By my third time visiting Croatia, I decided that I really needed to move away from simply the beach cities like Zadar, Dubrovnik and Split and go to it’s capital. Zagreb has a totally different atmosphere to the beach cities but it’s a fantastic few days you can explore Croatian culture a little more and learn about the country itself. (This is not to say don’t go to the beach cities – do. They’re awesome. Just go to Zagreb as well if you have the time.)
During my time in Zagreb, I stayed at Whole Wide World Hostel, which had been recommended to me by one of the volunteers in a hostel in Montenegro. (Side note: you either know you’re travelling well or you’ve made a huge mistake when you cancel your chill hostel to go a party hostel recommended by a hostel volunteer you met yesterday. Anyway.) Whole Wide World Hostel is a great social and PARTY hostel.
If you don’t want to party, I wouldn’t stay here personally. Their pub crawl is fantastic, if a little expensive to start but you DO get unlimited drinks for 2 hours and then free shots for the rest of the night if you buy a drink anywhere. So really, quite worth it if that’s what kind of thing you’re looking for. It’s also super sociable – two of the girls I met at the hostel I ended up rowing around Lake Bled in Slovenia with a few days later. If you’d prefer a more chilled out hostel (totally understandably), one of the cheaper budget options I’d found with great reviews was Zagreb Speeka.
Cheap and Free Activities in Zagreb
Yes, I was backpacking the Balkans at this point and I’m sure I’m not alone in arriving in Croatia, looking at the prices and kind of wishing I was back in Albania or North Macedonia simply to protect my budget. However, Zagreb has plenty of free and budget-friendly options.
- Lotrscak Tower (free) – sightseeing and good viewpoint.
- Gric Tunnel (free) – old tunnel in the city centre with some information points.
- Tkalciceva Street (free) – best for food, coffee, entertainment and bars. Go and both nighttime and daytime. Also, relatively cheap for eating and drinking!
- St Mark’s Church – very beautiful outside, you’ll have seen it on postcards of Zagreb.
- Mirogaj Cemetery – the cemetery is stunning with lots of mosaics. It’s a little bit further out of the city though, so make sure you have time to go and look at buses.
One museum I would highly recommend in Zagreb is the Museum of Broken Relationships. While not typically Croatian or about life in Zagreb, it’s a beautiful little museum that focuses on trying to see beauty in endings. You can also get student discounted entry.
