Voted Best Christmas Market for three consecutive years in a public vote organised by European Best Destinations, Zagreb’s festive fair lights up the city centre again from 27th November 2021 to 6th January 2022, with luminous offerings for all ages – and online streamings of concerts and cultural events for those who can’t make it in person.

Part of the charm of Zagreb’s Christmas market lies in the fact that this the city is more compact than most other European capitals, meaning you are never far away from the shimmering lights, electrifying performances, church nativity scenes, festive shop-window displays, and stalls selling everything from artisan crafts to mulled wine, roast chestnuts, sarma (sour cabbage rolls filled with minced meat), paprenjaci (peppery gingerbread cookies) and vanilla half-moons.

Among fans of Zagreb’s Christmas market are London’s Evening Standard newspaper, which hailed it as a ‘city-wide street party with a civilised buzz that makes everything sparkle and glow’, and Forbes, which described the bliss of having ‘a full, happy belly’ from its many wooden kiosks offering grab-and-go food and drink.

Christmas in Croatia

With its predominantly Catholic population, Croatia celebrates Christmas with pizzazz. Preparations start as early as 25th November, St Catherine’s Day, and include the crafting of Advent wreaths with four candles symbolising hope, peace, joy and love, and sometimes a fifth central candle to be lit on Christmas Day.

On 5th December, St Nicholas’s Eve, Croatian children polish their shoes or boots to leave in the window in the hope St Nicholas will place chocolates and small presents inside. If they’ve been badly behaved, Krampus (a horned monster with horns who sometimes accompanies St Nicholas) leaves them golden twigs instead.

Some people put up their Christmas trees on St Nicholas’s Day, but traditionally they are decorated on Christmas Eve, with fruit-shaped ornaments. Bakalar (dried cod) or other fish is eaten on Christmas Eve, and many people go to a Midnight Mass. Gifts are exchanged on Christmas Eve or Christmas Day, and Christmas Day feasting features turkey, goose or duck, small cookies, donuts and fritule (sweet pastries).

Other Croatia Christmas Markets

Zagreb is the most famous among Croatia’s other, equally alluring Christmas markets perfect for gift shopping and for a relaxing festive break away from the crowds of the British high streets, with all social distancing and other regulations in place:
• Dubrovnik, November 27 2021 to January 6 2022: This atmospheric southern Adriatic city famous for its spellbinding walled Old Town hosts a Winter Festival full of sparkle and merriment, with carol concerts and traditional klapa (acappella) singing, glittering trees, candles and other decorations, festive stalls on Stradun, an advent train and special events in cultural venues such as Dubrovnik Art Gallery, the Cultural and Historical Museum, the Ethnographic Museum and The Museum of Natural History.

• Split, 27th November 2021 to 6th January 2022: 3D projections, light installations and dazzling decorations accompany an eclectic array of outdoor music, from jazz to carols, and gourmet treats galore in this market in Croatia’s exuberant second- largest city set between the sparkling Adriatic and the coastal mountains. Ringed by atmospheric ancient walls, Split also boasts one of the world’s most impressive Roman monuments, the UNESCO World Heritage listed Diocletian’s Palace.

• Istria and Kvarner, various dates: This charming peninsula and neighbouring bay has fairytale-like Advent events in almost all of its larger towns, with crafts stalls, illuminations, live dance performances and vocal groups, and the heady aroma of mulled wine and fritule in Rovinj, Buzet, Pula, Pazin, Novigrad, Labin and Opatija. The latter also includes a Chocolate festival as part of its Christmas programme:.