Picturesque Samobor & Samobor Castle Half-Day Tour

Samobor sits about thirty minutes west of Zagreb, close enough that you are walking its cobbled streets before the morning has properly got going. It has been the capital’s favourite day out for well over a century: a compact town of low pastel houses along a stream, a square that still holds a working farmers’ market, and a wooded hill above it carrying the ruins of a 13th-century castle.

The tour opens with the Samoborcek, the narrow-gauge train that ran between Zagreb and Samobor from 1901 until 1979 and did more than anything else to turn the town into a weekend escape. From there you head up to Samobor Castle, a gothic stronghold begun in the 1260s and left to ruin by the 18th century. The moat, the main gateway and much of the walling are still readable on the ground, and there is a good stock of local legend attached to them. A walking tour of the centre follows, taking in King Tomislav Square, the town hall, the church of St Anastasia, the market and the Livadic house.

Then the part nobody skips. Samobor is known across Croatia for kremsnita, a slab of vanilla custard between two sheets of puff pastry, and you stop for one with coffee or tea before there is free time for the shops. Anyone curious about local rakija can add an optional brandy tasting. The tour is private, runs year round with several departure times a day, and includes pickup and drop-off at your accommodation in Zagreb.