Zagreb rewards thin wallets: its best hours cost nothing at all. Walk Bollé's free arcades at Mirogoj, cut through the Grič air-raid tunnel, eat fried hake for €4 downtown, and end on a lake shore the tour buses never reach.
Hermann Bollé's 1876 necropolis hides 500 m of ivy-clad neo-Renaissance colonnades under green cupolas, sheltering Croatia's writers and presidents. Entry is free; gates open 06:00–20:00 in summer, 07:30–18:00 in winter.
A WWII air-raid shelter bored under the Upper Town, reopened in 2016 as a free public passage with six branches and cool 16°C air. Open daily 09:00–21:00, with entrances on Mesnička 19 and Radićeva 19.
Continental Europe's oldest public park, laid out in 1794 across 316 hectares of oak forest with five artificial lakes, the Echo Pavilion and the Vidikovac belvedere. The park itself never charges admission.
A tree-shaded terrace on the old town rampart with wrought-iron lamps, benches and an unobstructed view over Zagreb's red roofs to Medvednica. Free all year; the Ljeto na Strossu season brings free concerts nightly in summer.
The westside farmers' square where locals actually shop: seasonal produce, cheese and honey stalls trading 07:00–14:00, plus a Sunday antiques fair spreading across the cobbles from 09:00 to 14:00.
A no-frills fried-fish canteen on Jurišićeva 21, unchanged since the 1950s: paper-plate portions of sardines, hake or squid with bread and chard for €3–5, ordered at the counter and eaten standing or at shared tables.
The covered neighbourhood market under Kvaternikov trg, where the lower hall sells cheese, cured meat and bread far below Upper Town prices. Surrounding bakeries sell burek by weight, roughly €1.50 for a warm wedge.
Zagreb's original craft brewhouse on Ilica 49 pours unfiltered Zlatni Medvjed and Crna Kraljica for about €2.60 a half-litre, with hearty grah, sausage and štrukli plates in the €6–8 range.
The 2022 gondola from Dolje climbs to the 1,033 m summit of Medvednica in 15 minutes for €8 return, €5 one way. Marked forest trails run the same route free if you'd rather walk up in about two hours.
A 13th-century royal fortress rebuilt on a spur above the city, with the Altar of the Homeland terrace looking straight down onto Zagreb. Walls and courtyard admission is €4; the approach trail and viewpoint cost nothing.
A chain of gravel-beach lakes 4 km southwest, free to swim and sunbathe at, ringed by a flat 8 km path used by rowers, cyclists and skaters. Tram 17 from Ban Jelačić Square reaches the entrance in 15 minutes.
Novi Zagreb's rehabilitated park lake between the Sava embankment and the housing blocks, with willow-lined walkways, a free playground and a west-facing shore that catches the sunset behind the city skyline.