Zagreb has a reputation problem from what I can gather! Most of people only ever see the airport, grab a rental or a coach, and point themselves at Split, Plitvice or Ljubljana without a second look at the capital. Which is just daft.
Croatia’s capital is a proper city break hiding behind a transport hub. A hilltop old town with a cannon that fires every day at noon. Parks and big yellow Habsburg buildings below it. A café culture that’ll take up whole afternoons. It’s cheaper than the coast, calmer too, and a smart base for Plitvice, the Zagorje castles and Slovenia.
Give it two days. Here’s how I’d spend them, what things really cost and what’s still behind scaffolding after the earthquake.
This article may contain affiliate links. If you make a purchase through these links, we earn a small commission at no extra cost to you. This helps fund the site and keeps our guides free. See our full affiliate disclosure for details.
Zagreb, Croatia: Quick Facts
Prices are a guide and vary by route, date and demand.
Is Zagreb worth visiting?
Yes, as long as you take it for what it is.
There’s no sea here, no city walls, and nobody’s filming a fantasy epic on the corner (for that, my Dubrovnik walking tour has you covered). Zagreb is an inland Central European capital, closer in feel to Vienna or Ljubljana than to Dalmatia. Some of the Lower Town is grey and tired, a few big buildings still wear earthquake scaffolding, and on Sunday afternoons parts of the centre go properly quiet.
But the good bits are really good. The Upper Town is small enough to walk in a morning and pretty enough to do twice. Food and drink cost noticeably less than on the coast. And Plitvice, the Zagorje castles and Ljubljana are all within a few hours.
When my cousin, brother, and me flew in for a road trip into Slovenia, Zagreb was meant to be a quick stop. My advice if you’re doing the same? Bolt on a night at either end.
Who’ll love it:
- City-breakers who’d rather drink coffee and wander than tick off big-name sights
- Anyone flying in for Plitvice, the coast or Slovenia
- Christmas market fans (Advent here is a very big deal)
- Budget travellers who’ve winced at coastal prices (for the big coastal names, see our top 10 places to visit in Croatia)
How many days in Zagreb?
Two days is the sweet spot. One covers the Upper Town, the cathedral and Dolac if you start early. Add a third for Plitvice, the Sljeme cable car or cake in Samobor.
← Swipe to scroll on mobile
| Day | Morning | Afternoon | Evening |
|---|---|---|---|
| Day 1 | Dolac Market, the cathedral, then up Radićeva Street to the Stone Gate | Noon cannon at Lotrščak Tower, St Mark's Church, Museum of Broken Relationships, funicular down | Sunset on Strossmayer Promenade, dinner and drinks on Tkalčićeva |
| Day 2 | Mirogoj Cemetery (bus 106 from Kaptol) | Lower Town parks: Zrinjevac, the Art Pavilion, the Botanical Garden, coffee stops | Zagreb 360 for the city lights, then čevapi or craft beer |
| Day 3 | Early bus to Plitvice, or the Sljeme cable car | Plitvice boardwalks, or lunch and kremšnita in Samobor | Back for a late dinner and one last rakija |
Getting to Zagreb and getting around
Zagreb airport to city centre
Franjo Tuđman Airport (ZAG) is about 17km south-east of the centre. Three realistic options:
- Pleso shuttle bus: £7.70 (€9, $10.40) one way to the main bus station, roughly every 30 minutes, 35 to 40 minutes. The easy choice with luggage.
- ZET bus 290: £0.80 (€0.93, $1.07) on a 60-minute kiosk ticket, 45 to 50 minutes to Kvaternikov trg. Cheapest by miles, slowest by miles.
- Taxi or ride-hail: Bolt and Uber usually come in around £17 to £26 (€20 to €30, $23 to $35). The official airport taxi price list caps the fare to the centre at about £30 (€35, $40).
Neither bus stops on the main square, so add a tram or a short taxi at the other end. Landing late or with kids? Pre-booked Zagreb airport transfers take the guesswork out.
Trains and buses from Ljubljana, Budapest and the coast
The main train station (Glavni kolodvor) is a 15-minute walk south of Ban Jelačić Square. The main bus station is further east, about 25 minutes on foot or a few stops by tram.
