Walking Tour of Incredible Zagreb

Zagreb, the capital of Croatia, is definitely a city that stands out due to its uniqueness and all that is to see there. Often time when I guide visitors, they are stunned by its beauty. In a surprised manner they are telling me: “We have not expected this at all!”. Certainly there is a special feel to the city, and the layout of its historical center, the pedestrian zones, the calmness and cleanliness, all of that leave a deep impression on visitors. I am not surprised anymore when they tell me, “we will definitely come back!”.

I like to guide walking tours (as well as by using public transport) of both downtown Zagreb and its wider area, so to bring visitors closer to the core of the city, to its history, culture, art, and the everyday living of the people of Zagreb. By doing this, visitors start to feel Zagreb in themselves, rather than just quickly passing through its streets.

There is much to see in the area of historical center of Zagreb. Normally we start our tour from the Josip Jelacic square, which is also the main square of Zagreb, or even better, from King Tomislav square, situated next to the railway station. As we start our walk Northwards we go back in time, to the 19th century, when Lower Town was being built and when dozens of palaces arose, ornamenting the city with its beautiful shapes and facades, that tell us so much about the culture of the time. As we pass by some important buildings in the area we travel further back in time, discovering more about the history of Croatia and how the culture was shaped into what it is today. We observe the life flowing, and people going about their everyday bussiness. We see the past merged with the present.

Eventually we end up on Josip Jelacic square, soaking in all of the impressions that the square such as this can give us, and finding out about its development and what it has grown into today. From there we move on to the Upper Town, by funicular or walking, and go back in time to 1094, when official birthday of Zagreb is, and even further back, when Zagreb was a big center for merchants that were coming from many countries, because of the important crossroads of this corner of the Central/Southeastern Europe. On our way we will see the Cathedral of Zagreb, the main market (Dolac), the Bloddy Bridge. We will see Tkalca – a street with the most coffe shops and bars, Stone Gate and the Ilirian square, the St. Marco’s square – the prime political square of Croatia! Infused by the beneficial infuence of the historical Zagreb and its whispers from the past, we eventually end up at some of the best lookout points in the city, as well as at the place where the oldest structure in Zagreb is – the Lotrscak tower.

We then descent to Ilica street, one of the longest streets in Zagreb, where the path takes us again through the Lower town to see some more of its monuments, learn some more of its secrets, and find out some more about important people that once lived here or have contributed to it in a profound way. We arrive on the most monumental square of Zagreb – the square of Josip Broz Tito, where the Croatian National Theatre is, together with many other important sites and monuments, such as Mestrovic’s piece of art known as the Well of Life, and where the Saint George fights his dragon at the Southwestern side of the square.

The path now takes us back towards the main square, where the circle is completed and where our walking tour ends. Nevertheless, even though we have now seen a substantial part of the historical center of Zagreb, there is much more to see and discover about Zagreb, about this medieval city where past, present and future are merged into one whole.

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