In love with Zagreb Advent

I live near the Croatian border, in Nagykanizsa. At the university, I studied Russian politics, economy, and culture. But I also studied Croatian language and history for several years. Nowadays I work as freelancer social media manager and online publicist. When I'm not working, I love to travel around the world with my family. Traveling is our passion and sort of an addiction.

As we live near the Croatian border, Zagreb is not that far to us. It's around one-hour car ride and a bit more when you go by bus. My first trip to Zagreb was in 2012, in autumn. I remember that mountain Medvednica was very charming with all the colorful tree leaves. But when I visited Zagreb last year during the Advent time, it actually became my favorite Christmas market of all the markets I've visited so far. During this time the city is very charming, and you can really feel a warm atmosphere and Christmas spirit. So this year we are returning guests.

When we visited Zagreb Advent the first time, we came with a car. It was very difficult to find a parking area, so this year we arrived by bus in the morning and in the evening we traveled home. There are several organized buses throughout the day from our town to Zagreb so this way it was much easier for us. Last year we liked it so much that we came back for New Year's Eve too. This year we couldn't wait to see the new decorations, and we wanted to relive the experience again.

Image credit: Mirandolína Tóth 

Why Zagreb Advent?

This is our favorite Christmas market, and it totally deserves the awards it received. We also visited markets in Bratislava, Budapest, Trieste, Wien, Graz, and Ljubljana. But in Zagreb, there are so many locations, so many food and drink specialties at affordable prices. The whole city is really in the Christmas spirit and you can feel it at every corner. Last year I wrote about my experience in Zagreb on my blog in Hungarian, and this year I will too.

I think we visited all the main Christmassy points in town. We saw the Ice Park, the Zrinjevac Park, European Square, Jelacic Square, Maric Passage, Strossmayer Promenade, the Gric Tunnel, Cafe de Matos, the Upper Town. My personal favorite is the Upper Town, with the creative photo locations and beautiful views.

Image credit: Mirandolína Tóth 

What are your impressions of Zagreb besides its Advent market?

Zagreb is very close to us, so we feel like at home here. The people are very helpful, kind and friendly. That is very rare in our capital city, Budapest. I think Zagreb is a modern and historical city at the same time and has a feeling of several cities in one. I'd say it is similar to the Hungarian cities but friendlier, greener, and very clean. We have not seen trash anywhere. What was striking to me is that the Zagreb girls are very fashionable and pretty, and boys too. Also, people speak English well in stores but are also happy to hear some Croatian words from us.

Header image credit: Mirandolína Tóth 

Author: Darija Ilić