The best food, drink, restaurants, bars and places to visit in Croatia's capital
Croatia’s capital Zagreb is an excellent and relaxing city to visit, either as a stand-alone weekend break or as part of wider travel around Croatia and the Balkans.
Here, we have collected together some of our top tips and recommendations for getting the most out of your time in Zagreb. For a fuller sense of our visit, please also check out our review of the Club Aspire Lounge at London Heathrow airport as well as our review of the Sheraton Zagreb hotel and our review of the Primeclass lounge in Zagreb airport.
For a capital city, Zagreb is quite compact and easy to navigate. A couple of days should therefore be sufficient to cover most of the highlights in a relatively stress-free way. One point to note though is that a number of the museums close early in the afternoon on Sunday, and are also closed on Monday. Therefore, a bit of schedule planning can be helpful to make sure you don’t inadvertently miss out on anything. It is also well-worth checking out some of day trips that are possible from the city.
With all of this in mind, here are our suggestions for the best things to eat and drink, and the best places to visit whilst in Zagreb.
Food & Restaurants
Zagreb’s location means that it sits at the crossroads of a number of fantastic and very different culinary traditions, chiefly those of Central Europe, Italy and the Balkans. There is therefore an abundance of everything from patisserie to sausages, pizza, pasta, and grilled meat.
For a small country, Croatia has some very distinct topographical regions, meaning there are also some significant differences in ingredients and styles of traditional Croatian cooking. Zagreb, being the capital, is able to showcase the full-range, from the fish and seafood of country’s Adriatic coastline, to the more meat-based dishes of the interior.
Whilst there are plenty of appealing places to eat, our top recommendation for some top-quality local food set in a traditional setting is Konoba Didov san in the Upper Town. Situated on a quiet corner close to all of the Upper Town’s points of interest, Konoba Didov san is still very much a favourite with locals as opposed to just being a tourist haunt. With an extensive and diverse menu, it offers excellent value considering the quality (and quantity) of the dishes.
One particular local dish that you should make sure you try is the Zagreb Schnitzel or Zagrebački Odrezak, essentially a schnitzel filled with ham and melted cheese. In search of the real thing, we opted for Stari Fijaker, another excellent traditional restaurant in a central location.
You also can't leave Zagreb without trying Strukli, a sort of combination of cheese dumplings and lasagne that is typical of the Zagreb region of Croatia. We opted for La Struk, which has an impressive range of different Strukli varieties, as well as a peaceful open-air courtyard at the rear.
Cafes / Patisseries
Whilst meat-lovers will certainly enjoy Zagreb, it is also a city in which patisserie is taken very seriously. Therefore, for those with a sweet tooth and a lack of self-control, it can certainly be a dangerous (albeit delicious) place!
Top of our list is the amazing Slastičarnica Vincek, located on the main Ilica shopping street in central Zagreb. This buzzing spot is justifiably popular, and the main issue will be trying to decide which of the myriad options to choose.
Another great central option is Oranž, a stone’s throw from the main Jelačića square. In addition to the extensive selection of cakes, there is also a wine menu, and an elegant outdoor seating area.
Given its geographical location, it is perhaps unsurprising that Zagreb has an incredibly active and extensive café culture and that coffee is very much a fact of everyday life. Our experience of the coffee was that it was generally excellent, so there is no need to go to great lengths in order to find a decent coffee.
Walking around the city, you will also see that ice cream / gelato is also ubiquitous.
Wine
Croatian wine it would appear is something of a well-kept secret. Upon visiting neighbouring Slovenia a couple of years ago, we very pleasantly surprised by the fantastic quality of the wine. Croatia as it turned out is also home to some very appealing wines.
In addition to the locally grown familiar varieties such as Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot (which frankly seemed a fair bit smoother than French Merlot), it is well-worth sampling Croatian varieties such as Plavac, Babic, Refosk and Teran.
For an extensive selection of Croatian wine, we would highly recommend the perfectly-located Cheese Bar. Given that Croatia also boasts some excellent local cheeses and charcuterie, the sharing platters also help to make this place a real winner.
Beer
As you might expect, Zagreb is also a great place for beer drinkers. In addition to the standard traditional Croatian lager brands such as Karlovačko, there is the inevitably vibrant craft brewing scene as well.
You will come across pretty much every type of beer here, but I would particularly recommend sampling some of the ‘dark lagers’ and the ‘half and half’ – essentially a smooth and balanced beer partway between a lager and an ale.
We would certainly recommend checking out Mali Medo, the pub-restaurant run by Zagreb’s Medvedgrad brewery. In addition to an excellent range of beer types and some hearty dishes, it offers both a cosy, traditional interior and an extensive outdoor seating area on the pleasant Tkalčićeva Street. Even if you don’t opt for the Mali Medo, Tkalčićeva should certainly be part of your Zagreb exploration as it is popular, largely pedestrianised street packed with traditional buildings and shoulder-to-shoulder restaurants and bars.
Spirits
For those with an interest in sampling the local spirits, it is common to find an extensive list of local brandies and liquors, made from a range of different fruits including plums and pears.
For the most part, these are broadly similar to the local varieties of firewater, raki or schnapps to be found elsewhere in Europe. The one, which really stands out as a must try (and even a must buy as a souvenir) is the delicious honey brandy, or Medica. This has a fuller and stronger honey taste than might be expected, and I imagine it would also be a fantastic thing when suffering from a cold!
Exploration
If you have a couple of days, then you should be able to explore the majority of the city relatively easily on foot. The small Upper Town has a Ruritanian feel, and has a high concentration of interesting sites and buildings, including St. Mark’s Church and The Lotrščak Tower.
In addition to the Upper Town, and the area around Jelačića, you should certainly make sure to visit the Central Market (or Dolac), Tkalčićeva, Cvjetni trg and Bogoćieva (another pedestrianised area of bars and restaurants), and the series of squares and parks running south to the train station in the Lower Town.
Zagreb also has more than its fair share of interesting museums from the traditional to the quirky (Museum of Broken Relationships). From our perspective, the manageably-sized Museum of Zagreb is certainly a key place to visit for a better understanding of the city and its historical context.
For something a bit different, take a walk through the Grič Tunnel, initially constructed as an air-raid shelter during World War Two.
PS. If you are wondering about the best credit cards to use whilst travelling abroad, you might be interested in our review of the Curve card, which offers something very different.
The Considered Journey is a travel blog focused on travel reviews, travel tips and travel guides, all focused on travel inspiration with a view to helping you make the most of your trip and maximise your travel time.
Having travelled across Europe, Asia, South America, North America, and parts of Africa, we have a host of experiences to share with you. As our focus is on helping you make the most of your trip and maximise your travel time, we highlight the best things to eat, best things to drink, best places to go, and best things to do. In addition, we have written a range of airline reviews, hotel reviews, airport lounge reviews and credit card reviews, and also cover topics such as travelling as a couple, career break travel and sabbatical travel.
We understand that circumstances vary from trip to trip, so we cover everything from luxury travel to some more budget travel options, and the traditional to the modern.
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