Zagreb
An upper town reached by a sixty-four-second funicular, a cannon that fires at noon, an Art Deco hotel built for the Orient Express, and three starred kitchens.
- Arrival
- Zagreb Franjo Tuđman Airport · ZAG
- To the city
- About 10 km south-east of the centre
- Private jets
- General aviation terminal at ZAG
- Best time
- May to September
The city
Upper Town, Lower Town.
Zagreb is two cities stacked on a hillside. The Upper Town keeps the thirteenth-century church of St Mark under its glazed tile roof and the Lotrščak Tower, from which the Grič cannon has marked midday for about a hundred years. Since 1890 a funicular has joined it to the Lower Town in a ride of sixty-four seconds.
Below lie the market at Dolac, under its red parasols, and the Lower Town, where the Esplanade opened beside the station in 1925 for passengers of the Orient Express. From May to September the afternoons reach the low to mid-twenties, and the city spends them outdoors.
Arriving
A new terminal, and a separate one for jets.
Zagreb Franjo Tuđman Airport lies about ten kilometres south-east of the centre. Its passenger terminal opened in 2017, and private flights use a general aviation terminal of their own.
- Vienna 40 min
- Nice 1 h 20
- Madrid 2 h 30
- Cape Town 11 h 45 long-range jet
- Los Angeles 13 h 15 long-range jet
When to go
May to September.
A continental climate, with cold winters and warm summers and rain in every season. Between May and September the afternoons reach 21 to 26 °C.
- 3° J 108
- 6° F 70
- 11° M 104
- 17° A 84
- 21° M 94
- 24° J 98
- 26° J 90
- 25° A 97
- 22° S 96
- 16° O 90
- 9° N 114
- 4° D 110
What to see and do
Days in and around Zagreb.
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Landmark
The funicular and Lotrščak Tower
A sixty-four-second ride to the Upper Town, arriving by the tower that fires its cannon every day at noon.
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Landmark
St Mark's Church
A thirteenth-century church in the Upper Town, known for its roof of glazed tiles.
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Landmark
Mirogoj
The cemetery Herman Bollé designed in 1876, where some 300,000 people are buried.
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Opera & music
Croatian National Theatre
Fellner and Helmer's neo baroque house of 1895 stages the national opera, ballet and drama companies.
Official site -
Opera & music
Vatroslav Lisinski Concert Hall
Home to the Zagreb Philharmonic and the Croatian Radio and Television Symphony Orchestra, the hall opened in 1973 with 1,841 seats.
Official site -
Culture
Museum of Broken Relationships
In the Upper Town since 2010, this museum shows keepsakes from ended relationships, each with its anonymous donor's story, and won the Kenneth Hudson Award in 2011.
Official site -
Nature
Medvednica Nature Park
Marked trails climb through forest to Sljeme, 1,033 metres high, passing the thirteenth century fortress of Medvedgrad.
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Food & wine
Tomac winery, Plešivica
Visits by appointment at this family estate near Jastrebarsko, among the first Croatian producers to age wine in Georgian qvevri and known for sparkling wine.
Where to stay
From the Orient Express to a bank vault.
Shown for information. We have no arrangement with any of these hotels.
- Esplanade Zagreb Hotel Opened in 1925 for Orient Express travellers, 208 rooms with Art Deco interiors, and the only MICHELIN Key in Zagreb.
- The Westin Zagreb Opened in the 1970s as an InterContinental and renovated in 2016, with a spa and a seventeen-metre pool; north-facing rooms look to the Upper Town.
- Sheraton Zagreb Hotel Three hundred and six rooms with marble bathrooms, an indoor pool and a spa.
- Amadria Park Hotel Capital Opened in 2018 in an Art Deco bank of the early 1920s, with the old vault still in the basement.
- Hotel Dubrovnik A building of 1929 joined to a glass wing of the 1980s; the older rooms look straight onto the main square.
Where to dine
The tables the guide rates.
From the MICHELIN Guide 2026, shown for information. We have no arrangement with any of these restaurants.
- Noel One Michelin star Modern €€€ Zagreb
- Dubravkin Put One Michelin star Mediterranean €€€ Zagreb
- Korak One Michelin star Contemporary €€€€ Jastrebarsko, about 30 km from Zagreb
- Nav MICHELIN Guide Creative €€€€ Zagreb
- Zinfandel's MICHELIN Guide Modern €€€€ Esplanade Zagreb Hotel
- SOL MICHELIN Guide Croatian €€€ Zagreb
- Torero MICHELIN Guide Modern €€€ Zagreb
- ManO2 MICHELIN Guide Croatian €€€ Zagreb
- Balon MICHELIN Guide Mediterranean €€€ Zagreb
Elsewhere in Croatia
More reasons to come.
Flying to Zagreb?
Choose how you arrive.
A Business or First Class seat on a scheduled airline, or an aircraft of your own. Tell us the date and how many are travelling, and we reply with one final price, our margin included.