Croatia for a weekend trip. Should I skip Zagreb?

Posted by Happy-Hour88@reddit | AskBalkans | View on Reddit | 28 comments

Hello there! I booked flights from Sofia to Zagreb and back for end of May. I like the sea and I live in landlocked Sofia so I wonder if I should skip Zagreb and book two nights in Rijeka and use it as a base to visit the island Krk?

Or would you suggest I book hotels and bus tickets as I go, depending on how I like Zagreb?

I've never been to Croatia and the Adriatic.

A few questions:

Would you recommend Krk or somewhere like Opatija for better coastal scenery (beaches + hills)?

My rough plan:

Saturday: arrive Zagreb in the morning at 10:00, possibly have lunch there -> Rijeka

Sunday: Rijeka + possibly Krk

Monday: more Rijeka then Zagreb or straight back to Zagreb (flight at 22:30)

Does this sound doable for \~3 days?

I’m skipping car rental (don’t like driving unfamiliar roads). Would it make more sense to skip Zagreb entirely and focus on the coast?

Also, is it risky/expensive to book accommodation and transport last-minute in late May, or is it fine to stay flexible?

Thanks!

[-]

Wooptay@reddit

Skip Zagreb. 3 days is very short and you'll end up rushing both Zagreb and the coast.

Sure, Zagreb is nice, but it's a city like many others. Adriatic on the other hand is an experience you hardly get anywhere else.

That said, Rijeka would not be my choice of base in that region. It is a port town, pretty squished in. In my opinion (as someone who's been visiting Croatian coast as a tourist since I was born), the smaller coastal towns is where the magic lives.

Just go straight to Krk and base yourself in Punat or Krk and explore from there. You can still stop in Rijeka on the way there and take a walk around the old town. Alternatively, if you want to stay on the mainland, Crikvenica and the surrounding area is (again, in my opinion) much lovelier than Rijeka itself. And the drive to Krk from there should be similar as if you drove from Rijeka.

[-]

kaja182@reddit

Skip Zagreb and go to the coast. Anywhere you pick, it will be great.

[-]

HantoKawamura@reddit

You better visit Istria and Dalmatia

[-]

Another_Human@reddit

Noone comes to croatia to see zagreb, there's a reason for that

[-]

Happy-Hour88@reddit (OP)

I wonder if spending my first night in Zagreb so I have the whole day for it and focusing my other full day on the coast, plus some of the third day and then going back to the Zagreb just for dinner and for my flight would work out? How long does the bus ride from Rijeka to Zagreb take? Some places say 4 hours, others 2 or 3.

[-]

7amdrei7@reddit

Skip Zagreb. It is an average central european city. Nothing out of the extraordinary.

[-]

ahmet-chromedgeic@reddit

Zagreb is like Vienna from Temu I guess. It's nice and feels livable but I wouldn't call it particularly exciting or interesting. That being said, Rijeka is also nice but probably wouldn't be my first pick in Croatia, so between two days in Rijeka or Rijeka+Zagreb, I'd add Zagreb.

If you're looking for hills + beaches, something more to the south would be a better fit, honestly. E.g. look at Omiš, or Makarska under Biokovo. But I guess it's too late to re-plan. Maybe next time you're around do something like Zadar-Trogir/Split then southwards to Dubrovnik.

[-]

Happy-Hour88@reddit (OP)

With only two nights / 3 days would you say it's a good idea to stay the first night in Zagreb, then travel to Rijeka/the coast first thing in the morning, spend the day and nigth there and on the third day of my flight either spend some time in Rijeka and then head for my late evening flight to Zagreb or head to Zagreb first thing in the morning if I liked Zagreb more on the first day?

[-]

FuckTheCake@reddit

Go to Serbia. More traditional, less atheist, less westernized, less rainy weather. Paradise

[-]

Happy-Hour88@reddit (OP)

No sea there. :D

[-]

Lipe_cvatu@reddit

Walk around Zagreb city centre for like an hour or two, go to Trakoscan and back (I spent 3\~ hours there, very nice if the lake doesn't dry out). Then back and to Rijeka

[-]

Content-Type-4295@reddit

You can see the old town in maybe 3-4 hours, so if your bus to Rijeka leaves in late afternoon, you can still see the most important sights. Keep in mind the cathedral and some buildings in old town Zagreb are still under scaffolding due to 2020 earthquake. If that's something you think you'll find off-putting, then just grabbing lunch and going to Rijeka early is fine.

[-]

Happy-Hour88@reddit (OP)

"You can see the old town in maybe 3-4 hours,"

Thanks but tbh after living in Prague and Bratislava and having visited Vienna, Graz and Salzburg I'm so fed up with Habsburg architecture that I feel the second option would be better.

I'm more of a stone cottage person so Krk seems like the place to go.

[-]

Content-Type-4295@reddit

I that case, I'd maybe swap Rijeka for Zadar since Rijeka has Austro-Hungarian style of architecture. You can also visit the island of Ugljan from Zadar. Places like Preko and Kali are just 10 minutes away by ferry and they're perfect for a little escape and experiencing the island lifestyle.

[-]

MRobertC@reddit

I spent 1 night in Zagreb and a couple of hours just wandering around.

It's an alright city to explore, but don't expect anything more than 3-4 hours to see.

[-]

Happy-Hour88@reddit (OP)

Thanks, did you use public transport?

[-]

MRobertC@reddit

I used flixbus to get to Zagreb and then to leave Zagreb, but no public transport within the city itself.

[-]

Aulawabe@reddit

Zagreb is a pretty city but a bit boring. But their advent during Christmas is top notch Worth visiting.

[-]

Strange_Status_7690@reddit

Zagreb is like a cosmopolitan city in the center with all walkable especially the upper town is spectacular to see it along with the cathedral.

[-]

Happy-Hour88@reddit (OP)

The way the city is located along the river with the large commie flat district South of the river, the mountain located NW from the city, and some place names like Dubrava really remind me of Bratislava. It's almost eery.

[-]

Strange_Status_7690@reddit

Well yea but don't forget also Sofia Mladost and Yulin how they look even in a more bad shape. I mean, tourists tend to go to the center same in Sofia right?

For the Adriatic especially north Adriatic you need more than 3 days it's not enough anyway.

[-]

Happy-Hour88@reddit (OP)

I actually would be more eager and excited to visit Novi Beograd than one of the many Central European old towns. For one thing, Habsburg architecture is not my thing, I'm more of a Paris Haussmann or stone cottage style person when it comes to (neo) classical. I saw there's some stone vernacular in some coastal locations in Croatia.

The principles of planning of each commie neighborhood is the same, but the flats in Petrzalka don't look exactly like the ones in Mladost, Lyulin or Novi Beograd.

[-]

Strange_Status_7690@reddit

Then just go straight to Adriatic. Croatian Adriatic has three parts, North, middle and South which counties to Montenegro.

Rijeka is a small place, with many commie high-rises scattered around from the north side, but Istria is great to be seen and small cities there which needs time along with the islands.

[-]

Happy-Hour88@reddit (OP)

Thanks, I see, indeed Rijeka has the commies I love as well.

Also the Habsburg style there is more like the one in Trieste, dare I say it's A-H but with some Italian influences.

I like this combination better than the more "pure" styles of the Central European interior.

[-]

Strange_Status_7690@reddit

Rijeka is a shipyard and container yard from both sides and lacks direct pedestrian sea area like Split for example has, but the inner old town is similar to Trst. Istra is large and if you don't go there then you can only visit Ucka national park which is close

[-]