Attractive Offer of Zagreb’s Environs

If you start exploring the environs of Zagreb, you will find something interesting in every season, but there is certainly a lot to be said about autumn, with its explosion of colors and abundance of the earth’s gifts. Autumn festivities are held across the county to supplement the already impressive offer of the region.

A longer stay in Zagreb is the perfect opportunity to explore its environs. Many have already discovered the impressive culture, exquisite nature and authentic cuisine on offer as soon as you leave the streets of the bustling capital. In the territory of the County of Zagreb, the closest to the city, there are some 15 attractive excursion spots, such as Samobor, Velika Gorica, Ivanić Grad, Vrbovec, Jastrebarsko, Sveti Ivan Zelina, Krašić…to mention but a few. The whole month of September is dedicated to grape picking and wine making. Once the viticulture excitement is over, a number of interesting events and festivals will take place in October. The Samobor Autumn of Music starts on the 1st of October. The festival has been held since 1975 in memory of the composer and the mayor of Samobor, Ferdo Livadić (1799-1879). In Brdovec municipality, corn is the king of festivities during which guests and younger generations of locals are given the opportunity to learn about traditional rural customs and sample foods made with corn flour. The beginning of October has a different king in Zelina – the chestnut. Chestnut picking festivities have been organized there for ten years now. Good fun is promised to all who head off to the mountain lodge at Kladeščica (406 meters above sea level) where chestnuts galore are roasted on special stoves and new wine and different local specialties are served to the hungry and thirsty. As you leave the merriments at Kladeščica, do not miss Zelingrad, a protected monument of culture dating back to the 13th century at the foot of the hill. During the chestnut picking festivities, guided tours of Zelingrad are offered to visitors.

In mid-October, on the 16th to be more precise, the little hamlet of Zaprešić invites you to Jelačić’s Days, an event organized to mark the anniversary of the birth of the Croatian Ban (viceroy) Josip Jelačić (16 October 1801 – 20 May 1859), who received the title of count from Emperor Franz Joseph in 1854. Josip Jelačić went down in history as the person who abolished feudalism in Croatia in 1848, united all Croatian lands and has thus become the symbol of Croatian statehood. The program of Jelačić’s Days features the sumptuous Jelačić Ball and a hurdle horserace, The Ban Jelačić Cup. The event presents the perfect opportunity to visit Novi Dvori Jelačićevi, the viceroy’s stately home with the chapel of St. Joseph, to which the mortal remains of the Croatian Ban where brought in 1991 and laid to rest together with 13 other members of the noble family.