Through Zagreb across the Solar System

As of mid-February, in addition to the standard biking city tours, the tour guides of the Blue Bike Zagreb Company will offer guests yet another interesting, and most unusual, biking tour themed around a contemporary art installation

A Grounded Sun, an ambient sculpture made by Ivan Kožarić some forty years ago and displayed in Bogovićeva Street at the very centre of Zagreb, has become the backbone of the newest biking tour of the city. The tour, which bears the name the Solar System of Zagreb, has been on offer by the tour guides of the Blue Bike Zagreb Company since mid-February.

The Grounded Sun may be its backbone, but it is certainly not the only feature of this tour. In 2004, artist Davor Press positioned 9 additional models all over Zagreb to represent the nine planets in our Solar System. The sizes of the model planets and their distances from each other were based on the relative size and position of the Grounded Sun. The planets, with their exact names as well as data on their size and distance from the Sun, can be seen on the facades of various buildings. Mercury, for example, is in Margaretska Street; Venus adorns Ban Josip Jelačić Square; Earth is in Varšavska Street, and Mars is in Tkalčićeva. All of these are very centrally positioned, in the very heart of the city. However, just as a few of the planets in the solar system are somewhat further away from both the Sun and the other planets closest to it, so is this fact reflected in the arrangement of their models throughout Zagreb. Thus Jupiter is in Voćarska Street in Šalata neighbourhood; Saturn is in Josipa Račića Street in the eastern part of the city; Uranus is in Siget neighbourhood; and Neptune in the Kozari Bok industrial park. Pluto (which is no longer considered a planet but a plutoid) was placed and remains standing on Aleja Bologna in the western part of the city.

Thus, Zagreb has its own integral Solar System and a first-rate attraction that is now being used as a theme for the aforementioned city bicycle tour. When exploring Zagreb with an art installation as their guiding theme, tourists will also get to know many of Zagreb's other attractions. Furthermore, sightseeing by bike rather than on foot will make the experience more mobile and faster. The tour leaves in front of Zagreb's Mimara Museum and, since some of the planets are at quite a distance from the city centre (Uranus, Neptune, Pluto), participants are free to choose a route that excludes the most distant of the planets. In addition to this unique approach towards learning about the city through its Solar System facet, the aforementioned company also offers some other bike tours. The idea behind organizing bike tours in the first place is to give Zagreb's visitors an opportunity to see as much as possible in the shortest amount of time and, also, to do it in a quality, interesting and healthy way.

None of the tours are very strictly defined but the staple tours include riding through the Upper Town–Lower Town and the Lower Town–New Zagreb. To respect individual wishes, tailor-made tours combine different elements to offer maximum enjoyment in a relatively short period. As a rule, an individual tour lasts between two and a half to three hours.

The aforementioned city bicycle tours have been on offer in Zagreb since last year. Judging by the reactions of tourists from over 30 countries, these biking tours offer excellent opportunities for having fun and a good time in this city.