- Ljubljana: direct trains take 2 hours 20 minutes to 2 hours 40 minutes, from about £7.70 (€9, $10.40) one way. Buses take about two hours.
- Budapest: one direct train a day, leaving in the afternoon and taking just under six hours. Book a seat, then pick things up with our Budapest walking tour.
- Split: the bus wins at around five hours. The train takes nearly eight, though the mountain scenery is lovely. Our Split guide takes over when you arrive.
- Plitvice: bus only, two to two and a half hours.
Trams, tickets and the Zagreb Card
The blue trams go almost everywhere you’ll want, and everything in this guide sits in fare zone 1. Buy paper tickets from Tisak and iNovine kiosks, since the driver charges more:
- 30 minutes: £0.45 (€0.53, $0.61), or £0.70 (€0.80, $0.92) from the driver
- 60 minutes: £0.80 (€0.93, $1.07)
- 90 minutes: £1.14 (€1.33, $1.54)
- Day ticket: £3.40 (€3.98, $4.60)
Stamp it the moment you board, because inspectors do turn up. The Zagreb Card bundles unlimited trams and buses with nine attractions (I’ve done the maths in the museums section). For data, an eSIM beats roaming; our best travel eSIMs round-up compares the ones I’d use.
Driving and parking
You don’t need a car in Zagreb itself. The centre is walkable, street parking is in paid zones and the Upper Town isn’t built for cars. Where a car earns its keep is the Zagorje castles, Plitvice on your own schedule or the drive into Slovenia. If that’s your plan, compare car hire at Zagreb airport and collect it on the way out rather than paying to park it all weekend.
Heading into Slovenia? You’ll need an e-vignette for their motorways (see our guide to driving in Slovenia), and GOV.UK notes there are checks at Slovenia’s borders with Croatia, so keep passports handy. Heading for the coast instead? The Adriatic Highway road trip is the drive.
Zagreb Upper Town (Gornji Grad)
This is the bit everyone pictures. Gornji Grad grew from Gradec, one of two medieval hilltop towns (the other, Kaptol, is where the cathedral stands), and it’s all cobbles, pastel townhouses, gas lamps and government buildings. You can walk the lot in a morning. Go slowly anyway.
St Mark's Church
That roof. The tiles on St Mark’s Church spell out two coats of arms, one for the old Kingdom of Croatia, Slavonia and Dalmatia and one for the city, and it’s every bit as good in person. Earthquake repairs are finished, so you’ll see it scaffolding-free. Parliament and the government building flank the square, so expect police and a few barriers.
Stone Gate
The Stone Gate (Kamenita vrata) is the last surviving medieval gate into Gradec. Inside is a candlelit shrine around a painting of the Virgin Mary that survived a huge fire in the 1700s, and locals still stop to light a candle on the way through. Walk up Radićeva Street and you’ll come straight to it.
Lotrščak Tower and the noon cannon
Every day at exactly noon, a cannon fires from Lotrščak Tower, a 13th-century watchtower at the top of the funicular. It’s been going off daily since 1877 and it still makes half the street jump. Me included, and I knew it was coming. You can climb the tower for views over the Lower Town for a small fee paid at the door.
The funicular
The Uspinjača links Ilica in the Lower Town with the foot of Lotrščak Tower. It’s 66 metres of track, takes about 64 seconds and costs £0.55 (€0.66, $0.75) one way, running every ten minutes from 6.30am to 10pm. It’s recently back after a long renovation, with new cabins. Yes, the steps beside it are quicker. That’s not the point.
Strossmayer Promenade and the Grič Tunnel
Turn left at the top of the funicular for Strossmayer Promenade, a leafy walk along the old walls with the best free view over the Lower Town rooftops. The bronze poet lounging on a bench is A.G. Matoš. Come at sunset, sit next to him and watch the lights come on.
Under your feet runs the Grič Tunnel, dug as an air-raid shelter in the 1940s and now a free, slightly eerie shortcut between Mesnička and Radićeva streets. It hosts events too, so it’s sometimes busier than you’d expect.
