Lunch in a Restaurant? I Have a Better Idea!
About a year ago I was visiting Graz with my friends. When we were finished with sightseeing, we were craving for some rest, food, and coffee. What we didn't count on is that Graz has so little coffee bars and a few really expensive restaurants (especially for a student living on a budget). We were searching around the center of the city for about an hour and a half to find them. If they were decent, they were crowded, but the main goal was to find any restaurant - really.
The difference between Graz and Zagreb is that Zagrebians really do like to drink their coffee for hours, regardless of the part of the day or even night.
Zagrebians enjoy their free time hanging out with friends, drinking coffee and living like a gourmand. So if the weather is nice and you don't feel like hanging out inside, rather than choosing to sit on Zagreb's Špica, you should plan a picnic!
Image credit: Love Zagreb
Meadow, forest, square, lake? You name it!
There are several places throughout Zagreb with lots of space to have a picnic on and enjoy a beautiful day. Apart from hanging out on Zrinjevac (Nikola Šubić Zrinski's Square) and Tomislavac (King Tomislav's Square) in the centre, you can take a tram and drive to Maksimir if you want more privacy.
Maksimir is situated on the east side of the city and is the biggest park in Zagreb. It is a great place to chill out, take long walks, jog, ride a bicycle, or just hang out with friends, feed the ducks and row a boat on the lake. If you are interested, you can also go to a ZOO nearby.
Image credit: Facebook, Rendez-vous, festival Francuske u Hrvatskoj
It is also a wonderful place for a picnic because of its green space and the forest surrounding the whole park. Last year, Maksimir was a host of the Big French Picnic as a part of the French festival „Rendez-vous“. On the picnic, you could buy your basket with many specialities of the French cuisine and enjoy the French music and culture.
Even if you are in the centre of the city that is mostly crowded, the best thing about Zagreb is that in a few minutes you can go from the most crowded to the most silent place ever. Zagreb has many natural forests. Some of them are situated in Tuškanac and Dubravkin put. Only a ten-minute walk from the main square, these places will help you forget everything that's bothering you and make you relax and enjoy the nature.
If you come across Tuškanac, you can visit Cmrok meadow – a popular Zagrebian place for excursions, walking and ski resort where first ski courses were held. Cmrok has a beautiful space for picnic and the good thing is that it is not really that far from the center, so you can enjoy your free time there as much as you can.
Image credit: Facebook, Rendez-vous, festival Francuske u Hrvatskoj
Cooking inside is too mainstream
You can also have a picnic on some of the lakes – Jarun and Bundek. Both of them are a little bit away from the centre (Jarun on the south side of the city and Bundek in the east), but if you're not a fan of cold food, you can use some of the town barbeques and have fresh meat and vegetables right from the grill. Good thing about the lakes is that if it is too hot outside, you can have a swim and get an instant refreshment.
And the least (but not the last) resort where you can have your picnic is Sljeme. Sljeme is a top of the mountain Medvednica and it is popular mostly because of the skiing (ski races are held here). The only bad thing about Sljeme is that you will need to travel more to it. It is not that far from the centre, but if you go by car, you will not experience it completely.
Image credit: Zagreb Tourist Board, Marko Vrdoljak
Sljeme is a favourite place for the most of the Zagrebians. It is far enough from the city to get a proper rest and also a beautiful spot to capture the whole city at once. If you're more enthusiastic, when you're over with your picnic, you can also visit Medvedgrad, an old Zagrebian town founded in the 13th century.
When you decide where you wanna go, the only 'problem' left is figuring out what kind of food you will be preparing for it! Have you ever tried having a picnic in Zagreb? Where did you go?
Header image credit: Zagreb Tourist Board, Marko Vrdoljak
Author: Petra Kaić