09:00 — Dolac Market
Start above Ban Jelačić Square at Dolac, the open-air market under red parasols: seasonal fruit, cheese, smoked meats and flowers, with a fish hall below. Buy figs; you will thank yourself later.
10:30 — Kaptol and the Cathedral
Zagreb Cathedral's neo-Gothic spires dominate the skyline; note that reconstruction work has been ongoing since the 2020 earthquake, so expect some scaffolding and check access locally. Then walk the curve of Tkalčićeva, the café street that never quite sobers up.
12:00 — Through the Stone Gate
Enter the Upper Town through the Stone Gate, a medieval gateway turned shrine, its candles flickering for a painting of the Virgin said to have survived a great fire. A few lanes later you reach St. Mark's Church, whose tiled roof spells out coats of arms in cartoon-bright color — Zagreb's defining image.
13:00 — Lunch, northern style
Order štrukli — baked cheese-filled dough, the Zagreb comfort dish — or a hearty plate of turkey with mlinci. The Upper Town's old taverns do both well.
15:00 — Museum of Broken Relationships
Zagreb's most original export: a museum of donated objects from ended relationships, by turns hilarious and devastating. Nearby, catch the Grič cannon story — it fires from Lotrščak Tower every day at noon, a tradition well over a century old; climb the tower for rooftop views.
18:00 — Funicular and špica hour
Descend on the tiny funicular — typically cited among the world's shortest public ones — and join the evening promenade. Dinner in the Lower Town: modern Croatian kitchens have quietly earned the capital real culinary respect.
