14 Best Things to Do in Zagreb, Croatia (From Food to Hidden Gems)

If you’re in Zagreb, you have to try Zagorski štrukli, the city’s signature comfort dish! It’s similar to struklji, which we had at the amazing 3-Michelin starred restaurant, Hisa Franko.

The savory version is basically a baked cheese dumpling layered with thin dough and a creamy filling of cottage cheese, sour cream, and eggs. It comes out bubbling hot and ridiculously comforting.

The best place we found was La Štruk, a tiny bistro that only serves štrukli, which is usually a very good sign.

On the menu you’ll see zapeceni (baked) štrukli and kuhani (boiled). If you go with the baked version, you can choose between savory or sweet fillings like walnuts and honey, apple cinnamon, or blueberries.

My husband and I ordered the baked truffle štrukli, and it arrived sizzling straight from the oven with gooey cheese on top. It was so rich it basically became a full meal for both of us.

Even better, it’s incredibly affordable at around €10.5.

My husband and I love great coffee, so we’ve started seeking out some of the best coffee shops everywhere we travel.

We’ve taken a coffee class in Mexico City, stayed on a coffee plantation in Bali, and had a beautiful farm-to-table lunch at a coffee farm in Tanzania. We’ve also been to Truth Coffee in Cape Town, which honestly served some of the best coffee we’ve had anywhere.

So when we heard about Eliscaffe in Zagreb, we had to check it out.

This tiny, moody café actually made the book Where to Drink Coffee, which lists the 600 best coffee spots in the world chosen by top coffee experts and baristas.

Owner Nik Orosi, a multi-time Croatian Barista Champion, opened Eliscaffe in 2005 and named it after his son Eli. The shop roasts its own beans weekly and serves only single-origin coffees, usually offering two monovarieties with different flavor profiles.

And here’s the twist: they only serve coffee. No pastries, no food.

Just incredibly fresh, expertly brewed coffee. Exactly our kind of place.

Dolac Market is Zagreb’s most famous open-air market and a fun place to see what locals actually eat.

Nicknamed the “Belly of Zagreb,” the market is packed with fresh produce, homemade cheeses, baked goods, local meats, and fish brought in from the Adriatic.

The market dates back to 1930 and has two sections. The lower indoor level sells dairy, meat, and fish, while the upper square is filled with fruits, vegetables, and handicrafts under the market’s iconic red umbrellas.

One local specialty to try is sir i vrhnje, a simple mix of fresh cottage cheese and sour cream. A little salt, paprika, or diced onions on top makes it even better.

We also loved the fresh homemade cornbread sold by the local market ladies known as kumice (meaning “godmother” aka Croatian grandmas).

These hardworking women have been part of Dolac Market for generations, and there’s even a bronze statue honoring them at the top of the stairs.

After visiting Dolac Market, walk next door to Burek, a tiny spot that does exactly what the name suggests.

Burek is a classic Balkan street food made with thin layers of phyllo dough stuffed with fillings like meat, cheese, potato, or spinach. Here the menu is refreshingly simple: meat, cheese, or apple.

My husband and I ordered one meat and one cheese. Both were hot, flaky, and incredibly satisfying. There are no tables, just a counter where you stand and eat.

Even better, it’s incredibly cheap at around €3.

Fair warning though, it’s delicious but heavy. This would be the perfect kind of comfort food after a night of cocktails.

Towering over the city, Zagreb Cathedral is the tallest building in Croatia and one of the city’s most recognizable landmarks.

The cathedral was heavily damaged in the 1880 earthquake and later rebuilt in the Neo-Gothic style. It’s also home to one of the top ten organs in the world.

We actually didn’t go inside, but we did stumble on a great viewpoint behind St. Catherine’s Church with the cathedral rising in the background.

There’s also a small fence there where people add love locks, similar to the one on Butcher’s Bridge in Ljubljana. It’s a great little photo spot overlooking the city.

The Gric Tunnel is one of the more unusual things to see in Zagreb.

