4-Day Croatia itinerary—Zagreb, Zadar, and Rijeka

Less than 24 hours after I landed back in Budapest from my trip home to the States, I found myself on a train to Zagreb. With a slightly smaller bag and my favorite travel buddy at my side, we managed to snag the last few days of summer break to explore Croatia. With limited time and a love for the coast that could not be denied, we split our time between exploring Croatia’s capital and its coasts. You’ve seen what can happen unexpectedly in Croatia, but here’s my guide to planning a long weekend in this beautiful country.

Day 1–Arrival to Zagreb

Getting There:

Although it’s possible to take a bus to Croatia, we opted for the train (and all of its extra leg room). Leaving from Déli station in Budapest, it’s theoretically a 5.5-hour, straight-through ride, although we ran into a lot of delays and changes. (Pro tip: Be sure to buy a seat reservation along with your actual ticket, otherwise you’re subject to a €50 fine…we almost learned this the hard way, yuck.) Eventually, though, we pulled into Zagreb’s Glavni Kolodvor train station. With a few hours to kill before checking into our AirBnb, we tried to find something that would help us escape the sweltering afternoon heat…so after a quick elderberry beer, we took advantage of museum air conditioning.

Zagreb’s Museum of Broken Relationships has been on my list since I visited its sister location in L.A. years ago. Looking at artifacts of the lost love of strangers is a bit of a guilty pleasure and hey–who knew a museum dedicated to failed love was a good place to go with your current love? Luckily the staff stored our bags for us as we looked around, so we only had to deal with other people’s baggage. It was odd to look so clinically at items that represented the greatest joys and tragedies of strangers’ lives…it left a lot of room for reflection.

We got a quick brush with Old Town as we made our way to the AirBnb from the museum, getting an eyeful of colorful streets, panoramic views, and even a glimpse of the famous St. Mark’s Church (I didn’t get a picture though, because I was too busy gasping for air conditioning).

Where to Stay:

Our AirBnb was just like the pictures: clean and comfy–as in, so comfy that only the promise of dinner could get me off of that bed once I’d flopped down on it. And I was in luck! While the apartment was about a 15 minute walk to the tourist attractions of Old Town, it was even closer to the best Italian restaurant I’ve ever been to (I will dream of that pizza until the day I die). Aside from being close to cafes and a supermarket, the apartment was also a 15 minute walk to the bus station. We took advantage of that the very next day.

Getting Around

The trams will shuttle you around Zagreb, but with our relaxed schedule and the city’s relatively small center, walking suited us just fine (and it was free!). When we were in a rush to get to the train or bus station, Uber was a welcome option, and it was only about $4 for a 15 minute ride.

We booked bus tickets for daytrips through both Flixbus and Arriva, and I’d recommend the latter, as Arriva had WiFi and outlets, while our Flixbus didn’t. And be aware: the on-board bathrooms don’t work, rather you stop at a rest stop halfway through your journey–so plan accordingly!

Day 2–Rijeka

Landlocked Zagreb couldn’t offer a taste of the Croatian coast I’d been drooling over, so our second morning we hopped a two hour bus to Croatia’s 3rd largest city, Rijeka. As the bus pulled away we were treated to a view of the impressive Our Lady of Lourdes church. Annnnnd that was about the only tourist monument we saw. We had a mission, after all–the beach!

C taught me Hungarian conjugations as we strolled down the walking street and tried to figure how to get to the ocean. Eventually, it was Uber to the rescue…until our driver missed his turn and just pulled over instead, vaguely gesturing for us to walk along the coast until we found beach access (thanks, Vlado).

We walked along a suburban street, simultaneously catching glimpses of the ocean through the trees and being thankful we had doused ourselves in sunscreen. After about 20 minutes, we turned the corner to Sablićevo Beach, and my jaw dropped at the panorama in front of me. We made use of the free changing closet room and then descended the stone steps to find our spot on the white pebbled shore.

I swam in blue, blue water, relaxed with a cherry beer from the little seaside bar tucked into the cove wall (I’ll eat anything if it’s cherry flavored) and splashed around until the clouds rolled in. There are other beaches close to Rijeka that are part of resorts and have the extra amenities to match, but I think that this small piece of shore had everything we needed–and it was filled with more locals than tourists. I’m so glad this is the beach that Vlado dumped us closest to.Rather than risk another rendezvous with our Vlado, we walked the 30 minutes back to the city center and followed our noses to dinner–which is how we ended up at Konoba Feral and how I ended up with this pasta in front of me. I barely like seafood, but I figured that if I was at a seaside restaurant in Croatia I’d better at least get something with some shrimp on it. And I wasn’t disappointed!We had just enough time to eat before we had to run for our bus. If you can, plan your return to Zagreb to coincide with the sunset over the mountains…what a way to end the day.

