Shopping – All our local tips

After being bought by Varta in the 90’s, this factory has expanded in the recent years and broadened their palette of products. Unfortunately, as the business got going, they closed the discount shop that was previously in the factory yard.

However, you can still go to the factory’s workshop (first building on the left once you enter the yard) and buy some freshly assembled batteries for almost half the price they’re sold in the stores. If you need to replace the old batteries from a device (such as wristwatch), they will do it free of charge, i.e. they will charge you only new batteries.

So, if you use a lot of gadgets, or like to do some photography – you’ll appreciate a backup set of (re)charged batteries. This is the place to get the stuff when in Zagreb.

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Croatia baterije | Shopping | 2500 mAh AA NiMH rechargeable Kn 30.00
Koturaška 69 | Lower town
Mon – Fri 07:00 – 15:00

Oh, boy… It took me a while to find enough courage to grapple with this place because it’s just so vast and rich in details and experiences that no newspaper/magazine/web article could ever do it any justice – you simply need to see, hear, smell and touch it!

The area is basically divided into three main parts:
1)    The used cars fair
2)    Clothing and hardware
3)    The Rest.

1) It all started with used cars some four decades ago and soon it attracted everything else that goes with the lifestyle. If you plan to buy a car, this is the largest car and motorcycle fair in Croatia, so set up your alarm clock to 5am and make sure to get there at least by 6 in order to get a fair deal.

2) Stalls, stalls and lots of stalls selling various clothes (mainly from Turkey – typically either fake brands or brand look-a-likes) and hardware (not computer hardware but Wild West hardware stuff like grills, mowers, hoses, faucets, axes, spades, car tires etc.)

3) The Rest. Name 10 things that pop up to your mind. They got it. Everything, from pins to tractors, from scratched CD’s to porcelain dolls, from used electromotors to old unopened letters (?), from furry muffs to VHS porn. Half of the goods is used but useable, a quarter is new, and the rest is just garbage. However, this is the most interesting part of the fair, since you can see the cross section of Croatian society – the poor, the elderly, farmers, Arts students praying on a book, a record or an so-out-of-fashion-that-it’s-fashionable-again garment etc. If the day is sunny, make sure to wear sunscreen, because most of the time, you’ll be watching in amazement the stuff displayed on the ground, and become a red-neck

Four mandatory things to do at Hreliæ:
> buy something – it’s impossible to leave the place empty-handed
> take photos – take extra batteries and a huge memory card
> eat something – the food there is incredibly cheap, unhealthy and delicious
> haggle – (ever seen the movie ‘Life of Brian’?)

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Hrelić Flea Market | Shopping, Snacks | Fake Adidas tracksuit Kn 100.00
Sajmišna cesta | Novi Zagreb
Wed – Sun sunrise to afternoon | Car fair on Sunday only

This is a gallery you’ll probably find in any guidebook to Zagreb, but I love it so much, I couldn’t resist to include it in this inside guide. It’s called Klovićevi dvori- a palace of Klović; the gallery was named after Julije Klović who was a Renaissance illuminator and painter born in Croatia. It’s situated in an 18th century building in the Upper town.

The gallery is known for its impressive exhibitions of European art, including Croatian. For example, the last one that was held was a mind-blowing collection of most famous expressionists’ works- all grand names, from Schiele to Kandinsky. To name a few more: a great retrospective of Chagall; Van Gogh, Mondrian and other well-known Dutch artists; Dora Maar and Picasso…

It just might happen that you’ll be lucky and get the chance to see another amazing exhibition at the time you find yourself in Zagreb. So don’t hesitate- take a walk to the Upper town and drop by the Klović gallery.

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Klovićevi dvori | Art & culture, Shopping | Entrance adults Kn 30.00
Jezuitski trg 4 | Upper town | +38514851926
Tue – Sun 11:00 – 19:00

Kraš is the finest candy factory in Croatia and Kraš bonbonieres is a store where you can buy their products. Even if you don’t like candies, Kraš bombonieres is a place to visit just to experience the sweetest side of Zagreb. A list of suggestions of products to try is really hard to make, because Kraš has so many delicious candies to offer.

Here are my favorites: Pepermint – a chocolate mint candy, chocolate with nut creme filling, banana chocolates, biscuits with chocolate topping, Krašotice and Krašuljci – Kraš’s brownies, Griotte – dark chocolate with liquid center and a sour cherry.

