Zagreb Franjo Tuđman Airport to Novi Zagreb
About 12 km from ZAG and the closest part of the city to it; an app taxi runs €15–22 and bus 290 passes nearby.
The planned districts south of the Sava, built from the 1960s — wide boulevards, the Museum of Contemporary Art, the Arena hall and the Bundek lake park.
Every way to get there
Our verdict: for Novi Zagreb, a private transfer is the easiest door-to-door option (from €25). Travelling light on a budget? The bus is cheapest (from €1) 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 | €1 | €25 | Bus |
| Couple · 2 travellers | €2 | €25 | Bus |
| Family of 4 · 4 travellers | €4 | €25 | Bus |
Which option should you choose?
| If your priority is… | Our pick | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Lowest price | Bus | From €1, 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
Taxi
Cheaper than the centre because it is closer, and still well under the metered rank fare. Useful for the Arena and the trade fair grounds, which host most of Zagreb's large events.
Where to catch it: The shortest city run from this airport, since Novi Zagreb sits between the terminal and the river.
Best for small groups in a hurryBus / shuttle
Under three euros. Check the specific line for your address — Novi Zagreb is large and its blocks are spread out in a way that makes walking between them longer than it looks.
Where to catch it: Bus 290 runs from the airport towards the centre and connects with local lines serving the southern districts.
Best for solo & budget travellersPrivate transfer
Business travellers heading to the Zagreb Fair or an event at the Arena are the usual bookers, and hotels here are noticeably cheaper than in the centre.
Where to catch it: Straightforward; the district's roads are wide and parking is not the problem it is in the old centre.
Best for families, groups & late arrivalsCar rental
If you need a car for the trip anyway, staying south of the Sava removes Zagreb's parking problem entirely — the trams into the centre take fifteen minutes.
Where to catch it: Easy driving and free or cheap parking, unlike north of the river.
Best for travellers who want to exploreNovi Zagreb & 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 Novi Zagreb
Novi Zagreb is the part of the city south of the Sava, planned and built from the 1960s onward — wide boulevards, blocks set in green space, and the institutions that would not fit in the nineteenth-century centre. It is also the closest part of Zagreb to the airport, twelve kilometres, which makes it the shortest and cheapest city transfer here.
The €15 arrival
An app taxi — Bolt, Uber, Cammeo — runs €15 to €22 for the twenty-minute drive, against €20–30 to the centre and €30–45 from the metered rank. Novi Zagreb sits between the terminal and the river, so you are not crossing the city to reach it.
The public route
ZET bus 290 from the airport connects with local lines serving the southern districts, coming to under three euros. Check the specific line for your address: Novi Zagreb is large, its blocks are spread out, and the walk between two points that look adjacent on a map can be fifteen minutes.
Why business travellers stay here
The Zagreb Fair grounds and the Arena, the city's main concert and sports hall, are both south of the river, and the hotels around them are noticeably cheaper than the equivalent in the centre. Trams cross to Ban Jelačić square in about fifteen minutes.
The Museum of Contemporary Art
A large purpose-built museum that opened in 2009, holding the national collection of post-war and contemporary art. It has a slide by Carsten Höller running through the building, which visitors are allowed to use. It is the main cultural reason to cross the river.
Bundek
Two lakes in a park on the south bank, dug from old gravel workings and landscaped in 2006. Zagreb swims, runs and barbecues here in summer, and it is a straightforwardly pleasant place that no guidebook sends anyone to.
The architecture, if you look
Novi Zagreb is a serious piece of socialist-era urban planning — the Mamutica block is among the largest residential buildings in Europe, housing several thousand people. Opinions divide sharply on whether the result is humane or bleak, and both readings survive a walk around it.
Parking, which is the real argument
North of the river parking is scarce and metered. Here it is plentiful and often free. If you need a hire car for the interior — Plitvice, the Zagorje, Samobor — staying south of the Sava removes Zagreb's parking problem entirely.
Getting into the centre
Trams 6, 7 and 14 among others cross the river frequently and run late. The ticket system is the same across the city and a daily pass is cheap. This is a fifteen-minute commute rather than an expedition.
Eating
Local rather than touristic — this is where people live. The restaurants around the Avenue Mall and along the main boulevards serve Zagreb food at Zagreb prices rather than centre prices, and the difference is noticeable.
Events at the Arena
Concerts, handball and basketball fill it regularly, and on those nights the surrounding roads and the trams are busy. If you are staying nearby, it is worth checking the calendar against your dates.
The honest assessment
Nobody visits Zagreb to see Novi Zagreb. It is a practical base — cheap, close to the airport, well connected by tram, easy to park in — and for a business trip, an event at the Arena, or a car-based tour of the interior, those are the things that actually matter.
How the districts are named
Travno, Utrina, Sopot, Dugave, Zapruđe — the neighbourhoods south of the river carry names that mean nothing to a visitor and everything to a taxi driver. Give the district as well as the street when booking, because several street names repeat across the city and the satnav will not always pick the right one.
The river itself
The Sava is embanked through Zagreb with a broad green strip either side, used for running and cycling and effectively a linear park. Crossing on foot over one of the bridges takes ten minutes and is the clearest way to see how deliberately the two halves of the city were built apart.
