Zagreb’s centre is about two kilometres across and flat. You will walk most of it. The tram exists for the four or five places that are further out, and it is very good.
Trams
ZET runs the network — blue trams, fifteen day lines and four night lines, on tracks that go back to a horse tramway of 1891 and electrification in 1910.
Every day line passes through or near Ban Jelačić Square, which makes navigation simple: if you are lost, get on almost anything and you will end up in the middle.
The rolling stock is a mix of ageing Czech Tatra cars and low-floor TMK 2200 trams built in Zagreb. The old ones are high-floor with steps.
The lines a visitor actually needs:
- 6 — main bus station, Ban Jelačić Square, across the Sava to Novi Zagreb and the Museum of Contemporary Art.
- 14 — Mihaljevac (for Medvednica) through the centre and across the river.
- 11 — west along Ilica to Britanski trg.
- 5 or 17 — to Jarun.
- 11 or 12 — east to Maksimir.
Buses cover everything the trams do not, including bus 106 to Mirogoj from beside the cathedral, which is the one visitors most often need.
Tickets
One flat fare for a journey of a set duration within the central zone, bought from a kiosk, a machine, or from the driver at a higher price.
Validate it in the yellow machine when you board. An unvalidated ticket is the same as no ticket, and inspectors do work the lines.
Day tickets and multi-day passes exist and are good value if you are making more than three journeys.
The Zagreb Card bundles transport with museum entry and discounts. Whether it pays depends entirely on how many charging museums you visit — Zagreb has enough free or very cheap ones that it often does not. Add up your actual plan before buying.
The funicular
The Zagreb funicular is 66 metres long, takes about a minute, and is a separate fare — a ZET ticket does not cover it. It is trivially cheap and you should take it once.
Walking
The best way to see the city and, in the centre, usually the fastest.
The Upper Town is cobbled and stepped. The Grič Tunnel is the flat, step-free route between the levels and is open long hours.
The lower town is a regular grid, flat, and easy.
Cycling
Zagreb is flat and has been building lanes, and there is a public bike-share scheme plus the usual app operators.
The lanes are patchy and drivers are not always attentive. It is fine and it is not Copenhagen.
The best ride is out along the Sava embankment, which is car-free for many kilometres and runs to Jarun in one direction and past Novi Zagreb in the other.
Taxis
Uber and Bolt both operate and are generally cheaper than street taxis. Several local firms — Radio Taxi, Cammeo, Eko Taxi — are reliable and app-bookable.
Fares are low by western European standards.
Driving
Unnecessary in the centre, where parking is zoned, metered and enforced, and much of the Upper Town is restricted.
Useful for Plitvice, the Zagorje castles and Samobor, all of which are awkward or slow by public transport.
Croatia’s motorways are excellent, tolled, and empty outside the summer coastal rush. Drive on the right, headlights required in winter, and the drink-drive limit is effectively zero for drivers under 24 and low for everyone else.
What it costs
Very little. A day of unlimited tram and bus travel in Zagreb costs about what a single coffee costs in Vienna, and most visitors will spend more on the funicular out of curiosity than on the trams out of necessity.
Night transport
Four night tram lines run roughly from midnight to four, on a reduced network with different numbers from the daytime lines. Night buses supplement them.
The fare is higher than the day fare and tickets bought in advance from a kiosk are cheaper than buying from the driver.
For a night out in the centre you will not need any of this — everything is within walking distance of everything else. It matters if you are staying in Novi Zagreb or out along a tram line.
Accessibility
The low-floor TMK 2200 trams are step-free and have ramps; the older Tatra cars are not, and the mix on any given line is unpredictable. ZET publishes which services are accessible but in practice you may have to wait for the next one.
The lower town is flat, paved and easy. The Upper Town is cobbled and stepped throughout, and the Grič Tunnel is the only genuinely level route between the two levels.
Many nineteenth-century apartment buildings — which is what most of the city’s accommodation occupies — have no lift. Check before booking.
Is the Zagreb Card worth it
Only sometimes, and it is easy to work out.
The card bundles unlimited transport with free or discounted entry to a list of museums. It pays if you are visiting three or more charging museums in a day and using the trams.
It does not pay if your list is the Museum of Broken Relationships, the Naive Art museum and a walk, because those two cost very little between them and you will be on foot.
Add up the actual admissions on your plan before buying. In a city this cheap, transport passes rarely pay for themselves on their own.
Luggage
There are lockers at the main railway station and left-luggage at the main bus station.
Trams get full at peak and there is no luggage space. If you are moving hotels with cases, a taxi across the centre costs very little and saves a fight with a Tatra’s steps.