Hi, can anybody recommend a private guide for a day tour of Zagreb? We are going to travel in Croatia and Slovenia in the first 2 weeks of September and we'll spend a full day in Zagreb. In the evening we'll be leaving for Vienna, so we are looking for a 4-5 hour tour of the city.
Jenny, Fort Lee, NJ, USA
I don't think you need a guide for what you want to do. My friend and I were there in June and got directions and info from anyone we asked; everyone was friendly and spoke good to excellent English. Do some research before hand and ask the hotel for recommendations.
Thank you! I'll take a look at sample one day itineraries.
If you'll only be there for few hours there's no need to waste much time on planning those few hours, best things is to have one thing in mind that you really wanna see, like the Cathedral for example if you are into history, and you get to see much of what Zagreb has to offer on your way there and on your way back, but remember to take another route to your hotel when you're going back. and don't be afraid of getting lost, almost everyone can speak english, even if only few words to help you find your way. Just get lost and enjoy the hours you have there!
The bi-level historic district is good for several hours of wandering around and cafe-sitting. Some of the city's museums are in that area. I especially liked the museum of naive art, which is small but very high quality, and the Museum of Broken Relationships, which I think we can assume is unique. There are several large museums between the historic district and the train station.
Thank you! I will most likely do just that.
We have now been to Zagreb on 4 different occasions. It is a small town, especially in the historic area. There are 3-4 sights that I consider primary: St Mark's Square and Church (upper town), Museum of Croatian Naive Art (U), St Stephan's (Lower town), main market (L), Opera house (L), the main square (L). There are 2-3 districts for restaurants, all within 2-3 blocks of the main square. The arboretum is 6 blocks from the main square. It's often closed when we have tried to visit, and has odd hours. The main cemetary is supposedly quite nice, but we have not gotten there yet. In the main square, there are often fairs - we were there for the Slovenian Tourist Fair, and there are often dancing troops, music groups, and a drill team of Croatian soldiers from the 1700s. It's not a place that I think a tour guide is really necessary. We did take the Ghosts and Goblins tour, which was hugely campy but fun, and not expensive. We were there on a Saturday, and found a flea market, which had a LOT of good stuff, not expensive, including little pictures of things, and a whole lot of souvenir pins. The flea market was about 5 blocks W of the main square on Ilica Street, the main E-W street in Zagreb.
If you really want a private guide, stop at the TI on the main square. It's to the right side near the cathedral. I imagine that they have lists of guides, and they also have tours and other such guided options. Maps, etc. Standard TI office. English is the normal language there in the TI.
Thank you, we just returned from Zagreb and we did a lot of sight seeing on our own. The Upper Town is not too big and the Lower Town can be explored on foot as well. The city is beautiful, but, unfortunately, we had several rainy and cold days, we still had a great time.
