If you're wanting to stray a little further from the city of Zagreb, rather than staying within its confines (see our Day Trips In Zagreb page), here are some options for you to try.

Samobor
Samobor is an excellent place for a daytrip from Zagreb as it's pretty, tranquil little town in its own right, and is only just over 20km west from the capital. It's best to travel by bus, as buses depart Zagreb Bus Terminal every half and hour and the journey itself is also only half and hour!

Once in Samobor, head to the town's delightful main square - Trg kralja Tomislava for a pleasant walk around the area and then to enjoy its cafes and restaurants.

Samobor is also famous for the "samoborska kremsnita", a custard cake. Although found elsewhere in Croatia, the Samobor version is supposed to be the best. Be warned - if you go to Samobor, you must try a slice!

Other sights inlcude the churches of St Anastasia (sv. Anastazija) and St Anne (sv. Ana); the City Museum and Marton Museum (the first private museum in Croatia); and Stari Grad castle in the west of the town.

More information from the Samobor Tourist Office.

Varazdin
Varazdin is a town that's greatly overlooked by many travellers to Croatia, which is a great shame! Located about 90km northeast of Zagreb and near both the Slovenian and Hungarian borders, it is somewhat understandable that it may be out of the way of many Croatian visitors. Nevertheless, if you're considering a trip from Zagreb (or find yourself in that part of the country) is definitely worth a visit.

Once upon a time the capital of Croatia (in the 18th century), Varazdin is a very well-preserved Baroque town. The best idea for sightseeing is to head to the centre of Varazdin, and to the main square of Trg kralja Tomislava (as in Samobor - see above!) for sights including the town hall, Draskovic Palace and the nearby cathedral, built in 1647. North of the main square is the Stari Grad fortress, which is also home to the City Museum.

The best way to reach Varazdin, is by bus. Again, there are numerous daily buses there and back with a journey time of between 1 hour 20 minutes and 1 hour 45 minutes, depending which bus you take. See Zagreb Bus Terminal.

You can also use one of several trains that run each day, but as these take even longer than bus (2-3 hours) it is not really advised. However, see the Die Bahn website for timetable details.

More at the Varazdin Tourist Office website.

What about a day trip to the coast?
If you're wondering whether or not you'd be able to make a daytrip to the coast, the answer is "technically yes, but...".

The nearest point of the coast from Zagreb is Rijeka and the bus journey (most of which is on a motorway) only takes about 2 and a half hours. There are numerous daily buses both there and back, meaning that you'd definitely be able to make the whole trip in a day. However, Rijeka is generally considered to be a busy port town and although there's lots of sightseeing opportunities, if your ultimate aim is to hit the beach and a cool dip in the sea, you'll be disappointed.

Around Rijeka, other possibilities include the costal resorts of Opatija, Crikvenica and Novi Vindolski as well as the island of Krk but whether they're worth just a day trip is up to you! (We'd really advise at least a one night stay.)

The first step would be to visit the Zagreb Bus Terminal website and start planning your bus journey to see if it's do-able.