Zagreb Franjo Tuđman Airport to Gornji Grad (Upper Town)
About 18 km from ZAG; take the shuttle or bus 290 into the centre, then the funicular or a short walk up.
The medieval half of Zagreb on the hill — St Mark's church with its tiled coat-of-arms roof, the Stone Gate shrine, a cannon fired at noon every day since 1877, and the shortest funicular in the world climbing to it.
Every way to get there
Our verdict: for Gornji Grad (Upper Town), a private transfer is the easiest door-to-door option (from €32). Travelling light on a budget? The bus is cheapest (from €10) but slower, with a change in the city.
What it costs for your group
The bus is charged per person, while a taxi or private transfer is one price for the whole car — so the more of you there are, the better door-to-door value looks.
| Group | Bus (per person) | Private transfer | Best value |
|---|---|---|---|
| Solo · 1 traveller | €10 | €32 | Bus |
| Couple · 2 travellers | €20 | €32 | Bus |
| Family of 4 · 4 travellers | €40 | €32 | Private transfer |
Which option should you choose?
| If your priority is… | Our pick | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Lowest price | Bus | From €2, though slower with a change in the city. |
| Speed & comfort | Private transfer | Door-to-door, fixed price, a driver waiting for you. |
| A group of 3–4 | Transfer or taxi | One flat fare splits cheaper than several bus tickets. |
| A late-night arrival | Transfer or taxi | Both run 24/7 when buses and the tram have stopped. |
By transport mode
Shuttle
The funicular is 66 metres long and takes 64 seconds, which makes it the shortest public funicular anywhere. It costs under a euro and runs every ten minutes.
Where to catch it: Shuttle to the main bus station, tram to Ban Jelačić square, then either the funicular from Tomićeva street or the stepped path beside it.
Best for budget travellersBus / shuttle
Two or three euros in total. The 60-minute ticket usually covers both legs if you connect promptly, which makes this the cheapest way into the historic centre by a wide margin.
Where to catch it: Bus 290 to Kvaternikov trg, then a westbound tram along Vlaška to the square below the upper town.
Best for solo & budget travellersTaxi
Give the exact address. The difference between being dropped at Ban Jelačić square and at Katarinin trg is a considerable climb, and the funicular does not carry luggage well.
Where to catch it: Cars can reach the edge of Gornji Grad but not far into it — the streets are narrow, cobbled and partly restricted.
Best for small groups in a hurryPrivate transfer
Worth arranging if you are staying in one of the small hotels inside the old quarter, several of which have no vehicle access at all and expect you on foot.
Where to catch it: Drivers who know the upper town will use the permitted approach from the north rather than the tourist route.
Best for families, groups & late arrivalsGornji Grad (Upper Town) & Zagreb in photos
Buying tickets in Zagreb
Two buses cover the same 17 km and the price difference is tenfold. The signposted Pleso Prijevoz shuttle costs €9, runs every 30 minutes until about 22:30, and reaches the main bus station in 35–45 minutes; children under seven travel free. The unsignposted alternative is ZET city bus 290, an ordinary public bus costing about €0.95 for a 60-minute ticket bought at a kiosk, taking 45–50 minutes to Kvaternikov trg on the eastern edge of the centre, running 04:20 to 00:15 roughly every 35 minutes. Buy at a kiosk before boarding — on-board fares cost more. The 290 also runs far earlier and later than the shuttle, which is its real advantage on a dawn departure. One thing to get straight: the shuttle terminates at the bus station, which is a separate building about 1.5 km from the railway station — three stops on tram 6. People miss trains over this.
Taxi scams & safety in Zagreb
Zagreb inverts the usual advice about apps. A metered ride from the rank runs €30–45 (around €33 by day, €40 at night), while the same journey through Bolt, Uber, Cammeo or Eko-Taxi comes to €20–30. All four operate legally with designated pickup points outside the terminal, so here the app is both cheaper and simpler — the opposite of most airports in this guide. Order after you land rather than before, and expect surge pricing when several flights arrive together. Beyond that, Zagreb is a low-friction capital: fares are metered, the buses are municipal, and there is no meaningful touting. The one thing worth knowing is that Gornji Grad, the upper town, has restricted vehicle access and steep cobbled streets — if your accommodation is up there, give the exact address, because the difference between being set down at Ban Jelačić square and at your door is a real climb and the funicular is not built for suitcases.
Getting from ZAG to Gornji Grad (Upper Town)
Gornji Grad is the medieval half of Zagreb, on the hill above the modern city, and getting to it from the airport is a two-stage business: a bus into the centre, then either the funicular, the stepped path beside it, or a walk up Radićeva street. Nothing drives far into it — the streets are narrow, cobbled and partly restricted — so the last stage is on foot however you arrive.
The cheapest way up
ZET bus 290 from the airport to Kvaternikov trg for about €0.95, then a westbound tram along Vlaška to the square below the hill. Two or three euros in total, and the sixty-minute ticket usually covers both legs if you connect promptly. Against €9 for the shuttle plus a tram, that is a considerable saving for twenty extra minutes.
The shortest funicular in the world
Sixty-six metres of track, sixty-four seconds of journey, running from Tomićeva street up to the Strossmayer promenade every ten minutes. It has been operating since 1890 and it costs under a euro. It is also a genuine piece of transport rather than a novelty — people commute on it.
Two towns that merged
Gradec and Kaptol were separate fortified settlements on adjacent hills, secular and ecclesiastical, and they spent several centuries in dispute with each other. The stream between them was filled in and became Tkalčićeva street, which is now a line of bars. Zagreb as a single city dates only from 1850.
St Mark's roof
The tiled roof carries the coats of arms of Croatia, Dalmatia and Slavonia on one side and Zagreb's on the other, laid in coloured tile in 1880. The church itself is thirteenth century underneath. The square around it holds the parliament and the government offices, so it is quieter and more official than the rest of the quarter.
The Stone Gate
The last surviving gate of the medieval walls, with a shrine inside it built around a painting of the Virgin that survived a fire in 1731. It is a working shrine — people stop, light candles and leave plaques on the walls — in the middle of a public passageway, which is an unusual thing to walk through.
The cannon at noon
Fired from the Lotrščak tower every day since 1877. It is loud, it is punctual, and the pigeons on Ban Jelačić square have long since stopped reacting. The tower can be climbed for the view.
Where the museums are
The Museum of Broken Relationships sits just off St Mark's square and is the one people come for — donated objects from ended relationships with the stories attached, and considerably more affecting than the concept suggests. The City Museum, the Naive Art Museum and the Croatian Museum of Natural History are all within a few streets.
Tkalčićeva
The filled-in stream bed between the two hills, now a pedestrian street of bars and cafés that is the centre of Zagreb's evening. It runs from the market end up towards the upper town and it is busy from about five until late.
Arriving with luggage
Give a taxi or transfer the exact address rather than the district. The difference between being set down at Ban Jelačić square and at your door in the upper town is a real climb, and the funicular is not built for suitcases — the carriages are small and there is no luggage space.
The cathedral, and its spires
On the Kaptol side, damaged by the 2020 earthquake which brought down the top of one spire, and under long-term restoration since. It is worth knowing before you arrive that the building is scaffolded and access has been restricted at various points.
Evening on the promenade
Strossmayer promenade runs along the southern edge of the upper town under trees, with the city below it. In summer there are stalls, live music and a considerable number of people sitting on the wall. It is the best free thing in Zagreb.
