Most people visiting Croatia don’t bother seeing Zagreb, as it is inland and away from the touristic hotspots of Split, Zadar and Pula along the Adriatic coast.

As someone who has seen a bit of both¹, I want to share with you my impressions – and hopefully convince you not to knock Zagreb off your itinerary. I’ll first dive into what makes Split so appealing, and then give my reasons for why Zagreb deserves more attention.

Split

It is undeniable that Split is a stunning city. Walking through a city that is over 2000 years old makes you feel special, and to date, it is a contender for one of the most beautiful cities I have ever walked through.

This effect gets even stronger as you walk towards the coast, with the clear blue waters inviting you in for a dip to get you wet… and protected from the blistering sun. Should you choose the path of the celibate, the woods of the Marjan Park provide an excellent opportunity to reconnect with yourself. And if you, like me, enjoy type 2 fun, I would highly recommend renting a bike and cycling up the hills for some amazing views.

Not So Nice Bits

Split is, frankly, obscenely touristy. Not a bad thing if it’s what you’re after: Relax? Party? Be surrounded by familiar faces in an unfamiliar place? Split delivers.

I was able to enjoy that feeling of comfort for two days, beyond which I was saturated from hearing haughty German and crisp British vowels. I wanted to see what’s behind the 100 person queues at the gelaterias.

From what I gathered speaking to some of the locals, Split’s economy is very seasonal, depending heavily on tourism. In that sense, it is not so different to Venice².

This is evident when you step outside of the city center. It is eerily quiet, a contrast which is almost frightening.

As with the other touristy hotspots of Europe, such as Prague and Venice, I found that the chintzy merch shops, plastic ducks, and of course, the massive crowds, took away from the beauty of the city.

Food Recommendations

Split generally has quality restaurants. They tend to be expensive due to the “tourist tax”, so don’t be surprised for it to cost you more than what you pay at home, but chances are that you won’t be disappointed with the outcome.

Villa Spiza: For Excellent Food

I haven’t been to it myself, but I feel comfortable making this recommendation because:

• There is always a queue with around 45 minutes wait time
• Many in the queue are returning eaters
• It’s been recommended to me by a local chef

Brasserie on 7: For a Relaxed Late Lunch at the Marina

The hustle and bustle of the city centre can get tiring, but if you have the patience to wait for a late lunch at 3 pm, it will be well worth your time as you can chill by the marina with no other diners around. I enjoyed some excellent regional cheeses and had a good chat with the waiter, who was a seasonal worker from Barcelona.

Konoba GregoLevante: For Excellent Pašticada

I treated myself to a nice meal one night at Konoba GregoLevante. If you paid close attention to my photos, you’ll notice that I have a thing for anginal streets… so it was really nice to sit by one and enjoy a meal, focussing on the flavors of the dish.

The pašticada that I had was excellent, and I’d highly recommend it.

Konoba Hvaranin: For “Homecooked” Food

I visited Konoba Hvaranin on my second visit to Split. This was also recommended to me by a local chef, and unlike the other places in Split it looks a bit dingy. Usually empty, and not inviting. The decor is also… not flashy to say the least.

However, you’d be mistaken to take this as a sign that the food isn’t great. The food feels very homemade, and I thoroughly enjoyed the goulash that I ordered.

Zagreb

Zagreb is almost the complete opposite of Split: It is not particularly beautiful, you do not hear any foreign languages, and it is not uncommon to run into locals who don’t speak English. However, it has unlimited character, which is shows through its many museums, street art and kind residents. This, for me, is what made me fall in love with the city.

Museum of the Broken Relationships

The most interesting of these is the Museum of the Broken Relationships. It is a collection of items that remained after mostly romantic breakups, whose possessors chose to finally donate, either as a way to grieve or for “sheer exhibitionism”. I would highly recommend visiting this museum regardless of your relationship status. It really is fascinating, and it’s almost impossible to get distracted like one does in other museums… every room held around 80-95% of my attention!

I’m putting photos and captions of some of them to give you an idea, but it is really worth going there yourself.

