For one October weekend Zagreb unlocks more than forty buildings that are normally closed: villas, studios, schools, offices and modernist classics, with architects and owners at the door. Entry is free, some tours need registration, and the theme this year is the heritage of the future.
Checked: 3 September 2026
Open House is the format that started in London in 1992 and now runs in sixty cities: for one weekend, buildings that are normally locked open their doors to anyone who walks up. Zagreb joined the network with its first edition in 2024, and the 2026 festival runs from Friday 16 to Sunday 18 October. More than forty locations take part, from public institutions and schools to private villas, artists' studios and apartment blocks, and at each door stands someone who can explain the house: the architect, the owner, a student guide. The theme is Baština budućnosti, the heritage of the future, which asks which of the buildings being designed and lived in today will be the monuments of the next generation.
How the weekend works
- Everything is free. The list of buildings with opening hours and a map goes online on openhousezagreb.org in early October.
- Large buildings run continuous tours in Croatian, many guides switch to English on request. Small ones need a registered slot.
- Plan by neighbourhood, not by wish list. The lower town, Trešnjevka and the new Zagreb south of the Sava each fill a half day on foot or by tram.
- Saturday morning has the shortest queues; Sunday afternoon the longest, because the whole city has had the same idea by then.
What kind of houses to expect
The previous editions set the pattern: interwar villas on the slopes of Tuškanac and Pantovčak whose owners never otherwise open the gate, the modernist blocks and schools of the 1930s and 1960s that make Zagreb an architecture city more than a baroque one, workshops of artists who still work in them, and institutional buildings, from ministries to broadcasting studios, where the point is the room you have only seen on television. The festival also opens buildings under construction or just finished, which is where the theme comes in. Expect the programme to be announced in stages through September, and the final map about ten days before.
Mid-October is also the moment the city looks best: the plane trees on Zrinjevac turn, the terraces on Tkalčićeva still work at noon, and the museums on our rainy-day route are open until eight on Thursdays.
Watch
Zagreb on video
A short official city film to help you picture the place before you go.
Zagreb: all inclusive
Frequently asked questions
- Do I have to register for Open House Zagreb?
- Most buildings are walk-in with a queue at the door. Small interiors, private flats and studios take groups of ten to fifteen and open registration on openhousezagreb.org about two weeks before; those go within a day.
- Is it suitable for children?
- Yes, with a plan: pick three buildings within walking distance, one of them with a roof or a tower, and skip the lectures. Schools and sports halls in the programme are the ones children like.
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