Zagreb

Two coats of arms are worked into the roof tiles as a pattern. The square is tight, so fitting the whole roof into a photograph means backing against a wall.

Red parasols line the open air level and meat with fish is sold on the floor below. Farm goods brought in early in the morning usually go before noon arrives.

Objects sent in by people after a parting are displayed exactly as they arrived. A few lines of writing accompany each one, which makes the visit a slow read.

Its track measures only 66 metres, a length that ranks among the shortest anywhere. The ride lasts 64 seconds, not much different from taking the steps beside it.

A painting of the Virgin is said to have survived a fire in the eighteenth century, and an altar was set where it stood. People passing through sit for a moment and candles are always burning.

Ivy covered arcades run for more than 500 metres through this burial ground. Faiths lie together here, so the lettering on the stones mixes several scripts.

A cannon fires once at noon each day to mark the hour. It has not missed a day in over 150 years and the sound is heard from the top of the tower.

Opened to citizens in 1794, it counts among the earlier public parks in Europe. The channels linking its five lakes were dug entirely by hand.

The lane was made by covering an old watercourse, so the buildings on either side sit at stepped heights. No cars come in and outdoor tables push toward its centre.

Through December eight squares each raise stalls under a different theme. What is poured differs from square to square, so people move between them.

Zagreb's main square, where the old hill town meets the 19th-century grid, has Ban Jelacic on horseback raising his sabre. Most tram lines cross it. Locals arrange to meet under the clock on its corner, and everyone knows which one.

A 350m air-raid shelter dug beneath the Upper Town hill in 1943-1944, in wartime. Restored and opened in 2016, it joins Mesnicka street to Radiceva. It spares you the climb, and in summer some stroll through just for the cool air.

A walk tracing the old wall line along the Upper Town's south rim, with the Lower Town roofs below. A bronze of the poet Matos sits on one bench, and people sit beside him for photos. In summer small stalls and live music move in.

Upper Town lanes keep street lamps that still burn gas. At dusk a lamplighter goes round with a long pole lighting each one, and returns at dawn to put them out. Wait near St Mark's Square just before sunset to catch him.

First of the Lenuci Horseshoe, the U-shaped ring of green squares around the Lower Town. An iron bandstand rises among plane trees, beside an old weather column showing temperature and pressure. Weekend mornings bring a band and a crowd of coffee drinkers.

Founded in 1889 for the university, it fills the south-west corner of the Lenuci Horseshoe. Ponds, glasshouses and a bed of Croatian native plants sit in an English-style layout. The main station is close by, so it fills a gap before a train.

A museum that packs fire engines, aircraft and even a submarine into one big hall. Demonstrations recreate experiments by Tesla, the inventor born in Croatia. A replica mine tunnel runs underground and there is a planetarium, so families spend half a day.

A yellow neo-Baroque house built in 1895 by Fellner and Helmer, the Viennese theatre architects. Mestrovic's Well of Life stands before its facade. Opera and ballet seats cost less than in Europe's big capitals, so fit in an evening show if dates allow.

The contemporary art museum moved across the Sava to Novi Zagreb in 2009. Carsten Holler's Double Slide links two floors, and visitors really ride it down. At night the outer wall becomes a light installation.

Gravel pits beside the Sava were flooded to make a rowing course for the 1987 Universiade. People swim off its pebble shores and cycle the loop around it. On summer nights the lakeside bars and clubs stay open late.

Top of Medvednica, the mountain north of the city, at 1,033m. A cable car rides up from the base station, and several forest trails go up on foot. In January the slope hosts a women's alpine ski World Cup slalom.

A 13th-century castle on Medvednica's south flank, ruined and later rebuilt. Inside is the Altar of the Homeland, honouring those who died for Croatia. From its walls the whole of Zagreb spreads out below.

A bronze ball about 2m across on Bogoviceva street, made by the sculptor Kozaric in 1971. Another artist later hid nine planets around the city at the same scale. Some people walk the city hunting for them.

A small old town tucked under the hills a little over 20km west of Zagreb, with buses as frequent as a city line. Wooden footbridges cross the stream by the square, and castle ruins crown the hill. Zagreb families come on Sundays for kremsnita.

A white castle crowning a Zagorje hill, remodelled by the Draskovic family in Romantic style during the 19th century. A forest trail circles the artificial lake below it. Room after room still holds the family's furniture, portraits and weapons.

In 1899 the palaeontologist Gorjanovic-Kramberger dug over 800 Neanderthal fossil remains from Husnjakovo hill at Krapina; the museum sits on the find. It lies about 55km north of Zagreb. Life-size Neanderthals and their prey stand outside.