Where to Stay in Zagreb
Lower Town (Donji Grad)
The Lower Town is 19th-century Zagreb: wide streets, rattling trams, Habsburg-era façades and a U-shaped string of parks. Some of it is grand. Some of it badly needs a paint job, and a few buildings are still wrapped up after the earthquake.
Ban Jelačić Square
The main square and the city’s meeting point. Locals arrange to meet “pod satom”, under the clock, and everyone knows which one. Ban Josip Jelačić sits on his bronze horse, the Manduševac fountain marks an old spring, and trams roll through all day. It won’t win a beauty contest, but you’ll cross it ten times a day and it’s never dull.
On the 16th floor of the skyscraper on the square, the Zagreb 360 observation deck looks over both towns. Admission lets you back in later the same day, so you can do daylight and the night-time lights on one ticket.
The Green Horseshoe, Zrinjevac and the Art Pavilion
South of the square, the Lenuci Horseshoe (most people just call it the Green Horseshoe) is a U of parks and squares that loops down past the station and back up. The stretches I’d make time for:
- Zrinjevac: plane trees, a music pavilion, an old meteorological column and some of the best people-watching benches in the city
- King Tomislav Square: the bright yellow Art Pavilion, with the main station behind it
- The Botanical Garden: a quiet hour among the greenhouses for £1.70 (€2, $2.30)
- Marulić Square: grand buildings, fewer people
The Croatian National Theatre, a yellow neo-baroque showpiece, sits just off the western side. Even without a ticket, walk past at night when it’s lit up.
Recommended Tours and Tickets
Zagreb Cathedral and the earthquake
Early on a Sunday morning in March 2020, a magnitude 5.5 earthquake hit Zagreb, right at the start of the first Covid lockdown. The cathedral on Kaptol took the worst of it. The top of the south spire snapped off and crashed onto the Archbishop’s Palace, and the north spire was later taken down for safety. Both towers are now about 30 metres shorter than the twin needles on older postcards.
The good news: after years closed, the cathedral has reopened for worship and visitors can go back inside. When I checked, it was open daily from 8am to 7pm with no entry fee. The less good news: much of the interior is still behind scaffolding, and the restoration team expects the full job, towers included, to take years yet.
- The façade and the shortened towers are free to see from Kaptol, any time
- You can step inside between services, with scaffolding blocking some views
- The tower viewpoints are off the table for now
Museums worth your time
Museum of Broken Relationships
If you only do one museum in Zagreb, make it this one. Everyday objects donated after break-ups, from a toaster to the now-famous axe, each with a short anonymous story. It’s funnier, sadder and smarter than it sounds, and it picked up a big European museum award soon after opening. Give it an hour, then decompress in the café (mulled wine in winter helps).
- Where: Kulmer Palace, Upper Town, a couple of minutes from St Mark’s
- Price: £7.70 (€9, $10.40) for adults, £6 (€7, $8.10) for students, over-65s and visitors with disabilities
- Hours: daily, 9am to 9pm in winter and 9am to 10pm from June to September
Four more worth an hour
- Zagreb City Museum: the city’s story from Roman finds to today, in the Upper Town. Good on a rainy morning.
- Nikola Tesla Technical Museum:
- a planetarium, a mock mine and Tesla’s study. Brilliant with kids, sneakily good without.
- Museum of Contemporary Art (MSU): a big modern building across the river in Novi Zagreb, around 12,000 works in the collection. Worth the tram ride if modern art’s your thing.
- Croatian Museum of Naïve Art: small, colourful and very Croatian, next door to Broken Relationships.
Museum of Illusions and the selfie crowd
Honest take: the Museum of Illusions, the selfie museum and the Museum of Hangovers are fun for 45 minutes on a wet afternoon, especially with kids. They’re not why you came to Zagreb. If you go, the Zagreb Card knocks a bit off (15% at Illusions when I checked).
Gear we actually travel with
Passport holders, packing cubes, travel wallets. Stuff that earns its place in the bag.
