Don’t let the historical buildings from the Habsburg Empire period mislead you, Zagreb is a city with a southern heart. Here people always have time for socializing and small pleasures like coffee – hence the always crowded cafes, even during office hours. Explore the downtown by walking along the “Green Horseshoe”, a U-shaped system of green squares. Then climb up to the more tranquil Upper Town with its elegant baroque palaces. Prague, Budapest, and Vienna may be architecturally more impressive, but Zagreb has a different kind of charm. It seduces slowly and rewards a flaneur who enjoys exploring the leafy passages, old courtyards, refreshing street art, local color cafes (yes, we don’t have Starbucks) and atmospheric green areas.