Explore architecture and the outdoors in Zagreb

Meet Martin, a software engineer at Homestay.com, who hails from Zagreb in Croatia. Here he shares his tips for visitors to his hometown.

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Name: Martin

Position: Software Engineer

Nationality: Croatian

Hometown: Zagreb

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1. What’s your favourite thing about Zagreb?

The city’s architecture is something I've always loved. Zagreb and Croatia historically were part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire so the style of the city is very similar to Vienna. It’s very elegant and has an old world sort of feel to it. The National Theatre is a particularly beautiful building.

2.What’s your favourite thing to do when you’re in Zagreb?

I really like hiking. There is a mountain to the north of the city called Medvednica that I like to climb. The name literally translates as “Bear Mountain” but I’ve never come across anything quite that wild there! The trail has lots of nice little café-cabins for you to stop off in along the way and interestingly if you start digging around, you’ll actually find lots of shells in the rock. The area had originally once been covered by an inland sea called the Pannonian Sea so the land here now has the unfortunate sea life preserved in the rock.

3. What’s your favourite thing to eat when you’re in Croatia?

My favourite food in Croatia is called Peka. You choose the meal you want to cook - meats, vegetables, seasoning - and lay them out on a large plate. The plate is then covered with a metal or stone heated lid, kept hot by keeping charcoal on it. Several hours later, you then have a meal that is full of flavour and that everyone can help themselves to. It’s a traditional method of cooking in Croatia but it’s still quite popular as an alternative to a barbecue during the summer.

Photo Courtesy of Christine Zenino

4. What’s your top insider tip for Zagreb?

My top tip is to visit the national park where the Medvednica mountain is. That’s quite common but there are also caves there called the Veternica caves. You can visit these but sometimes during the winter there are also concerts held here. If you are in Zagreb while one of these is taking place, you should really try and go.

5. What and where was your most memorable holiday?

Oh that’s easy. I’m really interested in China and Chinese culture and I’ve been there four times. My most memorable visit though was when I stayed in a city called Kunming which is the capital of the Yunnan province. The weather there is really lovely, it just feels like springtime all the time. Yunnan is also on the border with Laos, Vietnam and Burma so the region is very ethnically diverse. I have such happy memories of that trip.

6. Where in the world will you go on your next trip?

I’m still in the process of planning it, but I really want to go to Taiwan or Malaysia. I've just come back from a holiday in Zagreb and Zadar so I can’t go anywhere for a while!

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Main photos (from left to right) courtesy of Mario Fajt under Creative Commons license, our very own Martin and Thinkstock.

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