May Day, bean soup in Maksimir

How the day works

Labour Day, 1 May, is a public holiday across Croatia, and in Zagreb it has a fixed shape: a free bowl of bean soup, grah in Croatian, served from field kitchens in Maksimir park. There are no tickets. You walk in, join the queue and wait your turn. The tradition dates from the socialist period, when the city and the trade unions fed workers on their holiday, and it has outlived every change of system since. Locals treat it as a family outing: a bowl of beans, a walk round the lakes, a picnic on the grass. In 2027 the holiday falls on a Saturday, so expect the park to be full from late morning.

Getting to the park

Maksimir lies about 3 km east of Ban Jelačić Square, along Maksimirska street. Several tram lines run east from the main square and stop at the park gates, opposite the stadium, in about 15 minutes. Trams run on public holidays, though less often than on a working day, and they are crowded around midday. Walking from the centre takes about 40 minutes on a flat road. Leave a car at your hotel: the streets around the park are residential, and on 1 May every space near the gates is taken early.

If you fly in, Zagreb Franjo Tuđman Airport is about 15 km south of the centre, near Velika Gorica, with a shuttle bus to the main bus station. Trains from Ljubljana, Vienna, Budapest and the coast end at the Main Station, on the southern edge of the Lower Town, a 15-minute walk from Ban Jelačić Square. From either station you can reach Maksimir by tram, changing once at most. Buy tram tickets before boarding, from a kiosk or the ZET app, and validate them on board.

Where to stay

Stay in the Lower Town, between the Main Station and Ban Jelačić Square. Most hotels and rental flats are there, and the trams to Maksimir leave from the main square. The Maksimir district itself is residential, with few places to stay and little to do after dark. The Esplanade by the station is the grand choice, and the streets around Zrinjevac and Flower Square hold the mid-range hotels. Book early: May Day weekend draws Croatians from other towns and visitors from Austria, Slovenia and Hungary, and Zagreb's hotel stock is small.

What else to see in Maksimir

The soup is the reason to come. The park is the reason to stay all afternoon. Maksimir covers about 300 hectares, remade in the mid-19th century as an English landscape garden, and the field kitchens use only a corner of it. From the main gate the central avenue leads to the Vidikovac, the pavilion at the highest point, from which every main path fans out. Below it lie the 5 lakes, dug at the same time and fed by the Bliznec stream, with swans, ducks and turtles on the banks. The Echo Pavilion by the first lake returns your voice if you speak toward the water, a trick children like. Maksimir Stadium, home of Dinamo, stands across the road by the tram stop and is the easiest landmark for finding the gate.

• Vidikovac: the pavilion at the top, where every main path starts
• Maksimir Lakes: an easy loop past swans and turtles, best in late afternoon
• Echo Pavilion: speak toward the water from the porch and listen
• Swiss House: an alpine cottage by the second lake, interior open on a schedule
• Mogila mound: a shaded platform off the main routes, a few minutes' climb
• Zagreb Zoo: entrance inside the park, about 2 hours, children's section with animals to feed

Where to eat afterwards

A bowl of grah is a full meal, and the kiosk by the largest lake sells coffee and drinks, with a long queue on 1 May. Bring water and something for children. Back in the centre, many restaurants and cafés trade on the holiday even though shops do not. Tkalčićeva street, 10 minutes on foot from Ban Jelačić Square, is the safest bet for the evening: Mali Medo pours its own beer and serves grilled meat on a terrace. Pivnica Medvedgrad's branch on Savska has a large terrace and its Zlatni medvjed lager. Do not count on Dolac market on the holiday.

Practical notes

Early May in Zagreb is mild, around 20 degrees in the afternoon and cool by evening, with a fair chance of a shower. Bring a rain jacket and a blanket or something to sit on, because the grass is often damp. Croatia uses the euro, and the soup is free, so you need money only for the tram, a kiosk coffee and dinner. Shops, banks and offices are closed on 1 May, so buy what you need on 30 April. The park is flat and easy with a pushchair, the zoo and the Echo Pavilion keep small children busy, and the crowd is mostly families and older locals.