Things to do in Zadar
And where to stay, the best time to visit, what a day costs, and the traps to skip.
Best time to visit Zadar
• a note or something on ✦ an occasion worth the trip
Best months overall: late May to June and September, with a warm sea, full schedules and crowds below August.
Spring: Paklenica climbing, Zrmanja at good water levels and Plitvice waterfalls at full flow, sea brisk until late May.
Summer: peak sea, boats, festivals and prices, with heat on the karst and parks at capacity in August.
Autumn: harvest food days at their best, boats thinning from late September, sea swimmable into early October.
Winter: a cheap pleasant city break for museums and food, but short days, bura and rain and skeleton ferries.
Worst for weather dependent plans in January and February; mid August is worst for crowds and budgets.
What's on
- Wings for Life World Run early May
Historically started in Zadar in early May, filling the town for a weekend and spiking hotel prices.
- Zadar Summer Theatre Festival late June to July
Open air performances through late June and July.
- Musical Evenings in St Donatus July to early August
Classical concerts in the rotunda's extraordinary acoustics; book ahead.
- Millennium Jump late July
Thousands jump into the sea from the Riva in a synchronised charity spectacle.
- Full Moon Festival Late July or August, on the weekend of the full moon
Streetlights off, torches and candles on the Riva, with fishing boats as taverns and local food and wine.
- Hideout Festival late June
At Zrce beach near Novalja on Pag, an hour away, opening the near continuous summer club season there.
- Advent in Zadar late November to early January
Market and concerts on Pet Bunara and Narodni trg through the festive season.
- Zadar Wine Festival Usually a weekend in mid to late February
Traditionally mid to late February, with 100 plus exhibitors and 700 wines, the best reason to come in winter.
Best things to do in Zadar
Sea Organ
Marble steps on the Riva where waves push air through tubes and the sea plays slow chords that change with the weather.
Greeting to the Sun
A circle of glass plates that charges by day and runs a shifting light show after dark beside the Sea Organ.
Church of St. Donatus
The Forum, St Donatus rotunda and St Anastasia bell tower form one tight cluster with the best history per euro in Dalmatia.
Museum of Ancient Glass
Ancient glass in a restored palace, lifted by glassblowers making replicas of the ancient pieces in front of you.
Land Gate
Walk the UNESCO listed Venetian walls from the Land Gate to Five Wells Square and Queen Jelena Park on the bastion.
Narodni trg
People's Square, Kalelarga and the city market are the slow local morning: market first, then coffee under the clock tower.
Museum of Illusions
Interactive optical illusions and mirror and vortex rooms, the Old Town crowd pleaser for children, teenagers and groups.
Archaeological Museum Zadar
Prehistoric to medieval archaeology facing the Forum, plus the Gold and Silver treasury kept by nuns at St Mary's monastery.
Where to stay in Zadar
Old Town (Poluotok)
first trip, all-round base
Sea Organ, Forum, restaurants, market and ferries all on foot, with small characterful hotels and no beach at the door.
Borik / Diklo
families and a beach-plus-city stay
Resort strip with pine backed pebble beaches, pools and parking, plus a frequent bus and cheap rides into the Old Town.
Kolovare / Arbanasi
value beach-and-city compromise
Kolovare beach and apartments just south of the walls, 10 to 15 minutes flat walk in, quieter and more local beyond in Arbanasi.
Punta Skala / Petrcane
luxury resort escape
Falkensteiner peninsula with beaches, spa and sports 12 km north. Superb if the resort is the holiday, a drive for every sight.
New Town / Vostarnica
drivers and practical cheaper stays
Modern functional city outside the walls with business hotels, easier parking, lower prices and a 10 to 15 minute walk to the Forum.
Think twice about
- Gazenica port area
Industrial ferry and cruise port 3.5 km south of the Old Town, with no evening life and nothing to walk to.
- Highway strips toward Bibinje and Sukosan
Fine for a beach apartment holiday, wrong as a Zadar base: you will drive and pay parking for every coffee.
- Zrce / Novalja on Pag
An hour away on Pag and a sleepless party strip in season. Great for clubs, terrible for sightseeing from Zadar.
- Old Town bar streets in Varos
Not a safety issue, a noise issue in July and August. Ask which side a room faces and whether it is on a bar street.
Best restaurants in Zadar
Restaurant Foša
Classic fine dining seafood between the walls and the fishing boats, with day fish, lobster and a terrace over the marina.
Restaurant Kornat
Refined traditional Dalmatian cooking facing the harbour, long described locally as the best restaurant in town.
Pet Bunara
Slow Food Dalmatian cooking on Five Wells Square, built on seasonal organic ingredients from the Zadar region.
Restoran 4 Kantuna
Small restaurant fusing traditional and modern Croatian cooking, with homemade pasta, octopus and excellent fish.
Restoran Bruschetta
Big good natured Mediterranean Italian near the Sea Organ that handles groups and mixed tastes without a weak dish.
The Botanist
Inventive plant based cooking on a sea view terrace that non vegans repeatedly call a highlight of the trip.
Konoba Stomorica
Old school fish konoba in the Varos lanes: day fish grilled, seafood risottos, octopus and house wine.
Mamma Mia
Family Italian in Diklo that locals drive to, for homemade pasta, wood fired pizza and famously enormous portions.
