Zagreb Things to Do Tips by sabsi

Where else could we start our little Zagreb tour than at the main square? This is the heart of the city, there's lots of trams and lots of people here. The square has a nice atmosphere, even in winter. It also is the meeting point for people.

Around the square you will find some beautiful buildings from different times (Classicism, Secession, Modernism) with the oldest building (no.15) being from 1827. In summer there are terraces here, in winter there's a christmas market.

My wonderful brochure on Zagreb claims that "if you have met someone there, then you're not just a visitor anymore". As I have I can continue writing this guide as a local I guess ;)

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Address: Trg Bana J. Jelacica
Directions: You can't miss it. Almost all trams go here.

The main statue on Trg Bana J. Jelacica is - no surprise here - the one of Ban Josip Jelacic sitting on a horse.

Ban Josip Jelacic is a national hero because he defended Croatia from Hungarian attacks in 1848.

The statue has an interesting past. In 1947 it was moved to some corner because it seemed too nationalistic for Yugoslavia. In 1990 when Nationalism was fashionable again it was brought back to its original spot.

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Address: Trg Bana J. Jelacica

OK let's leave the main square and continue to the next square - Kaptol. It's just a short walk uphill through the street called Bakaceva at the northeast of the main square. Kaptol is a huge kinda empty square. Around it you will find the cathedral as well as some nice old houses. In the middle there's the beautiful statue of the Blessed Virgin Mary.

Kaptol is one of the oldest squares in Zagreb. It dates back to the time when there were just two settlements - Kaptol and Gradec (which is now the upper town).

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Address: Kaptol

The cathedral of the Assumption of Virgin Mary and St. Stephen is the main landmark of Zagreb probably. You can see it from far away when approaching the city from the south. It is constantly under construction and it's hard to find pictures without the scaffolding around one of its towers.

I liked the nice dark atmosphere inside the church but I didn't spend too much time in there because I didn't want to disturb the praying people.

The Neo-Gothic bell-towers, which have been built in the early 1900s after the old tower was destroyed by an earthquake, are not the same height by the way. If you look closely you can see that one is a metre shorter than the other.

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Address: Kaptol

As in the 15th century the cathedral was the most eastern cathedral in Europe it was time to defend it as well as Croatia's christianity. A fortress wall with several towers was built around it. Unfortunately it was removed and only 6 towers remained standing. One of them is directly next to the cathedral.

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Address: Kaptol

This is a part of the statue of Virgin Mary surrounded by some beautiful angels and a fountain which stands in the middle of Kaptol square. I sat here for a while in the cold, having a drink, changing batteries of my camera and I thought that it must be nice to sit here in summer.... As I like angels I only have a picture of an angel here, one of my favourites...

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Address: Kaptol

From Kaptol we walk through a small passage and arrive at Dolac Market which is basically next door. This is the main market of Zagreb and I loved its atmosphere. You can buy groceries here as well as arts and crafts, original Chanel perfume (see General tip for more) as well as fake and tacky stuff. Underneath the open air market there's the market hall where you can buy cheese, meat and fish. No surprise this place is called the "belly of Zagreb".

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Address: Dolac
Directions: From Kaptol through the little lane opposite the cathedral.

Tkalciceva is a nice street full of beautiful old houses, cafes, bars and shops. Apparently it was just renovated shortly before I had been to Zagreb so it all looked nice and (maybe a bit too) clean here.

If you need a coffee while walking around or if you are searching for a drink in the evening you can't go wrong with coming here, even though it might be a bit too trendy ;)

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Address: Tkalciceva
Directions: Turn right when walking down from Dolac (direction towards Trg Bana Jelacica).

There's some nice statues everywhere in Zagreb. This picture which I took while strolling along Tkalciceva shows the statue of the author Marija Juric Zagorka as well as a beautiful old sun dial on the wall..... and the beautiful still life was destroyed immediately by a very cheeky dog ;-)

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Address: Tkalciceva

This bridge over Medvešcak river used to connect Kaptol and Gradec and quite a few bad battles between the two town took place here - that's where its name "Bloody Bridge" comes from.

The funny thing about this bridge, however, is that it's gone these days! It's a bit confusing that this street that connects Radiceva and Tkalciceva is still called a bridge.

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Address: Between Radiceva and Tkalciceva