Last but not least, Bajadera chocolates is possibly the finest product that Kraš makes and the most famous-  once you try it you’ll know exactly what I’m talking about. And if you still don’t know what souvenir to bring back from Zagreb, Bajadera is a great choice, even though it’ll be gone as soon as you open it (especially if you have to hang out with chocolate addicts like me).

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Kraš bonboniere | Shopping | Bajadera Kn 44.00
Trg bana Josipa Jelačića 12 | Lower town | +38514810443
Mon – Fri 07:00 – 21:00, Sat 07:00 -15:00

In the first years of the 3rd millennium, prof. Carole Meredith discovered that grapes Zinfandel and Crljenak Kaštelanski have the identical genetic profile, therefore are the same sort.  After a couple hundred more hours in the lab (i.e. wine cellar) she also discovered that the aforementioned Mr. Zinfandel had an affair with Mrs. Dobričić from the island of Šolta which gave birth to the little and much beloved Plavac Mali.

P.Z. Podšpilje (a farming cooperative) from the island of Vis produces excellent Plavac Mali, a quality dry red wine, which can be bought for ridiculously cheap prices in the centre of Zagreb.  Although it seems very light and it slides down smoothly, do not be tricked by its apparent playfulness, this wine has 12.5% alcohol. Goes well with red meat, cheeses and oily fish. And Coke.

As its faithful companion, also from the wine growing hills of Vis, comes Vugava – a quality dry white wine. Vugava is made by grapes cultivated in Dalmacija since the Ancient times, when Vis was called Issa and when the Greek historian  Agatharchides claimed that Vugava “is superior to every other wine whatever“.  Today’s Vugava is a rather sweetish and fruitish wine, which lacks a bit of acidity. Nevertheless, beware of Vugava because it reaches up to 14% alc. content. Goes well with all fish and white meat.

Besides those two wines, available from huge barrels or bottled, one can also find some great grape rakija with herbs and vinegar, all from the island of Vis. And when you get hungry, there’s a big cask of salted anchovies on the premises for just 50kn/kg. Ok, now try getting out of there alive!

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P.Z. Podšpilje | Shopping, Snacks | Plavac mali Kn 14.00
Kralja Držislava 10 | Lower town
Mon – Fri 09:00 – 15:30, Sat 09:00 – 14:00

As I’m a self-confessed bookworm, bookstores are where I really like to spend some of my free time. I can’t afford to shop every time I enter one, but there’s something about that type of place that really calms me down and makes me happy even if I walk out empty-handed.

There are many bookstores in Zagreb, but the one I particularly like is the Profil Megastore. Being one of the biggest publishing houses in Croatia, Profil also has the most impressive bookshop in the city. It was composed of three levels, but after recent expansion, now there are five storeys: multimedia in the basement, Croatian and foreign fiction (along with stationery) on the ground floor, and on the remaining three you’ll find a nice gift shop and a great selection of literature on various subjects like art, architecture, science, psychology, health etc. Don’t worry - a big part of the content is in various languages, mostly English, so you won’t have a problem with the language barrier.

There’s even a little café on the first floor- so when all that shopping or browsing wears you out, you can have a drink and relax.

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Profil Megastore | Coffee & tea, Shopping | Books from Kn 40.00
Bogovićeva 7 | Lower town
09:00 – 22:00 daily

If you take a stroll down the Ilica street, at one point you will come across a shop window so different from the rest of them, it would seem like you’re looking at an enchanted place. Welcome to the world of Saša Šekoranja.

Šekoranja’s a well-known Croatian artist and designer whose work never fails to amaze and inspire. Behind the little window in Ilica you’ll find his floral arts shop, but I never really felt the need to go beyond the enormous creativity displayed behind the glass. Šekoranja works mostly with flowers, but adds everything he needs to materialize his ideas: other plants, fabric, paper, wire, glass…  the final result is never plain and conventional.

There are people who dislike Šekoranja’s work and complain it’s overrated. Maybe. But you know what? If you don’t like it, just pass by. He won’t walk out of the store and force you to buy something. You can just watch and enjoy something highly aesthetic. After all, in a chaos of shop windows filled with clothes, shoes, make up, books, food and other prosaic products, it’s nice to be offered a visual experience equal to a little piece of heaven.

(Yes, on the photo the lights in the shop are turned off- go and check out the place yourself!)

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Saša Šekoranja | Art & culture, Shopping
Ilica 82 | Lower town | +38514847070
Mon – Fri 09:00 – 12:00, 17:00 – 19:00, Sat 09:00 – 12:00