Outdoor things to do in Zadar
Kornati National Park
89 white karst islands in clear water, usually paired with Telascica bay, its sea cliffs and the warm salt lake Mir.
Plitvice Lakes National Park
16 terraced lakes joined by waterfalls and boardwalks, with the 78 metre Great Waterfall at the bottom of the system.
Krka National Park
Boardwalks around the Skradinski buk cascades and old mills, usually paired with the cathedral city of Sibenik.
Paklenica National Park
Two limestone canyons from the sea into the Velebit, Croatia's climbing capital with a serious hike to the mountain hut.
Sakarun Beach
One of Croatia's rare sandy bays: shallow, turquoise and pine backed, best early in June or September.
Zrmanja River
A guided half day kayak run through a karst canyon with gentle rapids, swimming stops and a waterfall to stand under.
Preko
A 25 minute ferry to swim at Jaz beach, then wade to Galevac islet and its 15th century Franciscan monastery.
Nin
Royal town Nin for its salt pans and sandy Queen's Beach, and Pag for its lunar landscape and famous sheep's cheese.
Best hotels in Zadar
Falkensteiner Hotel & Spa Iadera
Zadar's only true five star resort, with private beach, pools and a huge spa on the Punta Skala tip north of town.
Bastion Heritage Hotel
A 28 room boutique in the old Kastel fortress on the walls near the Sea Organ, the best city hotel in Zadar.
Almayer Art & Heritage Hotel
Small family run art filled heritage hotel in a restored palace near the Sea Gate, with parking arranged.
Art Hotel Kalelarga
Ten contemporary rooms on Kalelarga itself, with breakfast at cafe tables on the main street and everything on foot.
Teatro Verdi Boutique Hotel
Central boutique near the old theatre quarter, a real hotel a step below Bastion and Almayer on price.
Falkensteiner Club Funimation Borik
The big family resort on Borik beach, with pools, slides, a kids club and a spa for parents.
Falkensteiner Hotel Adriana
Adults only sibling to Funimation in Borik: calmer, with pool and spa access and no children's programme.
Hotel Mediteran
Independent Borik hotel with pool, praised breakfast and parking, a short walk from the beach at mid range prices.
Is Zadar expensive? What a day costs
| Budget | €75 a person |
|---|---|
| Classic | €150 a person |
| Splurge | €350 a person |
A day of food, drink, sights and getting around, before the room
What to book ahead
- Kornati National Park: a few days ahead
- Plitvice Lakes National Park: a few days ahead
- Falkensteiner Hotel & Spa Iadera: weeks ahead
- Bastion Heritage Hotel: weeks ahead
- Restaurant Foša: a few days ahead
- Restaurant Kornat: a few days ahead
- Pet Bunara: a few days ahead
- Restoran 4 Kantuna: a few days ahead
- Plitvice timed entry tickets online in advance; in July and August they sell out days ahead.
- Kornati and private boat days 2 to 3 days ahead in peak season, sunset small boats a day ahead.
- Reserve dinner at Fosa, Kornat, Pet Bunara, 4 Kantuna and Mamma Mia in season.
- Old Town hotels with parking and Punta Skala in August fill early, so book ahead.
- Musical Evenings in St Donatus tickets when the programme drops, as the church is small.
Is Zadar safe?
- Zadar is very safe by European standards; watch for pickpockets in the densest summer crowds and ferry queues.
- Wear water shoes for sea urchins and slippery harbour steps, and swim at beaches, not in the working harbour.
- The bura wind can cancel catamarans and close bridges and exposed roads; obey park and ferry cancellations.
- Carry water on unshaded karst in summer heat, as there is none to buy on a Kornati island. Emergency number 112.
Zadar travel tips: tourist traps to skip
- Riva restaurant row for dinner: several terraces charge the view more than the cooking, so eat one street in.
- Sea Organ at midday in a cruise crowd, when the instrument needs swell and relative quiet to work.
- Sakarun on an August afternoon, with parking, bar prices, seaweed and crowds drawing its weakest reviews.
- Zrce sold as a Zadar beach: it is an hour away on Pag and is a club strip, not a beach day.
- Game of Thrones or skip the line upsells: Zadar was not a major filming location and its museums are walk in.
- Fish priced by the kilo without seeing the fish: confirm the per kilo price and weight before it is grilled.
Getting around Zadar: public transport and more
- Walk the car free peninsula, which is 1.2 km long and holds almost every sight.
- Liburnija city buses link the Old Town with Borik, Diklo, Kolovare, the bus station and Gazenica ferry port.
- Uber and Bolt both operate in Zadar and are the honest way to price a taxi.
- Passenger ferries to Preko leave from the Old Town harbour; car ferries leave from Gazenica, mostly with Jadrolinija.
- Zadar Airport is about 12 km away, with an airport bus to the Old Town bus station and Bolt or Uber door to door.
Who Zadar suits
| Solo travellers | Good |
|---|---|
| Groups of friends | Great |
| Couples | Great |
| Bachelor parties | OK |
| Families | Great |
| Bachelorette parties | Good |
Make Zadar your trip
Swearby drafts the days from places people swear by. Swap any stop, then invite the crew by text, even friends without the app. Vote on dates, track costs as you go, and everyone gets one number at the end.
Get Swearby on the App Store