Green Zagreb: Pleasure at a Distance

The streets of Zagreb are intertwined with numerous parks in which you will never be alone or lonely but you will always feel safe.

Even though all precautions related to the COVID-19 pandemic are adhered to in the streets of Zagreb, its stores, cafes and restaurants, visiting Zagreb’s parks will allow you to relax and enjoy nice ambience and recreational activities.

Zagreb’s parks are mutually connected to form the so-called green or Lenuzzi’s horseshoe, which was named after the horticulturist who designed it, and stretch from a spot next to Ban Josip Jelačić Square to the Main Railway station. They are not only beautiful due to horticulture, but also this string of parks attracts attention with statues of historical figures from the history of Zagreb and Croatia and attractions and historical buildings that they host and surround. The Botanical garden, established in 1889, is found on the southern side of this natural attraction. Today it is protected as a special feature of park architecture and it is also one of the most popular tourist attractions in Zagreb. The string of parks again enters the very heart of the city, connecting famous buildings in Zagreb.

There are several parks in the centre of the city such as Ribnjak and Cmrok Park and Tuškanac Forest Park.

Not far away from there, in the eastern part of the city, there is Maksimir Park, famous for being one of the first European parks built based on a design. In the eighteenth century, when it was opened, it was the first public promenade in South East Europe. As a wise, ideal combination of a forest and a park designed as English landscape garden, it was a favourite destination for citizens then as it is now. It also hosts the city Zoo as of 1925.

Close to the newly built neighbourhoods which are covered in green patches, there is the recreational and sports centre Jarun in the south-western part of the city. The spot is referred to as “the Sea of Zagreb” after the homonymous lake. There is also Mladost Sports Park and Bundek Park, which was built more recently.

This is certainly not the entire story about the green parts of Zagreb in which every neighbourhood has a park or several of them. Sljeme, the summit of Medvednica mountain is a park for all that has a special place in citizen’s hearts. Zagreb leans against it and it attracts all types of visitors, hikers, parkgoers and athletes during all seasons.