7am to 3pm and on Sunday from 7am to 1pm. Here you will find lots of fresh produce including fruit, vegetables, pasta, baked goods, meat, fish and flowers. And keep an eye out for the fresh homemade cornbread made by local Croatian women!
- Britanski Trg Market – This is one of the best antique flea markets in the city. Open only on Sundays from 8am to 2pm, it is a 15 minute walk from the city. Here you can find anything but food. Glass items, pieces of art, old books, records, furniture, electrical items. Even if you don’t buy anything it’s a nice place to have a wander around and see what’s on offer.
- Hrelić – This is another flea market open from 7am to 3pm on Wednesdays and Sundays. It is a bit out of the city, so you will either need to catch a taxi or use public transport. Here you’ll find anything from old electrical items, cameras, books, crockery and homemade items. Pretty much anything people have found in their houses that they don’t want anymore. You can even buy and sell cars! There is live music and food stalls, so is definitely worth a visit to experience the wonderful atmosphere of this market.
Cost: €7
This is a really unique museum in a beautiful baroque palace in the upper town of Zagreb. It explores romantic break ups through hundreds of personal items from all over the world with a brief description of each item. It was created by two ex-lovers who joked about starting a museum of their old items after they broke up. After receiving some similar items from friends break ups, they decided to start a collection.
The collection toured the world from 2006 to 2010 and was so popular that at the end of 2010, it opened permanently in Zagreb. It is open everyday from 9am to 10pm from June to September. From October to May it is only open one hour less from 9am to 9pm and tickets cost €7 per adult.
Botanic Gardens
Cost: €2
If you’d like a little garden getaway, the Zagreb Botanic Gardens is the perfect place to go. It is the garden of the Faculty of Science for the University of Zagreb and is only a 15 minute walk from the old town. The garden is open from February to December and tickets can be bought at the gate for only €2. It’s opening times are 9am to 2:30pm on Monday and Tuesday and 9am to 7pm Wednesday to Sunday.
The gardens aren’t huge but there’s a lot of nice sections to wander around and a nice little lake. It would take around an hour to look around. Please keep in mind there are no dogs, bikes or picnics allowed.
If you’re visiting for a day, or staying a couple of nights, we hope this post has given you some great ideas for what to do in this wonderful little Croatian city.
To see which of these activities we did during our time in Zagreb (and everything else we got up to) you can check out our vlog:
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