The city that fills with Špancirfest in August does the opposite in December: small, lit, walkable end to end. Why it works as a day trip from Zagreb and what to see once you are there.
Checked: 30 August 2026
Varaždin is the one Croatian Advent that benefits from being small. The baroque centre is compact enough to cross on foot in about an hour, which means the lights work as one continuous thing rather than a set of separate locations you have to navigate between. It sits roughly eighty kilometres north of Zagreb, close enough that the whole thing works as an afternoon and evening out rather than a stay.
Getting there from Zagreb
Buses run through the day from Zagreb's main bus station and take a little over an hour and a half; trains take longer and run less often, so the bus is the default. Driving is about an hour on the A4 motorway. Whichever you take, aim to arrive in the late afternoon: the lights make the difference and they come on at dusk, which in December means shortly after four.
What to see while the lights are on
- Trg kralja Tomislava with the town hall: the centre of the centre, and where the stalls concentrate.
- Stari grad, the white fortress on the edge of the old town, floodlit and worth the ten-minute walk.
- The baroque churches and palaces along the pedestrian streets, which are the reason the town looks the way it does.
Frequently asked questions
- How far is Varaždin from Zagreb?
- About eighty kilometres north. Buses take a little over an hour and a half, driving on the A4 takes around an hour.
- Is Varaždin worth it just for Advent?
- As a half-day it does. The centre is small, so the Advent and the baroque town are the same walk rather than two separate things, and you are back in Zagreb the same evening.
- When do the lights come on?
- At dusk, which in December means shortly after four in the afternoon. Arriving before that leaves you an hour of daylight for the fortress and the churches.
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