Croatia Trip Day 11: Zagreb Botanical Garden

August 6, 2024

Day 11 officially kicked off the CFU’s Tambura Across Generations festival. This was the main reason for our trip to Croatia and was very exciting since it was the first time the junior and adult CFU festivals were combined. I played in a junior festival in Zagreb in 2013 and didn’t think I would ever get the chance to again. (If you missed the intro to this series, I explain more about tambura there)

Table of Contents

The first order of business today was a rehearsal in one of the hotel practice rooms.

photo of kids playing with tv in our rehearsal room

We had some free time between rehearsal and the festival reception, so we decided to walk to the Zagreb Botanical Garden. We dropped a message in the group chat and Ed and Mary ended up joining us too. Our group got rained on a little there, but it was a great time with great company. The botanical garden is part of the University of Zagreb and has been around since the late 1800s.

How to Visit the Zagreb Botanical Garden

Zagreb Botanical Garden / Botanički vrt u Zagreb
Trg Marka Marulića 9A, 10000, Zagreb, Croatia
https://botanickivrt.biol.pmf.hr/en
Mon-Tues 9am-2:30pm, Wed-Sun 9am-7pm
Adults: €2, Students: €1, Kids under 7: Free
Maps and visiting details can be found online here

photo of walking path at zagreb botanical garden

We were staying at the Hotel Sheraton in downtown Zagreb and had less than 20 minutes to walk to the Botanical Gardens. We actually ended up walking extra, and basically circling the whole thing, since we didn’t pay attention to which road the actual entrance would be on.

photo of train tracks in the distance of zagreb botanical garden

The public entrance is on Mihanovićeva St.. The ticket booth is right inside the gate, and then just inside the paid entrance area is a bathroom. I would definitely plan on spending at least an hour here, more if you’re a plant person. There is a lot to see and a lot of variety.

Zagreb Botanical Garden Highlights

One of my favorite spots in the garden was the dome greenhouse. Besides the structure itself being beautiful, the plant display inside was so cool! An ecosystem of over 40 different plants is grown on one log hanging over the water.

Another highlight was the different rockery gardens throughout. These mounds of rocks are planted with different ecosystems such alpine and sub-Meditteranean mountainous plants.

I love Japanese gardens, so of course I loved this bridge in the Japanese style. There were other bridges in this pot before, but in the 1930s it was built in this style. The bridge was completely rebuilt in 2015, using plans from the archives.

photo of Japanses style bridge in Zagreb

I love the look of these terrariums, but they did look kind of funny sitting outside. They reminded me of zoo cages- especially since some of them feature carnivorous plants!

photo of terrarium at zagreb botanical garden

Every step you take and corner you turn in the Zagreb Botanical Gardens, you’ll find something new and interesting to see. There are also displays of aquatic plants, raised beds that are planted in monochromatic color schemes, carnivorous pitcher plants, cacti and succulents, and of course plenty of trees.

photo of garden beds at zagreb botanical garden

photo of raised beds at zagreb botanical garden

The Exhibition Pavilion

The Exhibition Pavilion is a jewel of the garden. It was built in 1891 for the Second Economy and Forestry Jubilee Exhibition, and was donated to the Botanical Garden afterwards. The building has served numerous purposes through the years, and was restored in 2007. Now it’s used as an exhibition space, for overwintering plants, and for educational programs.

When we visited, the Exhibition Pavilion was hosting a show of works by graduates of the School of Applied Arts and Design.

photo of zagreb botanical garden's exhibition pavilion

photo of artwork from zagreb school of applied art and design students

Festival Reception

In the evening we hopped on a shuttle bus to head to the opening reception of the festival. Gazde was playing, and there was some dancing- but not good kolo dancing which is what I mostly like. We listened to the music for a while, but didn’t stay super long.