Zagreb Franjo Tuđman Airport ground transport

Zagreb is the one Croatian airport that is not about a coastline. It is the country's capital, its main year-round gateway, and the airport reflects that: a single modern terminal seventeen kilometres south-east of the centre, working through the winter when Split and Dubrovnik have gone quiet. Two buses cover the same ground at wildly different prices. The Pleso Prijevoz shuttle is the one signposted at arrivals — €9, every thirty minutes until about half past ten at night, thirty-five to forty-five minutes to the main bus station. ZET's city bus 290 is the one nobody mentions: about €0.95 for a sixty-minute ticket bought at a kiosk, forty-five to fifty minutes to Kvaternikov trg on the eastern edge of the centre, running from 04:20 to just after midnight roughly every thirty-five minutes. That is a tenfold price difference for a journey that is ten minutes longer and ends in a slightly less convenient place. Buy the ticket at a kiosk before boarding; on-board fares cost more and the driver may not have change. Taxis invert the usual advice. A metered ride from the rank runs €30 to €45, around €33 by day and €40 at night, while the same trip booked through Bolt, Uber, Cammeo or Eko-Taxi comes to €20 to €30. At most airports the app is a convenience; here it is also the cheaper option, and all four operate legally with designated pickup points. Beyond the city, Zagreb is the road head for the interior — Plitvice two hours south, the baroque town of Varaždin an hour north, and Samobor and the Zagorje hills within forty minutes.