Browse the shopDolac Market and Tkalčićeva Street
Dolac sits on a raised square just behind Ban Jelačić Square, up a short flight of steps, and it’s been the city’s main market for close to a century. Up top: red umbrellas (a Zagreb tradition), farmers selling whatever’s in season, flowers on the corner. Down in the covered hall: butchers, fishmongers and stallholders selling sir i vrhnje, fresh cottage cheese with cream. Grab a pot and a spoon.
Tkalčićeva Street
Tkalčićeva (locals say Tkalča) runs north from the market along the line of a stream that once separated Kaptol and Gradec. Now it’s a long strip of café terraces and bars. By day it’s coffee and people-watching. After dark, it’s where half the city’s under-35s seem to end up. Prices run a touch higher than a street away, but you’re paying for the terrace.
Cut through Krvavi Most, the Bloody Bridge, a short lane named after old punch-ups between the two towns, to reach Radićeva and the Stone Gate.
Mirogoj Cemetery and Maksimir Park
Mirogoj Cemetery
Stick with me here. One of the best things to do in Zagreb is visit a cemetery. Mirogoj opened in 1876 and was laid out by Hermann Bollé, the architect behind the cathedral’s neo-Gothic makeover. Long ivy-covered arcades topped with green cupolas line the walls, with sculpture-heavy tombs beneath and parkland rolling up the slope. People of every faith, and none, lie side by side, which was unusual at the time.
Look for basketball legend Dražen Petrović’s grave (there are always flowers). Around All Saints’ Day, come at dusk, when the whole place glows with candles.
- Getting there: bus 106 from the Kaptol stop by the cathedral, roughly every 20 minutes. Or walk it in about half an hour, mostly uphill.
- Hours: daily, 6am to 8pm from April to October and 7.30am to 6pm from November to March
- Price: free
Be respectful. It’s a working cemetery, and you may well pass a funeral.
Maksimir Park and Zagreb Zoo
Maksimir is Zagreb’s big green escape, a landscaped park from the late 1700s with oak woods, lakes and little bridges that look lifted from a painting. Several trams from Ban Jelačić Square run out along Maksimirska to the gates. It’s free, it’s huge, and on a hot afternoon half the city’s there.
Zagreb Zoo is inside the park and dates back to 1925, which makes it the oldest in South East Europe. It’s open daily from 9am (last tickets at 5pm) and included with the Zagreb Card. Families, that’s your afternoon sorted.
Eating and drinking in Zagreb
Zagreb food is inland food: Central European comfort cooking with a Balkan grill on the side. What to order:
- Štrukli: thin dough wrapped around fresh cheese, boiled or baked with cream until it bubbles. Go for baked.
- Čevapi: little grilled minced-meat sausages stuffed into lepinja flatbread with raw onion and ajvar or kajmak. A portion at a grill chain like Batak runs about £6.50 to £8.20 (€7.60 to €9.60, $8.80 to $11.10).
- Kremšnita: a wobbly custard slice under a crisp pastry lid. Samobor’s version is the famous one.
- Purica s mlincima: roast turkey with mlinci, baked pasta sheets soaked in the roasting juices. Proper Sunday lunch food.
- Sir i vrhnje: fresh cheese and cream, straight from Dolac.
For more of the country’s best plates, see our round-up of culinary experiences in Croatia.
Coffee culture
In Zagreb, coffee is a social appointment. A cappuccino averages around £2.05 (€2.40, $2.75), nobody will hurry you, and one coffee turns into an hour without anyone noticing. Order a kava s mlijekom, pick a terrace, settle in.
Craft beer and evenings out
The craft beer scene is better than most visitors expect, with bars dotted around the Lower Town and up Tkalčićeva. A half-litre of draught in a normal bar is around £2.55 to £3.40 (€3 to €4, $3.45 to $4.60). Rakija, the local fruit brandy, has a habit of appearing after dinner. Sip it. Don’t neck it.
Budget picks and one treat
Eat cheap with gablec, the traditional weekday lunch of soup and a hearty main that lots of local places serve for not much. Bakeries (pekara) do burek for breakfast. At the other end, Zagreb has several Michelin-listed restaurants, and a tasting menu here is far kinder on the wallet than back home. I’d budget for one blowout dinner.
