Varaždin Old Town

Varaždin was briefly the Croatian capital in the eighteenth century until a fire in 1776 ended that, and the baroque centre rebuilt afterwards is the reason to come. It is a compact grid of pastel townhouses, palaces and church facades, largely pedestrianised and unusually intact, with a white castle on the edge of it: Stari grad, a low bastioned fortress with a wooden gallery running round its courtyard, now the town museum. The cemetery on the western edge is a designed landscape of clipped hedges, avenues and conifers laid out in the early twentieth century, and worth the walk out. In late August the streets fill for the Špancirfest.

What you actually see

• Stari grad - the white bastioned castle with a galleried courtyard, holding the town museum.
• The baroque centre - palaces, churches and pastel townhouses around the main square.
• Varaždin cemetery - an early twentieth-century designed landscape of hedges, avenues and conifers.
• The Ursuline church - a slim pink baroque tower standing over the old streets.

When to go

Late spring and early autumn. Špancirfest at the end of August fills the streets with music and stalls for about ten days and accommodation goes early. A baroque concert season runs in September and October. Winter on the plain is cold and foggy, though the centre is small enough to cover between cafés.

Honest expectations

Varaždin is small and a day covers it comfortably; there is not enough for a longer stay unless a festival is on. Several fine facades are worn and waiting for restoration. Museum hours are short and some close on Mondays. Being off the main tourist routes keeps it calm but also means fewer places open late and a very quiet feel out of season.

Nearby

Trakošćan Castle is forty minutes west, and the Zagorje hills run south from the town.