Very old red racing bike

Half-written post-it note

Sadly the photo of the note itself isn’t great. Here is the caption:

A set of tyre levers (for bike repairs)

(There seems to be a bike theme here… am I bikesexual?)

Basketball shoes

I found this one quite funny.

Comfort doll AKA voodoo doll

And this one rather creepy…

Pencivir herpes cream

Street Art

I’m a massive sucker for street art, and Zagreb had some really nice ones, including some thought provoking graffiti.

City Architecture

The city is not beautiful but it isn’t ugly either. There are some nice pieces of architecture scattered around.

Coffee Culture

Coffee is massive in Zagreb. I did read this on a few travel posts prior to visiting but was thinking that it is exaggerated… but not at all… Zagrebians love their coffee and while it is tempting to say that this is a Croatian thing, believe me you will not feel it at all in the touristy cities.

There are so many coffee shops, and they are all filled to the brim with locals who smoke (more on this later…!).

One thing I appreciate is that it is custom to serve coffees with a glass of water. This makes so much sense, and I’m not sure why it isn’t done in other countries.

People

Finally, Zagreb attracts the kinds of people that you can form deep bonds with, and in general, I felt that the locals were really kind to me. You can really sense gentle souls behind the broken teeth and wrinkled faces.

Not So Nice Bits

It’s clear that I really liked Zagreb… but not everything is perfect.

My biggest issue with the city, and sufficient enough to prevent me from ever considering to live there, is that it is really friendly to smokers. Especially the coffee shops. Almost everyone smokes, and it is common to find people smoking indoors as well.

Food Recommendations

Zagreb seemed to have a dearth of restaurants worth trying, though I am able to comment on a few.

Pečenjara Tivoli: For Late Night Ćevapi

Didn’t manage to get a photo of this, but Ćevapi isn’t cheap kebab that you get from your local kebab shop. It packs a punch and is rich with flavor, and the ajvar adds a nice balance that is often lacking from kebab sandwiches.

Otto and Frank: For Brunch

For brunch, I had “crispy poached eggs” which was interesting. I didn’t particularly enjoy it because it was a tad bit too salty, but this place had a nice brunchy vibe that I couldn’t find elsewhere.

Kai Street Food: For an Impressed Stomach

This dish was phenomenal. A complete copy of my notes from 2 years ago:

I got the Chicken Sando, and while the dish itself is probably not so different to what you can get in London, it seriously surpassed my expectations. When I saw the menu, I was a bit hesitant cos chicken breast can be dry, but the Sando is just perfectly crafted: the bread is soft which counters the natural dryness from chicken breast, the mayo/sauce was really well made and an excellent match for the flavour profile, while acting as a lubricant of course, and the chicken breast itself was good: both really good on seasoning and tenderness. It is seriously so good. Probs one of the best chicken sandwiches I’ve had ever. And to top it off, the sweet potato fries were also perfect? Usually restaurants really mess them up but they were perfectly done, perfectly salted and the deep fried onions worked so well which is quite surprising?? Especially coming from someone who’s not the keenest fan of deep fried onions. Seriously well done to the chefs here. It’s clear that a lot of passion has gone into the dishes; something I always rate and appreciate.

Cooking Using Ingredients From Dolac Market

Yes, restaurants are great, but if you’re visiting Zagreb you are more likely to be the type of person that will cook using local ingredients.

Get yourself some quality cheese, fresh bread and sweet fruits from the market, and make yourself a nice breakfast. Enjoy it to its fullest.

Final Thoughts

If you have yet to visit Croatia, I seriously encourage you to go. It is a beautiful country with beautiful people, and whether you fall into the Split camp or the Zagreb camp, there is something for you to see and enjoy.

As a final note though, do be mindful that despite all its positives, Croatia does have a dark side. The country looks very tattered outside the central bits, with buildings in poor conditions. It is also not uncommon to find swastikas graffiti’d around, or QR codes that take you to Nazi telegram channels. These were a shock to me when I visited, and will most likely be a shock to you too.

I will be returning from my hiking trip in the Peruvian Andes this week, so expect a few good posts the next few weeks!

1. You can read about my sailing trip here ↩︎
2. You can read about my Venice trip here ↩︎