What things cost in Zagreb
← Swipe to scroll on mobile
| Item | Typical cost | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Airport shuttle bus (one way) | £7.70 (€9, $10.40) | To the main bus station, 35 to 40 minutes |
| Tram ticket, 30 minutes | £0.45 (€0.53, $0.61) | Kiosk price; £0.70 (€0.80, $0.92) from the driver |
| Tram day ticket | £3.40 (€3.98, $4.60) | Unlimited trams and buses in zone 1 |
| Zagreb Card (24 or 72 hours) | Check the official shop | Covers trams, buses and nine attractions; not the funicular, cable car or airport |
| Funicular (one way) | £0.55 (€0.66, $0.75) | Standard ZET tickets also valid |
| Museum of Broken Relationships | £7.70 (€9, $10.40) | £6 (€7, $8.10) reduced |
| Sljeme cable car (return) | £8.55 (€10, $11.55) | One way £5.15 (€6, $6.95) |
| Cappuccino | About £2.05 (€2.40, $2.75) | Cheaper away from the main square |
| Beer (0.5 litre, bar) | £2.55 to £3.40 (€3 to €4, $3.45 to $4.60) | Local lager; craft costs a bit more |
| Čevapi (grill chain portion) | £6.50 to £8.20 (€7.60 to €9.60, $8.80 to $11.10) | Bread is sometimes extra |
| Mid-range dinner (per person) | £17 to £30 (€20 to €35, $23 to $40) | Main, side and a drink |
Advent in Zagreb and other events
If you’re coming for the Christmas markets, you’re in good company. Advent in Zagreb runs from the end of November into early January, traditionally finishing on 7 January, and rather than one big market it spreads across the whole centre:
- Ban Jelačić Square, where the Advent candles are lit at the Manduševac fountain
- Zrinjevac, strung with thousands of lights
- The Ice Park on King Tomislav Square, with skating in front of the Art Pavilion
- European Square and the streets around it
- Strossmayer Promenade in the Upper Town, with food stalls and that view
Expect fritule (little doughnuts), grilled sausages, mulled wine, live music and very full trams. December weekends get rammed, hotel prices climb and central rooms go early, so book well ahead and do the main squares on a weekday evening if you can. Comparing cities? Zagreb sits alongside the big names in our guide to the best Christmas markets in Europe.
Outside winter there’s the Festival of Lights in spring and open-air concerts and festivals in summer (Lake Jarun hosts the big ones). August can feel sleepy as locals decamp to the coast. For month-by-month weather, see our best time to visit Croatia guide.
Day trips from Zagreb
Within two and a half hours of Zagreb you've got waterfalls, a mountain, castles and another capital. Got a car and more time? Our pick of lesser-known places in Croatia has more ideas.
Plitvice Lakes National Park
The big one. Sixteen terraced lakes linked by waterfalls and wooden boardwalks, two to two and a half hours away by bus. It works as a day trip if you catch an early bus, give yourself five or six hours in the park and know when the last bus back leaves. Adult entry depends on the season: £8.55 (€10, $11.55) from November to March, £19.65 (€23, $26.55) in April, May and October, and £34.20 (€40, $46.20) from June to September, with a cheaper late-afternoon ticket in summer. Rather someone else sorted the timings? Plitvice day trips from Zagreb with transport included take the stress out. Routes and entrances are all in our Plitvice Lakes National Park guide.
Medvednica and the Sljeme cable car
Zagreb has its own mountain. Take tram 8 or 14 to Mihaljevac, switch to tram 15 to the end of the line at Gračansko dolje, and the cable car's lower station is right there. The ride up to Sljeme, just over 1,000 metres up, takes 16 to 22 minutes and a visitor return costs £8.55 (€10, $11.55). Expect forest trails, mountain lodges serving hearty food and skiing in a decent winter. It usually runs from 9 or 10am until 7pm, with seasonal changes and closures in high winds.
