Zagreb scavenger hunt: from the Lower Town parks up to the Upper Town
The Zagreb scavenger hunt is a self-guided city game you play on your phone: you walk from landmark to landmark, solve a riddle at each one by looking closely at what is in front of you, and unlock the stories and legends behind it. Plan on about 2 hours from garden to tunnel, of which 42 minutes is walking over 3 km, while the 10 riddles and their stories take up the remainder.
Highlights include the red umbrellas of Dolac Market, the cathedral on Kaptol, the candlelit Stone Gate, the tiled roof of St Mark's Church and Lotrščak Tower, where a cannon fires every day at noon. Zagreb's centre is compact: the walk climbs from the parks of the Lower Town to the medieval Upper Town, with short slopes and stairs on the way.
- Durationabout 2 hours
- Walkingabout 42 min · 3 km
- Stops10
- LanguagesEnglish, German, French, Italian, Spanish, Dutch
Riddles from the Green Horseshoe to Gradec
Clues on roofs and gates
Each stop sets a riddle, and the answer is somewhere in view: the bronze figures of the Well of Life, the glass dome of the Oktogon, the coats of arms on the roof of St Mark's. Sharp eyes and logic will get you there, not a history lesson.
Earthquakes, fires and a noon cannon
Solved riddles unlock the stories: the earthquake of 1880 that gave the cathedral its twin spires, the fire of 1731 that, tradition says, spared a painting of the Virgin in the Stone Gate, and the cannon fired from Lotrščak Tower every day at noon since 1877. The audio narration can tell you all of it.
Up from the Lower Town
Google Maps guides you for 42 minutes and 3 km, from the parks and broad streets of the Lower Town past Dolac Market and up into the Upper Town. Expect a few short slopes and flights of steps on the way.
Štrukli and coffee
Break off for štrukli or a coffee on Tkalčićeva Street whenever you like, and the game waits. Pick it up again later the same day or tomorrow.
See the route and attractions →
How it works
- Book online Choose the number of players. Your booking reference arrives by email straight away.
- Get the app Download the World City Trail app from the App Store or Google Play and enter your booking reference.
- Play when you like Start whenever you are ready, walk at your own pace and pause any time. No guide, no fixed schedule.
Who will love the Zagreb hunt
First-time visitors
Zagreb's sights are spread between the Lower Town, Kaptol and Gradec, and the route ties them together in a sensible order. In about 2 hours you see the theatre, the market, the cathedral and the Upper Town.
Fans of the noon cannon
A cannon that goes off at noon, a church roof with a chequerboard coat of arms and a long tunnel under the hill are hard to beat. Bring a grown-up along as their teammate.
Teams with something to prove
Teams of up to 5, every player on their own phone, suit colleagues, classes and groups of friends. Send several teams off from the Botanical Garden and see who reaches the Grič Tunnel first.
Good to know
- Bring a charged smartphone with mobile data; a power bank helps.
- No entry tickets needed: everything happens outside the buildings. Going inside is optional and paid separately.
- Family friendly; children must be accompanied by an adult.
- Not suitable for wheelchair users and difficult with strollers.
- Teams of up to 5 work best; bigger groups split into several teams, one ticket per player.
- Every purchase helps support stray cats and dogs in Greece.
The route: Botanical Garden, theatre and Oktogon, then Dolac, the cathedral and the Upper Town
10 stops · about 42 min walking · start: Botanical Garden · finish: Grič Tunnel
The hunt starts at the Botanical Garden in the Lower Town and heads north past the Croatian National Theatre and through the Oktogon passage off Ilica to Dolac Market and Zagreb Cathedral on Kaptol. From there you climb into the Upper Town, through the Stone Gate to St Mark's Church, the Museum of Broken Relationships and Lotrščak Tower, and finish at the Grič Tunnel. Even the museum and the tower are only looked at from outside, so the game never needs an entry ticket, and if you are staying up on Gradec, the app can open the hunt there and set the remaining stops in a new order.
Open the route map ↗
1Botanical GardenStart
The university's Botanical Garden was founded in 1889 and is part of the Lower Town's Green Horseshoe, a U-shaped chain of parks and squares. Laid out as an English-style landscape garden, it has ponds, a small bridge, old trees and greenhouses, and holds thousands of plant species from Croatia and around the world.
2Croatian National Theatre
The yellow neo-Baroque theatre was designed by the Viennese architects Fellner & Helmer and opened in 1895 in the presence of Emperor Franz Joseph. In front of it lies the Well of Life, a sunken bronze fountain by the sculptor Ivan Meštrović from 1905, showing human figures crowded around a well.
3Oktogon
This elegant shopping passage links Ilica, Zagreb's main street, with the streets behind it and was built in 1899 for the First Croatian Savings Bank. It takes its name from the eight-sided hall at its centre, which is covered by a glass dome with stained glass.
4Dolac Market
Zagreb's main open-air market opened in 1930 on a raised square just above Ban Jelačić Square. Under its red umbrellas, modelled on the traditional umbrellas of nearby Šestine, farmers sell fruit, vegetables, cheese and flowers, while a covered hall below holds meat, fish and dairy.
Read the full story →
5Zagreb Cathedral
The cathedral on Kaptol was badly damaged in the earthquake of 1880 and rebuilt in neo-Gothic style by the architect Hermann Bollé, with the twin spires that became the symbol of Zagreb. In front of it stands a column with a gilded statue of the Virgin Mary surrounded by four angels, and parts of the 16th-century walls built against the Ottomans still surround the complex.
Read the full story →
6Stone Gate
The Stone Gate is the only one of the old gates of Gradec, the medieval Upper Town, that still stands. According to tradition, a great fire in 1731 destroyed the wooden parts of the gate, but a painting of the Virgin Mary inside was found unharmed. It became a shrine, and people still stop here to pray and light candles.
Read the full story →
7St Mark's Church
The parish church of Gradec dates back to the 13th century and is famous for its tiled roof, laid in 1880, which shows the coat of arms of Zagreb and that of the Kingdom of Croatia, Slavonia and Dalmatia. The square around it is home to the Croatian Parliament and to Banski dvori, the seat of the government.
Read the full story →
8Museum of Broken Relationships
Two Zagreb artists, Olinka Vištica and Dražen Grubišić, started this collection after their own break-up, gathering objects left over from ended relationships. It began as a travelling exhibition in 2006 and opened as a permanent museum in the Upper Town in 2010, with each item shown alongside its anonymous donor's story.
9Lotrščak Tower
This tower was built in the 13th century to guard the southern gate of Gradec. Since 1877 the Grič cannon has been fired from it every day at noon, and Zagreb residents still set their watches by the shot. Next to the tower, a funicular opened in 1890 links the Upper Town with Ilica below.
Read the full story →
10Grič TunnelFinish
The Grič Tunnel was dug during the Second World War, in 1943, as an air-raid shelter beneath the Upper Town hill. It runs for about 350 metres, with side passages, and was reopened in 2016 as a pedestrian route that is also used for exhibitions and events.
Read the full story →
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Andrea– Austria –
Collected on GetYourGuide
Die Wege von einem Punkt zum nächsten waren kurz, so war auch Zeit zwischendurch ein bisschen zum Schlendern und Erkunden war! Hat uns sehr gut gefallen!
Lincoln-Romania –
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Germany –
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Spannende Rätsel, viele Informationen, tolle Tour!
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