Zagreb. Things to do, map and hidden gems

St Mark's church stands on the square of the same name in the Upper Town, between the Parliament and the Ban's palace, and it is the most recognisable building in Zagreb. It was built in the 13th century, and its most valuable part is the 14th-century southern portal with fifteen figures in niches, one of the richest Gothic portals in this part of Europe. The roof of coloured glazed tiles was laid in 1880 to the design of Hermann Bolle: on the left are the coats of arms of Croatia, Dalmatia and Slavonia, and on the right that of the city of Zagreb. Inside are sculptures by Ivan Mestrovic and frescoes by Jozo Kljakovic. The church is a parish church and opens for services; the square is pedestrian.

The Mestrovic Atelier occupies the house in the Upper Town where Ivan Mestrovic lived and worked from 1922 to 1942, before he went abroad. He rebuilt the house himself, joining several old buildings and adding a studio with a skylight, a courtyard and a garden with sculptures. Mestrovic was the best-known Croatian sculptor of the 20th century; he exhibited in Vienna, Rome and New York and taught at American universities, and he gave the house and the works to the Croatian people. The display holds sculpture in stone, wood and bronze, drawings and furniture he designed himself. The museum has been open since 1963; the visit takes some forty minutes.

The Dotrscina Memorial Park was laid out in the forest in the north-east of the city, on the place where thousands of people from Zagreb and its surroundings were shot during the Second World War. After the war the area was turned into a memorial park with several markers set at the sites of the graves, among them works by the sculptor Vojin Bakic, shaped as abstract metal forms among the trees. The park was deliberately left as forest, without laid paths and buildings, so one walks through it quietly and without being directed. Today it is little visited and has to be sought out, while interpretive panels explain the history of the place. Access is free, and a bus goes to Dotrscina.

Teatar EXIT was founded in 1994 and is one of the first private theatres in Croatia, created at a time when almost the whole scene was in state hands. The hall is small, with a few hundred seats and a stage close to the audience, so the performances rest on acting rather than on large sets. The repertoire consists of contemporary plays by Croatian and foreign authors, often comedies and dramas on everyday themes, and shows run almost every evening. The theatre is known for long-lived titles that stay in the repertoire for years. It stands on Ilica; tickets are bought at the box office or online and often sell out.

The Komedija Theatre was founded in 1950 and is the only theatre in Zagreb devoted to a musical repertoire: musicals, operettas and comedies with singing. It has its own orchestra, chorus and ballet, which is rare for a house of that size, and the productions are prepared with full live musical performance. Over the decades classics of world operetta and musicals that ran hundreds of times in Zagreb have been staged here. The building stands on Kaptol, a few steps from the cathedral, in a space that has been restored several times. The season runs from autumn to summer, and tickets are bought at the box office or online.

Lauba is an exhibition space in the western part of the city, arranged in the building of a former cavalry riding hall of 1913, which later served as a factory. The restoration kept the steel structure, the brick and the height of the hall, and within that frame a space for showing contemporary art was set. A private collection of Croatian art made from the 1950s to the present is displayed here, along with temporary exhibitions, talks and programmes for schools. The name comes from the word used in Zagreb speech for a covered space beside a house. A cafe with a terrace belongs to the gallery. It is open during the day except Mondays.

The Gric tunnel was dug in 1943 beneath the Gric hill as a shelter for civilians during air raids on Zagreb. The system of corridors is about three hundred and fifty metres long and has six entrances opening at different points around the Upper Town, so one passes through it from Mesnicka to Radiceva street, beneath the whole quarter. After the war it stayed closed for decades, and in the 1990s it once served as the space for a large music event. In 2016 the city cleaned it, lit it and opened it to passers-by. The space is cool and dry, with bare concrete walls, and it is also used for exhibitions. Walking through takes some ten minutes; entry is free.

Maksimir Park opened in 1794 at the urging of Bishop Maksimilijan Vrhovac and was the first public park in this part of Europe, laid out before such spaces became usual. In the mid-19th century Bishop Juraj Haulik gave it its present look on the model of the English landscape garden: instead of formal avenues came meadows, groves, five lakes and winding paths, and pavilions, a viewpoint and a small house in the Swiss manner were set about the park. The area is about three hundred hectares, so even a large number of visitors is lost in it. The Zagreb zoo is in the park too. Entry is free, and a tram goes to Maksimir.

The Zagreb funicular joins Ilica with the Upper Town and has run since 1890; it is sixty-six metres long and so steep that it counts among the steepest public funiculars in the world. The ride lasts a little over a minute and is the shortest public transport line in the city. At the upper station stands the Lotrscak tower, a remnant of the 13th-century defences of Gradec, from which the Gric cannon is fired every day at noon; that custom has been kept since 1877, and the city churches set their bells by it. From the top of the tower the whole city and Medvednica are visible. The funicular ticket is valid for the tram as well.