Samobor
Half an hour west by bus, Samobor has a stream running through its old town, a ruined castle on the hill and the most famous kremšnita in Croatia. Buses run often and cost about £2.55 to £3.40 (€3 to €4, $3.45 to $4.60) each way. Go for lunch. Stay for cake.
The Zagorje castles
North of the city, the hills of Hrvatsko Zagorje hide Trakošćan, a fairytale castle on a wooded hill about 80km and an hour and a half away by car (adult entry £8.55, €10, $11.55), plus the chunky Veliki Tabor fortress. There's no direct bus to Trakošćan, so this is car territory. I mapped the whole loop in our Croatia inland road trip from Zagreb to the Zagorje castles.
Ljubljana
Slovenia's capital is a direct train ride away, about two and a half hours, from around £7.70 (€9, $10.40). Doable as a long day, better as your next stop. Start with our Ljubljana in 2 days guide, then the Slovenia hub for Bled, the Soča Valley and the rest.
← Swipe to scroll on mobile
| Destination | Travel time | Best way there | Cost | Worth it for |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Plitvice Lakes | 2 to 2.5 hours each way | Bus from the main bus station, a tour or a hire car | Entry £8.55 to £34.20 (€10 to €40, $11.55 to $46.20) by season, plus bus fare | Waterfalls and boardwalks |
| Medvednica (Sljeme) | About an hour to the top | Tram 8 or 14, then tram 15, then the cable car | Cable car return £8.55 (€10, $11.55) | Forest walks, views, winter skiing |
| Samobor | About 30 minutes | Bus | £2.55 to £3.40 (€3 to €4, $3.45 to $4.60) each way | Kremšnita, old town, hills |
| Zagorje castles | About 1.5 hours to Trakošćan | Hire car (no direct bus) | Trakošćan entry £8.55 (€10, $11.55) | Castles and countryside |
| Ljubljana | 2 hours 20 minutes to 2 hours 40 minutes | Direct train from Glavni kolodvor | From £7.70 (€9, $10.40) one way | A second capital, onward to Slovenia |
Where to Stay in Zagreb
The centre is compact, so it’s hard to go badly wrong. Short version: stay in the Lower Town within ten minutes of Ban Jelačić Square.
← Swipe to scroll on mobile
| Area | Vibe | Best for | Walk to Ban Jelačić Square |
|---|---|---|---|
| Upper Town (Gornji Grad) | Quiet, cobbled, gas lamps, few hotels | Couples and light packers | 5 to 10 minutes, downhill |
| Lower Town around the main square and Flower Square | Central, cafés on the doorstep, lively at weekends | First-timers and short breaks | 0 to 5 minutes |
| Around the main station and King Tomislav Square | Grand old buildings, practical, the Ice Park at Advent | Train travellers and Advent visitors | About 15 minutes |
| Near the main bus station | Functional, not pretty | Early Plitvice buses and the airport shuttle | About 25 minutes, or a short tram ride |
- Budget: hostels cluster around the main square and Tkalčićeva, and dorm beds are good value next to coastal prices.
- Mid-range: plenty of apartments and small hotels in the Lower Town, typically £68 to £111 (€80 to €130, $92 to $150) a night for a central double.
- Treat: the Esplanade, a grand 1920s hotel built for Orient Express passengers beside the main station, is the classic splurge.
I’d browse Booking.com hotels in central Zagreb and filter by distance to Ban Jelačić Square. During Advent, book months rather than weeks ahead.
Don't just pass through
Zagreb doesn’t do big fireworks on day one. It’s a cannon at noon, a coffee that somehow takes an hour, a cemetery you’ll still be talking about at the departure gate. Give it two unhurried days and it pays you back, with better food and smaller bills than you’ll find on the coast.
So if you’re flying in for the coast, Plitvice or Slovenia, bolt a night or two onto the front. Then keep going: our Croatia hub covers the rest of the country, the Plitvice Lakes guide has everything for the waterfalls, and the Croatia inland road trip follows the castles north from Zagreb.
FAQs
Is Zagreb worth visiting?
Yes, especially for two days. It’s cheaper and calmer than the coast, the Upper Town and Mirogoj are excellent, and it’s the obvious base for Plitvice and Slovenia. I’d happily trade a night on the coast for one here.
