About

Located deep in the heart of the Republic of Croatia, is it’s capital city: Zagreb. A city of less than one million souls – this is not only the country’s capital, it is also the center of economic and cultural life in Croatia, as well as being the home of government and national institutions.
Sitting on the banks of the river Sava and with mountains surrounding it, Zagreb has a very different climate to Croatian coastal cities; being much colder in winter and often substantially hotter in summer.

The city is an undiscovered gem in the heart of what was the Austro-Hungarian Empire; there are some magnificent neoclassical buildings, as well as an elegant parks and some stunning views from some great vantage points, that allow you to see the city from a bird’s eye view. “Trg bana Josipa Jelacica” is arguably the city’s main square and from it, is one of the city’s main thorough fairs: “Ulica Ilica”, with an array of shops, restaurants and cafes.

Things to see and do

•Cathedral of the Assumption of the Holy Virgin Mary – One of the city’s leading sites.
•Zagreb city museum – offers a fascinating insight into the city’s history
•Museum of Contemporary art (Muzej Suremene Umjetnosti)- this is the biggest Museum in the whole of Croatia.
•Croatian History Museum
•Croatian national theatre – Built in the neo-baroque style this building is a landmark
•The upper and lower town (Gornji- and Donji grad in Croatian) the is the Medieval heart of the city with many eateries, bars and café’s
•Botanical gardens – founded 889 is a tranquil spot to spend some time in
•King Tomislav square opposite the main train station -is an open space with much photographed statue.
•Lakes: Jarun and Bundek lakes
•Muzej Mimara Museum has over 4,000 art works including by great masters such as Caravaggio, Rafael, Rembrandt, Goya, Turner, Renoir and Degas.
•Archaeological museum of Zagreb – houses over 400,000 pieces not all of which on display. Famously there are also Egyptian and Etruscan collections.

Getting to and from

Zagreb airport is located approx 15km from the centre of Zagreb itself. There are shuttle busses that run from outside arrivals at regular intervals (Approx every 30 minutes) operated by Croatia airlines. It is an express bus and there are no other stops along the way! From the airport there are also services to Rijeka for those wishing to go further afield. The fare to Zagreb bus station is 30 Kuna one way and you buy tickets onboard from the driver – you simply get on board and the driver will come round – you can pay with cash only. The journey is approx 30 minutes and you arrive at Zagreb Central bus station (As opposed to the more Zagreb central Train station).

Once you arrive at the Bus station, you can easily hop onto a tram or ZET (Zagrebački električni tramvaj ) into town. You need to buy tickets from the newsagent stand (a Zagreb tram ticket costs 8 kuna) and these must be stamped at the front of the tram. Trams are modern and the number 6 tram will take you all the way into town, it stops conveniently at the Arcotel Zareb hotel after about 2 stops, it then proceeds to stop opposite Zagreb central Train station and goes up alongside the park and also stops opposite the Zagreb Palace hotel which is handy for guests staying there before heading into Trg bana Josipa Jelacica (The main square in Zagreb), the whole journey to Trg bana Josipa Jelacica from Zagreb bus station takes approx 15 minutes.

A taxi from Zagreb airport will take approximately the same amount of time and will cost upwards of 200 Kuna.
Zagreb is a very walk able city and there is a cable car available to get right to the top of the higher parts. The centre is compact and the distance are not massive, so you may only need to use the tram to cover some longer distances if time is short.