Day 3–Zagreb

In a perfect, guide-book world, our third day in Croatia would have been jam packed with sightseeing in Zagreb, becoming intimate with the winding streets of Old Town and digging out hidden gems. But instead, it became a deliciously languid lazy day avoiding the heat.

After a nice lie in (super comfy bed, remember?), we found an early lunch at Kelley’s Grill and Bar–it was surprisingly inconspicuous, but once inside, the giant burger is hard to miss. Thankfully it doesn’t sacrifice flavor for size. And then…well the post-lunch laziness set in. We made it about as far as the park before the heat convinced us to retreat to our AirBnb haven. I’m sorry to have missed out on some sightseeing in Zagreb, but I think I would have regretted spending my vacation time getting tired, sweaty, and grumpy, all for the sake of seeing the things we were “supposed” to see.

Later, fully refreshed and cheerfully in denial of the darkening skies above, we started our evening by going for a coffee at Booksa, a hip cafe with an undeniable artists’ vibe.

The espresso was just supposed to be a pick-me-up to get us to the Courtyard Festival—each July, private courtyards dress themselves up and are open to the public for everyone to enjoy the music, food, and general merrymaking in the unique setting. Arriving in Zagreb during the festival was dumb luck, and I was excited to rub elbows with some Croatians and check out this event. However, our courtyard plans were washed away when the clouds broke and the torrential thunderstorm appeared, to my disappointment. So we went back to our favorite Italian restaurant and I ate my feelings–but this time instead of pizza, we had dessert for dinner. And I found that there’s something so sweet about finding that person you would willingly give the last bite of panna cotta to.

 

Day 4–Zadar

This time, when we showed up at the bus station we knew exactly where to look for our bus…but we couldn’t foresee that it would get caught in 2 extra hours of traffic.

The overcast skies that greeted us in Zadar were far from the sunny ones in my beach fantasy, but head to the beach we did. If I ever go back with more time I’d love to explore all the beaches on this list, but with our limited time we just walked the 15 minutes from the bus station to the city to Kolovare Beach.

Truth be told, we almost skipped swimming because we were starving (down by the water there’s plenty of bars, but not so many food options–pack some snacks or look for food before you descend). I was doubtful of a beach that was filled with concrete slabs instead of sand, but it seemed fitting for the gray day–it was something solid to come back to after doggy paddling through choppy, deep blue water, something solid to stand on as I watched high divers inch closer to the edge of a platform before plummeting into the sea below. And hey–it was fun not getting sand in every crack and crevice that I didn’t even know I had.

Salty and happy, we walked hand in hand 15 minutes down the coastline until we arrived at the towering Land Gate leading into the Old Town of Zadar.

Although there were plenty of tourists, I still felt like this city was a secret. There’s something hushed and ancient about walking through the narrow streets, taking in the sand colored stones and Italian influenced facades (Zadar used to be part of the Republic of Venice, after all). When you finally make it into the main square, you’re greeted by no less than three churches, each telling the story of their own century.We made lazy circles taking in the views and trying to find a restaurant that wasn’t overpriced and that wouldn’t subject us to the pointy elbows of the passing stream of tourists. We settled at Konoba Skoblar, and while it still had tourist prices ($60 for the two of us), it was in a peaceful square and the portions were large and flavorful.

Stuffed, we made our way back through Old Town, now in a warm glow of lights, sampling some (overpriced) gelato and grabbing a few pastries to take with us on the bus ride back to Zagreb as we went.

With an hour to kill before our train back to Budapest, we realized we had the chance to check off one more Croatian tourist experience off our list: try the traditional spirit, rakija. And so, at 2 a.m. on a Sunday morning we found ourselves in this tiny, smoke-filled pub, listening to the enthusiastic guitar player in the next room and toasting our glasses of rakija with laughing eyes. And then it was time to rush back to catch our train! My mom always says that nothing good happens after midnight and I guess she’s partially right because I barely made it two minutes out of the bar before I cut my toe on some street construction and had to run/limp to the train station!

This time the train went straight through, and 5 1/2 hours later we pulled into Budapest, bleary eyed and ready to pass out in a real bed.

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While brief, I know those 4 days in Croatia will be ones that I’ll cherish for the rest of my life. I learned about the shade of blue that’s reserved for swims in the Adriatic Sea, and that I can love seafood if it’s on top of good enough pasta. And I learned how it all gets even better when there’s someone to share it with. But whether traveling solo or as part of a group, now you have an idea of what you can see, where you can stay, and what you can eat during a long weekend in Croatia.

What would be at the top of your list? Let me know in the comments below!