Things to do in Zagreb: Enjoy nature and food on Sljeme

by croatiaweek
May 12, 2022
in Entertainment

On the way to Puntijarka

One of the great things about the Croatian capital Zagreb is the chance to enjoy in wonderful nature just minutes from the hustle and bustle of downtown.

Hiking on Medvednica mountain is a popular, all year round, activity which locals love to do. There are many trails that lead up to Sljeme peak and we recently tackled hiking trail 18, known as Bikčevićeva staza, named after prominent Croatian forester Tomislav Bikcevic (1915-1986).

The trail leads to to the Puntijarka mountain lodge and restaurant where you can get a delicious, well-deserved meal after your hike.

The start point we took for this trail was at Bliznec 68 where Restaurant Pilana Bliznec is located. There is parking right in front of the restaurant and also up the road.

Pilana restaurant

The trail starts over the little bridge right behind the restaurant. (You can also start the trail 1.5 km down the road where the main starting point is).

The bridge leading to the trail

The first part of the trail to the rest stop ‘Njivice’ took us around 40 minutes and includes the steepest part of the trail.

This part of the track is quiet as most people use the main entrance

After a drink and a few minutes chilling out taking in the surroundings at ‘Njivice’, we embarked on the second leg of the hike.

Enjoying the nature

Hiking up Sljeme is great anytime of the year

With it being a Saturday, there were quite a few people on the trail and the second half has a mixture of semi-steep, steep and flat parts. For inexperienced hikers like us, it was great and the trail is definitely one for novice hikers to tackle.

This trail is for everyone

After around 50 minutes of ‘casual’ hiking from the rest stop ‘Njivice’, we finally reached Puntijarka with big appetites.

Njivice rest stop

Puntijarka restaurant offers a wide variety of meals like stuffed peppers, turkey with mlinci, bean stew, soups, chicken, salad, risotto, etc at very reasonable prices. They also have great strudels with cheese, apple, and cherry.