How many days do you need in Zagreb?
Two days covers the Upper Town, the Lower Town, Dolac, Mirogoj and a museum or two without rushing. Add a third for Plitvice, Samobor or the Sljeme cable car. One day works if you’re at Dolac early.
Is Zagreb expensive?
Not by Western European standards. A cappuccino averages about £2.05 (€2.40, $2.75), a half-litre of beer £2.55 to £3.40 (€3 to €4, $3.45 to $4.60) and a 30-minute tram ticket £0.45 (€0.53, $0.61). It’s easier on the wallet than Dubrovnik or Split in summer, which is reason enough to start here.
Do I need a visa for Croatia from the UK?
No. Croatia is in the EU and the Schengen area, so UK passport holders can visit visa-free for up to 90 days in any 180-day period, counted across all Schengen countries. Your passport must be less than 10 years old on arrival and valid for at least three months after you leave. The EU’s Entry/Exit System (EES) is now in use, so expect to register fingerprints and a photo at the border (it’s free). ETIAS, the online travel authorisation, isn’t running yet and has no confirmed start date, so don’t pay any website claiming to sell one. Check GOV.UK before you go, and see our rundown of Europe entry changes for Brits.
Can you do Plitvice as a day trip from Zagreb?
Yes. It’s two to two and a half hours each way by bus, so catch an early departure, allow five or six hours in the park and check the last bus back before you set off. In peak season, a tour with transport and timed tickets sorted is the least stressful option.
Sources checked
- GOV.UK Croatia travel advice: entry requirements, passport validity, Schengen 90/180, EES, Slovenia border checks
- Zagreb Tourist Board: arriving by plane, airport bus and line 290 journey times
- Pleso prijevoz, airport shuttle route and frequency
- ZET (Zagreb public transport), funicular reopening, Sljeme cable car
- Zagreb In Your Pocket: trams and buses, ZET ticket prices and validity
- Zagreb Tourist Board: Zagreb Card, inclusions and partner discounts
- Zagreb Card FAQ, funicular, cable car and airport not included
- Zagreb Tourist Board: Sljeme cable car, fares, hours and how to reach the lower station
- Museum of Broken Relationships, admission prices and opening hours
- Croatia Week: Zagreb Cathedral restoration, restoration phases and timeline
- Zagreb In Your Pocket: Zagreb Cathedral, reopening and daily hours
- Archdiocese of Zagreb, official cathedral website
- HRT: St Mark’s Church reopens, post-earthquake reopening
- Gradska groblja: Mirogoj, bus lines from Kaptol
- Zagreb Zoo, opening hours
- Plitvice Lakes National Park, seasonal ticket prices and timed entry
- EveryRail: Zagreb to Ljubljana, journey times and fares
- HŽPP: trains to Budapest, direct train timetable
- EveryRail: Zagreb to Split, train times and fares
- Trakošćan Castle, adult ticket price and access by car
- Croatia Week: tipping in Croatia, current tipping norms
- Croatia Week: cappuccino prices, average Zagreb cappuccino price
- Croatia Week: čevapi prices, grill chain prices in Zagreb
- Croatia Week: Advent in Zagreb, Advent locations and closing date
- City of Zagreb, official city website
Travel Hubs
Recommended Websites and Resources:
- Flights: Find the best deals on Trip.com
- Hotels: Best rates on Booking.com · Best hostels on HostelWorld · Ratings and bargains on TripAdvisor
- Apartments: Affordable rentals on VRBO
- Car hire: Best prices on RentalCars.com
- Travel insurance: VistorsCoverage for worldwide cover · AirHelp for flight delay compensation
- Activities: Tours and skip-the-line tickets on GetYourGuide · Instant mobile tickets on Tiqets
- Trains: Most affordable trains on Trainline · Rail passes on Rail Europe
- Travel eSIMs: Use your mobile phone anywhere worldwide with Airalo
- Need more help planning your trip? Visit our Resources Page to see all the companies we trust and use for our travels






