Zagreb Food & Wine Tours
Zagreb is the Croatia the coast forgets: a Central European capital that eats štrukli and turkey with mlinci, shops at a market under red umbrellas, drinks its wine cut with sparkling water, and has sparkling-wine hills half an hour from the main square. This is our Zagreb hub. Below are the top-rated food and wine experiences in the city, then our pages for food tours and cooking classes, and the day trips to Plešivica and Zagorje.
Top-rated food and wine experiences in Zagreb
Two ways in: a food tour through Dolac market and the Upper Town; a cooking class to make štrukli.
What to eat: zagorski štrukli baked with cream, sir i vrhnje from the market women, purica s mlincima, Zagreb schnitzel, kremšnita from Samobor, and a gemišt on Tkalčićeva street.
Wine: Plešivica’s sparkling houses thirty minutes west, and the Zagorje hills to the north.
Food and wine in Zagreb: how the capital eats
Zagreb was Austro-Hungarian, and it shows at the table: štrukli, rolled dough filled with cottage cheese and baked in cream, from the Zagorje hills; purica s mlincima, roast turkey with sheets of baked pasta; sarma and blood sausage in winter; schnitzel; and kremšnita, the custard slice, perfected in Samobor next door. Dolac, the market above the main square, opened in 1930 and is still where the city shops, its stalls under red umbrellas run by kumice, the market women who sell sir i vrhnje, fresh cheese and cream, from their own cows. The wine is gemišt, white cut with sparkling water, and the sparkling itself from Plešivica.
Food tours
Three hours from Dolac through the Upper Town and down Tkalčićeva street, with six to nine tastings: cheese and cream at the market, štrukli, a plate of purica, a kremšnita, a gemišt. See Zagreb food tours.
Cooking classes
Štrukli is the class: the dough stretched thin over a table, the filling, the rolling, the baking, and a lunch of what you made. Some classes add sarma or a strudel. See Zagreb cooking classes.
Wine: Plešivica and Zagorje
Thirty minutes west, the Plešivica hills make Croatia’s best sparkling wines by the traditional method, and family cellars there run tastings with lunch; Samobor’s kremšnita is on the way. To the north, Zagorje’s castles and wineries make a longer day. Half-day tours run 60 to 110 euros.
When to come
Spring and autumn for the market and the terraces; December for Advent, when the squares fill with food stalls and the city is at its best; summer is quiet because Zagreb goes to the coast.
Read next: What to eat in Zagreb
How we choose
We list only experiences with a strong rating over a meaningful number of reviews and free cancellation where available, and we favour small-group and family-run hosts. FindEatLocal earns a commission when you book through GetYourGuide or Viator links on this page; it doesn’t change the price you pay. More about how we choose.
FAQ about Zagreb Food & Wine Tours
Frequently asked questions
Why Zagreb for food?
Because it is cheaper and calmer than the coast, its market is one of the best in Europe, and its cooking is the one part of Croatia that is not Mediterranean.
What food is Zagreb known for?
Štrukli, sir i vrhnje from Dolac market, turkey with mlinci, Zagreb schnitzel, kremšnita and gemišt.
Is Zagreb worth visiting for food?
Yes, especially as a contrast to the coast: Central European cooking, a great market, low prices and Plešivica sparkling wine half an hour away.
Can I do a wine tour from Zagreb?
Yes; Plešivica’s sparkling wineries are thirty minutes west and half-day tours with lunch run year-round.
What is štrukli?
Thin dough filled with cottage cheese, rolled and either boiled or baked in cream; the dish of Zagreb and the Zagorje hills, and the one to learn in a cooking class.
When is Advent in Zagreb?
From late November to early January; the squares fill with food and mulled wine stalls, and it has been voted Europe’s best Christmas market more than once.