It was built in 1943 as a bomb shelter during World War II and later used again during the Croatian War of Independence. In 1993, it even hosted the first underground rave party during the war.

After years of neglect, the tunnel was renovated in 2016 and reopened as a public passage and event space.

Today it’s free to visit and open daily from 9 am to 9 pm. The walk through only takes about five minutes and connects Mesnička and Radićeva Streets.

We entered from the Mesnička Street side near the stairs leading up to the Strossmayer Promenade.

If you visit during Advent, the tunnel apparently transforms into a colorful Christmas exhibition. Zagreb’s Christmas market was even voted Best in Europe for three years in a row from 2016 to 2018.

Another iconic landmark in Zagreb is St. Mark’s Church.

It’s easy to spot thanks to its bright red, white, and blue tiled roof.

The right side shows the coat of arms of Zagreb, while the left displays the historic coat of arms of Croatia, Dalmatia, and Slavonia. It’s also one of the oldest buildings in the city.

When we were standing in the square looking at the roof, I noticed the Zagreb coat of arms shows a white castle with three visible gates. Apparently there’s also a fourth hidden gate below ground.

Legend says that secret entrance once connected to underground tunnels running beneath the city. Most of them were supposedly destroyed in the 1880 earthquake.

Is it true? I have no idea.

But after walking through the Grič Tunnel earlier, it definitely made the story a little more fun to imagine.

The Museum of Broken Relationships is one of Zagreb’s most unusual museums.

It was created by two former Croatian partners, Olinka Vištica and Dražen Grubišić, after their own breakup.

The idea was simple but powerful: people from around the world donate objects connected to past relationships.

As you walk through the exhibits, each item is paired with an anonymous story about love, loss, and heartbreak.

One that stuck with me was a parachute rig from Finland. The woman who donated it met her partner during her first tandem skydive. He later taught her to jump solo, and they fell in love. Tragically, he died in a parachute accident.

I’m usually not a big museum person, but this one was surprisingly moving and definitely worth a visit.

We spotted these colorful murals dedicated to famous Croatian inventors on the staircase that connects Strossmayerovo Promenade to Katarinin trg.

They add a fun splash of color to the walk and highlight some of Croatia’s most important scientific minds.

Croatian inventor Nikola Tesla was a brilliant physicist and engineer best known for developing the first alternating current (AC) motor and the Tesla coil.

His work also helped advance technologies like radio, X-rays, hydroelectric power, and even neon lighting.

Slavoljub Penkala was born in Slovakia but later became a naturalized Croatian after moving to Zagreb. He is best known for inventing the mechanical pencil, the first solid-ink fountain pen, and even Croatia’s first aircraft.

Today, Croatians still  call a pen a “penkala.”

Croatian Ivan Vučetić is known as the father of modern fingerprint identification.

He was born on the island of Hvar but moved to Argentina in his twenties, where he joined the police department and began searching for better ways to identify criminals.

Building on research by Sir Francis Galton showing that no two fingerprints are identical, Vučetić developed a system to collect and catalog fingerprints.

His method helped solve several criminal cases and later became the foundation for modern fingerprint forensics.

Today, the Forensic Science Centre in Zagreb is named in his honor.

My husband and I really enjoyed walking along the Strossmayer Promenade, which has some of the best viewpoints overlooking Zagreb’s Lower Town.

The promenade actually exists thanks to donations from private citizens, which I thought was a pretty cool piece of history.

One fun landmark along the path is a sculpture of Croatian poet Anton Gustav Matoš casually sitting on a bench. It’s the perfect excuse to sit down for a minute and enjoy the view.

In the summer, the promenade hosts festivals and concerts, and during Advent it transforms into a festive Christmas market known as Advent on Stross.

La Bodega sits right in the heart of Zagreb and has a cool, relaxed vibe. The glowing walls are lined with more than 250 bottles of Croatian wine, and you’ll even see prosciutto hanging above the bar.

