5 Best Sights in Excursions North of Zagreb, Zagreb and Environs

The Krapina Neanderthal Museum is located near Hušnjakovo Hill, the world-famous archaeological site of the Krapina Neanderthals, and its architecture evokes the habitat of these prehistoric people. Displays provide insight into who these early Neanderthals were, how they lived, and more broadly into the region's geology and history.

Today a historic site and home to part of the City Museum, Varaždin's main attraction is the massive Stari Grad (Old Town), which assumed its present form in the 16th century as a state-of-the-art defense fortification against the Turks, complete with moats, dikes, and bastions with low round defense towers connected by galleries with openings for firearms. In the ensuing centuries it was often reconstructed by the families that owned it; for more than three centuries, until its 1925 purchase by the city, it belonged to the Erdödy clan. From the 12th century up until 1925, the castle served as the seat of the county prefect. You enter through the 16th-century tower gatehouse, which has a wooden drawbridge, to arrive in the internal courtyard with three levels of arcaded galleries. Indoors, there's an extensive display of antique furniture, with pieces laid out in chronological order and each room representing a specific period. Even if you don't go inside, do take a stroll around the perimeter along the path that takes you between the outer wall and a ditch that used to be the moat.

Croatia's most visited castle took on its present neo-Gothic appearance during the mid-19th century, compliments of Juraj VI Drašković, whose family had already owned the castle for some 300 years and would go on to live there until 1944. There has been a building here since the 14th century. The inside is as spectacular as the outside, with the wood-paneled rooms—a Baroque room, a rococo room, a neoclassical room, and so on—filled with period furnishings and family portraits, giving you some idea of how the wealthy local aristocracy once lived. A restaurant, café, and souvenir shop occupy the less extravagant Ministry of Culture–owned building at the foot of the hill.

Built in 1773 and thoroughly relandscaped in 1905 by Herman Haller, a self-taught landscape architect who revolutionized traditional notions of what graveyards should look like, Varaždin's City Cemetery is as pleasant a place for a restful stroll as can be. Replete with flower beds and rows of tall cedars and linden trees flanking ornate memorials, all laid out in geometric patterns, the cemetery sublimely manifests Haller's conviction that each plot should be a "serene, hidden place only hinting at its true purpose, with no clue as to whether its occupant is rich or poor, since all are tended equally, surrounded by every kind of flower . . . producing perfect harmony for the visitor." Haller, who ran the cemetery from 1905 to 1946, is buried here in a rather conspicuous mausoleum. You can reach the cemetery by walking about 10 minutes east of the castle along Hallerova Aleja.

When you arrive here, the view from outside—with stretching vistas of the lush surrounding hills—is sure to stun you, but don't miss wandering around the interior of this impressive castle and learning about its past. Built in the late 15th or early 16th century, the castle had a turbulent history, including being home to nobles (such as the Ratkaj family), being abandoned, and being the site of the chilling legend of Veronika Desnička. The story goes that Veronika, a commoner, and Fridrik II, a count, fell in love, for which they were punished by his noble family. Fridrik is thought to have been locked in a tower in the castle, and Veronika immured in the walls (legend says you can still hear her voice calling out on windy nights). Today the castle hosts many musical, theater, and art events, including the annual Tabor Film Festival, which usually takes place over a week in July.