Zagreb Nightlife

This cosy bar is right by Zagreb’s train station, but it has nothing in common with the usual run of railway taverns. Inside the stone vaulted interior is an artfully arranged jumble of old books, vintage household goods and some strange but amusing pieces of ‘art’. As the name implies, there’s live jazz on weekends, with people spilling out into the comfortably ramshackle garden with its mismatched chairs.

Built in 1925 as Zagreb’s stop on the old Orient Express, the cocktail bar of historic Esplanade Hotel still allows patrons to bask in its elegant art deco interior. It’s Old World glamour and sophistication here, with bartenders concocting classic cocktails from the 1920s onwards. The resident DJ provides a subtle soundtrack to the Thursday Night Chill Out, when the bartenders surpass themselves in trying to come up with creative drinks.

Named after the writer Miroslav Krleža, who lived in the same building, Krolo has become a place where artists, writers and locals mingle. The charming wooden interior will get you in the right mood to enjoy coffee, read a newspaper and escape the rumble of the city.

This is a favourite among students, who share cabs from Zagreb to this buzzing club with a terrace overlooking Lake Jarun. Its two floors usually feature different musical styles (house, R & B, electro, trance) with resident and international DJs, plus the occasional live act thrown into the mix. Its café is open all day if you want a place to chill out before things start warming up around midnight.

You’ll need to look smart to get into this classy club by the shore of Lake Jarun, so leave your trainers at home. Once you’re allowed into the chic, chandelier-filled interior you can join local celebrities and the odd sports star on Fridays for hip hop and R&B or Saturdays for house music. On sultry summer evenings, the large wooden terrace overlooking the lake throbs with people dancing to guest DJs such as David Guetta.

Grunge and goth fans head to this agreeably scruffy club that’s an uphill hike north of St Mark’s Church in Gornji grad, where happy hour takes them back to the 1980s, 90s and 2000s. When it gets too stuffy inside, grab your breath in the funky courtyard and collapse in one of the old ski cable cars that have been turned into tables. It’s long been the hangout for alternative rock fans who like their nostalgia dark.

After a recent refit, Tvornica Kulture established itself as one of the top mid-sized venues playing live rock and pop. Café during the day, concert hall during the night, with live bands and DJ, the venue is open every night of the week and promises a great time with amazing prices.

Big DJ parties take over this popular Zagreb club most Saturday nights. The rest of the week, KSET is a live music hotspot, with huge international stars and local names performing to packed audiences in the relatively intimate interior. It’s a popular student venue too, thanks to the low bar prices and snug red leather booths. The music choice usually caters to most tastes, so you’ll find everything from hardcore metal to reggae and jazz.

Močvara is Zagreb’s most alternative music venue that hosts, well, alternative music nights, both with live acts and DJs. The venue organises themed parties too – anything from film showings to old-school hip hop via death metal and 1970s nights. It’s in an unlikely location near the Sava River, but don’t be put off by the brutalist, graffiti-covered exterior that looks like an abandoned office block.

A former button factory has been imaginatively refashioned as a live music venue in the southern part of Zagreb, not far from the Sava River. Inside the cavernous space, it lives up to its name: lots of vintage furniture and remnants of the building’s industrial past. And then there’s the venerable punk, indie and rock played by live bands in the separate room housing the stage. If it all gets too noisy, escape onto the big summer terrace.

Croatia’s oldest music institute has been delighting Zagreb’s classic music lovers since 1827, when it was founded by a group of music-loving friends. Within this venerable neoclassical building are performances by chamber ensembles playing everything from baroque music to Croatian folk songs. There are informal concerts of other musical genres including tango too, and the institute is also home to an extensive music library and archive.

Zagreb’s most prestigious concert hall is also home to the Zagreb Philharmonic Orchestra. It hosts classical music performances as well as the occasional pop, rock and jazz concert. You will find theatre productions here too. International orchestras and choral groups make regular appearances, and the concert hall has a rich programme of operas including classic works by Mozart and Wagner. As well as the main hall, there’s a smaller venue for chamber productions.

Established in 1895 in a beautiful neo-baroque building, Zagreb’s National Theatre puts on productions of drama, opera and ballet throughout the year. The wide-ranging programme includes Croatian translations of dramas by such playwrights as Chekhov, Ibsen and Molière, as well as classic operas and ballets by Tchaikovsky, among many others. The theatre also mounts productions by Croatia’s most renowned playwrights and composers.

Zagreb’s home for contemporary, creative and often challenging theatre has been running since 1994. The actors and directors have won numerous awards since then and have brought their productions to theatres all over Europe, the Middle East and North America. Many of the productions on show are original Croatian plays, but international playwrights have their work staged here as well.

Just up the street from the Cathedral, in a handsome terracotta-coloured building, is Zagreb’s premier theatre for musicals, operettas and light live entertainment. Komedija Theatre is also the place to come for Croatian productions of major Broadway and West End musicals. If you want to see some of the country’s traditional performance arts in action, the playhouse also puts on occasional folklore dance performances.