Varazdin is one of the most important tourist centers of northern Croatia. The old town fortification, the central part of the town, numerous museums, galleries and collections as well as the Varaždin cemetery, protected as a horticultural monument, represent the main tourist attractions of this Central European Baroque town and ancient Croatian capital. Varaždin is located on the right bank of the Drava river in north-western Croatia, 79 km north of Zagreb.
The first written reference to Varaždin dates back to 1181, when the nearby thermal springs Varaždinske Toplice were mentioned by King Bela III in a legal document.
In 1209 Varaždin was declared a free royal borough by the Croatian-Hungarian King Andrew II which allowed it to develop into the economic and military centre of northern Croatia. Due to the frequent Ottoman raids, the town was structured defensively around the old fortress, thus acquiring the shape of a typical medieval Wasserburg. As early as the 13th century the Knights Hospitaller (in Croatian Ivanovci) came to Varaždin, where they built a church and a monastery.
PLACE TO VISIT
Stari grad (Old city} is a beautiful medieval fortress. Although its construction began in the 14th century, it was greatly expanded in the 15th century when the rounded towers that typify the Gothic architecture of northern Croatia were added by the Earl of Celje. In 1925 it was turned into Gradski muzej (Town museum) which houses paintings, furniture, weapons and decorative objects important for the Varaždin's history. In 1994, it was the first Croatian museum nominated for the European Museum of the Year Award. (Tuesday's - Friday's: 10 AM - 5 PM; Saturday's and Sunday's: 10 AM - 1 PM; Closed on Monday's.
Galerija starih i novih majstora (Gallery of Old and Contemporary Masters) is hosted in the rococo-style Sermage Palace built in 1759 and donated to the museum by the City of Čakovec in 1947. The gallery's holdings include over 3,000 pieces. Many old masters' works served as the basis of today's permanent collection displaying 61 paintings from the 15th to the end of the 19th century. The most valuable pieces are those by Dutch masters from the 17th and 18th centuries as well as the portraits by both local and naturalized masters: A. Moses, M. Brodnik and M. Stroy. The gallery also holds works by the famous Croatian contemporary masters: V. Bečić, Lj. Babić, R. Frangeš-Mihanović, as well as by a number of local painters and sculptors from Hrvatsko zagorje and Međimurje. Particularly valuable are the collections of Miljenko Stančić's and Ivo Režek's works (Tuesday's - Friday's: 10 AM - 5 PM; Saturday's and Sunday's: 10 AM - 1 PM; Closed on Monday's.
Entomološka zbirka (Entomological Collection) is located at the early Classicist Herzer Palace in the center of the town. The first collection was established by Franjo pl. Koščec (1882-1968), the local high-school teacher and entomologist. He donated his large natural scientific collections to the City of Varaždin in 1959. His work was, in the 1962-1980 period, continued by his daughter Ružica Koščec. Since 1903 some 50,000 specimens have been collected. The collection also includes enlarged models of certain insect species. Over the years, the holdings have been expanded by entomological material from the territory of northwestern Croatia. Its scientifically valuable collections, including several tens of thousand specimens, bring testimony of natural properties and environmental changes, thus constituting an inevitable source of information for the elaboration of the Croatian fauna inventory.
HOW TO REACH
By bus - Buses are very frequent from Zagreb and take around 90 minutes - check the timetables or the Zagreb Bus Station's website for times. Services into the neighbouring areas are quite frequent, some going over the border into Hungary. Buses also leave from other major Croatian cities almost daily for Varaždin. Online information for buses to Varaždin can be found at the Varaždin Transit website.
International departures (especially for Austria, Germany, Hungary and beyond) often make a stop in the town, and if there is a later bus that day, companies normally honour a 'break of journey' to visit the town for a few hours. Note in Varaždin that the bus station is located on the western side of town, and the railway station is located on the eastern side, with a distance of around 2km between.
By car - Those travelling from Graz in Austria should proceed to Maribor taking the M3 road to Ptuj from which they can cross into Croatia. Travellers coming from Nagykanisza or Budapest should use the A4 motorway once they enter Croatia which connects Varaždin with the Hungarian border. Travellers from Zagreb can use A4 motorway which will take them to their destination in less than an hour.
By train - The most scenic and cheapest (but slowest) way to get to Varaždin from Zagreb is a local train (2h20) stopping at every station between the two cities. The price of a return ticket is 80kn (roughly 10 euros), with discounts for ISIC card holders. Recently, the speed of the journey dramatically improved with the addition of a faster (though more expensive) alternative of the high-speed tilting train connection operated by Hrvatske željeznice (Croatian railways). Train services also operate north to Čakovec and Koprivnica (with further connections to Slavonia and Hungary), and there is a daily service to Split and to Budapest in Hungary.