My husband and I came here specifically to try Dingac wine again. We first discovered it years ago during a visit to Matuško Winery on the Pelješac Peninsula near Dubrovnik, and it stuck with us.

On our waiter’s recommendation, we ordered a bottle of Vina Skaramuča Dingac Plavac Mali, which was excellent.

Another wine bar we wanted to try but ran out of time for is Vinoteka Bornstein.

They offer wine and cheese tastings in a 200-year-old brick cellar and also sell local specialties like truffles and olive oil.

If you need to get from Lower Town to Upper Town, you can hop on Zagreb’s historic funicular. The ride only takes about 55 seconds and is one of the city’s oldest forms of transportation.

My husband and I actually passed right by it but decided to skip the ride. After all the burek and štrukli we had eaten, we figured we could use the extra steps.

The funicular runs year-round from 6:30 am to 10 pm and departs every 10 minutes.

My husband and I had an incredible 7-course tasting menu at Noel, one of the most exciting restaurants in Zagreb.

The talented young head chef, Bruno Vokal, creates modern Croatian dishes inspired by his mother’s and grandmother’s cooking, using fresh local ingredients. He’s also worked in several top kitchens around the world.

Although it wasn’t on the menu when we visited, his signature dish is a deconstructed version of the classic štrukli.

One of the highlights of our time in Croatia was visiting Plitvice Lakes National Park.

With 16 lakes flowing into each other, cascading waterfalls everywhere you look, and lush forests surrounding the trails, it’s honestly one of the most beautiful places we’ve seen.

My husband and I took a day trip from Zagreb by bus (booked through busbud), and it was absolutely worth the early start.

The park is about 2.5 hours away by bus, which makes it a very easy day trip from the city. I highly recommend arriving right when the park opens to avoid the biggest crowds.

If you’re planning a visit, make sure to check out my full guide on How to Visit Plitvice Lakes: Routes, Tickets + Planning Tips.

I also break down the differences between Entrance 1 vs Entrance 2 and share exactly how we walked Route C, which I think is the best route if you only have one day in the park.

Where should you stay in Zagreb?
The best place we found to stay in Zagreb is Hotel Capital, a stylish boutique hotel located right in the city center.

• Elegant boutique hotel that opened in 2018
• Located in the heart of Zagreb near the main sights
• The building used to be a bank (the original vault is still in the basement)
• Beautiful Art Deco and Art Nouveau architecture with a modern interior
• Extremely friendly and helpful staff that made our stay exceptional

Nichole Room Tip:

• Book the City View Room with Small Balcony for a great view of Zagreb Cathedral.

What is the best time to visit Zagreb?
The best time to visit Zagreb depends on your travel plans and whether you want festivals, beaches, or fewer crowds.

• June–August: Best if you want to combine Zagreb with Adriatic beaches and summer festivals
• April–May & September–October: Mild weather and fewer crowds (we visited in May and loved it)
• December: Perfect for the famous Zagreb Christmas markets

How many days should you spend in Zagreb?
Two days is the perfect amount of time to visit Zagreb.

• Day 1: Explore the main sights in Zagreb
• Day 2: Take a day trip to Plitvice Lakes National Park

How do you get around Zagreb?
Zagreb is a very walkable city, and most major attractions are close together.

• Walk: Most of the main sights are within easy walking distance
• Tram: Convenient public transportation if you do not feel like walking
• Taxi/Uber: We only used one to get to and from the airport

Zagreb turned out to be a really interesting city with a mix of historic landmarks, quirky museums, and a surprisingly good food scene.

My husband and I enjoyed wandering around the Upper and Lower Town, trying local dishes, and soaking in the city’s relaxed atmosphere. That said, one full day was plenty for us to see the main highlights.

The real reason we added Zagreb to our itinerary was to use it as a base for visiting Plitvice Lakes National Park, and it worked perfectly for that.

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Any other fun things to do in Zagreb?

Let me know in the comments below!