The Museum of Broken Relationships opened in 2010 in the Upper Town and grew from the idea of two artists who, after their own break-up, decided to keep the objects rather than throw them away. The display consists of donated objects from all over the world, each with a short story written by its owner: a toy, a key, a wedding ring, a letter, an axe. Without those texts the objects would mean nothing; with them they become testimony to the end of a relationship, a friendship or a life shared with someone. In 2011 the museum won a European award for the most innovative museum. The collection keeps changing as new donations arrive. It stands near St Mark's church; the visit takes an hour.

The Croatian Museum of Naive Art was founded in 1952 and is the first museum in the world devoted solely to naive art. The collection follows a movement that arose in the 1930s in the Podravina village of Hlebine, where peasants with no formal training began to paint their own world, most often on glass, in a technique where the picture is made in reverse order, starting from the details. The best known among them was Ivan Generalic, whose paintings were shown in Paris and Sao Paulo. The display holds about eighty works by Croatian and foreign artists. The museum is in the Upper Town, near St Mark's church; the visit takes some forty minutes.

The Mimara Museum opened in 1987 in the building of a former grammar school of 1895 on Roosevelt Square and holds the collection given to the city by Ante Topic Mimara, a collector who gathered artworks across Europe for decades. The collection takes in several thousand objects from antiquity to the 20th century: glass, textiles, furniture, Chinese porcelain, icons and paintings by European masters. The origin of individual works and their attributions are matters of scholarly debate, which is part of the story of this museum. After the earthquake of 2020 the building was closed for restoration, so it is worth checking before coming whether the display is open. It stands opposite the Botanical Garden.

The Dolac market opened in 1930 on a terrace above Ban Jelacic Square, on the site of a demolished part of the old settlement, and has been the city's main market since; the people of Zagreb call it the belly of Zagreb. The upper part is an open platform with hundreds of stalls under red parasols, selling fruit, vegetables, flowers, cheese and cream from the surrounding country; below it is a covered hall with meat, fish, dairy and a bakery section. Women sellers from Zagorje and Turopolje come with their own produce every morning. The market works every day until the early afternoon, and on Sundays for a shorter time; the best choice is before nine.

Arena Centar opened in 2010 in New Zagreb, beside the Arena Zagreb hall, and is the largest shopping centre in the city. Under one roof are some two hundred shops, a hypermarket, restaurants, a multiplex cinema and a children's area, and the building is shaped with inner streets and a glass roof, so that one moves through it as through a covered settlement. For visitors to the city it is useful to know that here all the shops are in one place, which is not the case in the Lower Town, where shops are strung along the streets. The car park is large and free, opening hours run until late in the evening, and a bus from the Main Station goes there.

Avenue Mall opened in 2007 in New Zagreb and was one of the first large shopping centres on the southern bank of the Sava. It is smaller and easier to take in than the biggest centres in the city, so one finds one's way in it faster: on three levels are clothing and footwear shops, a drugstore, a supermarket, a children's corner, restaurants and a cinema. The estate around it was built in the 1960s and 1970s as housing blocks, and the centre took on the role of the place where people meet, especially in winter. Parking is free, opening hours run until evening, and a tram crossing the Sava from the Main Station goes there.

Importanne Centar lies beneath the square by the Main Station and is one of the few underground retail spaces in the city. It was built in the 1990s, at a time when the centre of Zagreb began to be used more densely, and the solution of an underground gallery allowed shops on a spot where nothing could be built above ground. In it are shops for clothing, footwear, electronics and small goods, exchange offices, a pharmacy, bakeries and several fast food outlets. Because of its position by the station and the bus stops it is practical for a quick purchase before a journey. It is open until evening, and the entrances are on all sides of the square.

Centar Cvjetni opened in 2011 on Flower Square, in the middle of the Lower Town, and is one of the most contested projects in the recent history of Zagreb: the construction involved pulling down old buildings and cutting a passage through the block, which brought years of protests and court proceedings. Today the building holds shops of well-known brands, cafes and restaurants, and through the ground floor runs a covered gallery joining Flower Square with Preradoviceva street. Because it lies in the pedestrian zone it is the most easily reached retail space in the centre. Opening hours run until evening, and exhibitions and fairs are often held in the passage.

City Center one West opened at the western entrance to Zagreb, at Jankomir, by the ring road and the main route toward Slovenia, so it is easiest to reach for those entering the city by car from the west. Under one roof are more than two hundred shops, a hypermarket, restaurants, a cinema and a children's area, all arranged on two levels around an inner street. Beside the centre are a large free car park and a bus stop with a link to the city centre. For visitors staying in the west it is the quickest way to get everything in one trip. Opening hours run until late in the evening, and on Sundays according to the regulations.

City Center one East stands in the eastern part of the city, along Slavonska avenue, Zagreb's main east-west route, and serves the districts of Dubrava, Trnje and Pescenica. In size and offer it resembles the western centre: about two hundred shops, a hypermarket, a restaurant section, a cinema and facilities for children, arranged on two levels. Because it lies along a wide avenue it is easy to reach by car, and a tram line passes in front of the entrance. For visitors it is useful if they are staying in the east or driving toward Slavonia, since it sits by the way out of the city. Parking is free, and opening hours run until late in the evening.