After meeting an enthusiastic globe trotting young couple on a Devour Barcelona foodie tour and getting to know them during their stent in town, they invited us to visit them in their next stop – Zagreb, Croatia. It was a great place for us to take quick side trips to Plitvice National Park, one of the most beautiful lake districts in the world,
and Lake Bled, Slovenia at the base of the Julian Alps. Yeah, Yeah…so what does this have to do with “livin’ like a local?” Well…now and in the future I will be sharing our explorations and give info regarding living there, especially things like public transportation. For example, Plitvice is a 2 hour bus ride from Zagreb that takes you right to the park. And to get to charming Bled, it is just a train ride through the Slovenian foothills along the scenic Sava River to Llubljana, and then a one hour bus ride (make sure you get the direct bus and not the local which adds another hour.) The bus station is right next to the train station in Llubljana.
Zagreb is a nice place to live, with mildish summers (they had just had a heat wave before we arrived) and four seasons, with a snow ski area on the nearby mountain. Cost of living is low according to many sources including our friends. It has a charming quaint “upper town” and a lively “lower town” which is their “downtown”, full of restaurants and pedestrian friendly areas.
Specifically, public transport is via their tram system. It is about 1.5 euros per person per trip. You can buy tickets from the tram driver at the front when you get on.
The tickets must be punched by the yellow ticket machine on the tram, which may be at the front OR the back of the tram. There are others on the tram with no slot for tickets, just a card sensor. The maps are similar to most metro maps, except the routes use several shades of the same color, making it a little tricky to trace the route you want.