Most people planning a European getaway will spend hours on end working out the best, most convenient way to get from London to Paris, then potentially Rome, and time permitting, a final sunny stretch in either Madrid or Lisbon before they hop on their flight home.
All these European cities are popular for a reason, and even though we’ve made a name for ourselves highlighting the lesser-known parts of the Old Continent, we’d be fools to dismiss some of its leading cultural hubs as overrated tourist dumps. They’re not.
Be that as it may, Europe is more than the sum of its top 5 most famous capitals.
In fact, there’s an offbeat capital recording steady passenger growth this year: its small airport just handled 281,489 passengers in February alone, a 7.8 percent increase year-on-year, and they’re even considering reopening an old terminal to deal with an expected surge in summer demand.
Blatantly ignored by tourists and major American airlines alike, Croatia’s number one city of Zagreb is all the rage right now:
Have We Been Sleeping On Croatia’s Capital All Along?
Croatia’s best known for its Mediterranean atmosphere and fortified towns on the coast, with Split, Dubrovnik and the like being two examples of former hidden gems that, in recent years, have turned into hugely-popular sunny getaways for Americans.
Despite their small-sized airports and limited capacity, they’re the ones that dominate bookings in Croatia, and that have been graced with nonstop Transatlantic flights, courtesy of United Airlines.
‘But wait, Dubrovnik isn’t the capital of Croatia?‘, I once heard a casual traveler, freshly arrived from the States, question out loud in an outdoor terrace.
‘King’s Landing’ may have the picture-perfect ancient walls hugged by a teal-colored Adriatic, the imposing drawbridges and moats, and that magical medieval allure, but to answer his question, no, the 41,000-something coastal hub is not a national capital.
Though it is much larger, with over 160,000 residents, Split doesn’t hold that title either.
The Croatian capital lies nowhere near the Dalmatian coast, hundreds of miles inland, and if you commonly associate Croatia with ochre-colored, stone-built towns, Romanesque churches, and Italian-style green shutters, you’re in for a big shock:
Forget The Mediterranean Flair You Know Croatia For
Zagreb is none of that. No Mediterranean, Southern European flair, no winding cobbled lanes that lead to a historic harbor, and definitely no sparkly, blue Adriatic in sight.
If anything, its closest companions would be the imperial-like, Central European behemoths of Budapest (Hungary) and Vienna (Austria).
Zagreb’s wide avenues lined with ornate end-of-century buildings are evocative of the Austrian capital’s busy thoroughfares, and its palatial civic buildings, a boldly-jaune opera house with ornate details that could easily belong in Budapest’s stately District VI.
These things are not incidental.
While Dalmatia was strongly influenced by Italy, or to be more precise, the Maritime Republic of Venice at its peak, Zagreb was firmly rooted in the Austro-Hungarian world. At one point, it was not even part of a Croatian state, but of the Habsburg Empire.
A Tale Of Two Towns
Zagreb is largely split into two zones, the Lower and the Upper Towns—and then of course, there’s the Yuguslav-era suburbs, but unless you have a thing for communist-era building blocks, you might want to give those a miss).
Much of the Lower Town, or what locals call Doni Grad, is filled with elegant 19th-century bourgeois edifices and planned arteries, wide enough for both cars and trams to pass.
Its sequence of U-shaped parks, typically bordered by Habsburg-era bâtiments, is particularly Austria-coded, and basically Zagreb’s signature 19th-century landscaped core.
The Upper Town (Gornji Grad), however, is the old, medieval part of town that was basically left untouched following the Austrian makeover of the 1800s.
This is where you go for the steep little side streets, romantic watchtowers, old churches clad in shiny tiles displaying traditional coats of arms, and those typically-European cobbled walkways.
By the way, if the 140 steps from the Lower to the Upper Towns sound like the legwork you could skip on vacation, you can always ride the historic Zagreb Funicular, said to be the shortest public-transport funicular in the world.
With a ride tiem of only 1 minute, it connects Tomićeva Street, in the Lower Town, to the Strossmayer promenade, at the foot of the whitewashed Lotrščak Tower, in the Upper Town.
Zagreb Doesn’t Need The Adriatic Sea, After All
Zagreb may not have the Adriatic, but it’s definitely not falling short of attractions compared to its Dalmatian rivals.
Ban Jelačić Square is the public square where everything starts. If Dalmatian towns feel more like jammed little villages, the Croatian capital is a proper, bustling urban sprawl over 767,000 people call home, and its main grand plaza is the best place to feel that throbbing metropolitan pulse.
Dominated by an aged-bronze statue of Josip Jelačić, a 19th-century Croatian military leader, it is basically Zagreb’s central meeting point. If we may add, the pastel-toned Habsburg buildings flanking the square are some of the best the city has to offer.
A short walk from the square, Zagreb Cathedral is the centerpiece of the Upper Town:
Originally dating back to the 11th century, it features two cream-colored towers topped with soaring spires—due to the city’s on-and-off earthquakes, they seem to be in a permanent state of repair, so don’t be surprised if one of the towers is enveloped in a chunky scaffolding caste.
The unpronounceable Tkalčićeva is that cobblestone-paved lane packed to the brim with coffeeshops and eateries, and if big art museums like the Louvre can only yerk a yawn out of you, you might want to try Zagreb’s unique selection of quirky exhibits:
- Museum of Broken Relationships: find a myriad of artifacts from failed relationships, each telling their own heart-wrenching, funny, or sometimes bizarre story (Upper Town)
- Museum of Illusions: mind-bending 3D rooms and holograms that will leave you questioning what’s real and what’s not (Lower Town)
- Nikola Tesla Technical Museum: named after the Croatian (or was he a Serb?) innovator, perfect for hands-on exploration and physics demos (near Maksimir Park, a little outside the city center)
- Museum of Torture: small, somewhat macabre, but incredibly fascinating display of medieval torture methods (Upper Town)
- Zagreb 80s Museum: some classic Yugoslav retro nostalgia, with music, fashion, and gadgets from the communist 80s
Could Zagreb Become Croatia’s Next Big Thing?
So far this year, a record-breaking 578,350 passengers traveled through Zagreb Airport (ZAG), a 6.8 percent rise compared to the same period in 2025.
You’re probably wondering if this is even relevant, as transiting passengers sometimes do not translate into actual visitors. The thing is, Zagreb isn’t exactly a major transit hub for Croatia-bound visitors.
Most tourists visit either in spring or summer, the peak travel season, and they go directly to the Dalmatian coast: most major coastal destinations in the country have their own international airport, hosting flights from all over Europe, so passing through Zagreb is not usually required.
In other words, those landing in ZAG are probably headed for Zagreb City specifically, even if they will, eventually, make their way south towards the popular beach zones in Pula, Zadar, Split, or Dubrovnik.
It’s never been more popular than it is right now.
Heads up if you’re flying to Croatia in the near future: European travel rules are changing significantly this year, from the introduction of mandatory fingerprinting at airports, to the gradual rollout of a new Entry Authorization form from spring.
Avoid unpleasant surprises at the airport: make sure you check all the entry requirements in place on our U.S. State Department-powered, human-reviewed Traveler Dashboard.
