Hotel Esplanade in Zagreb

You don’t need to be a guest at this classic railway hotel to appreciate its heritage and history. The opulent Esplanade cannot fail to impress, with its dramatic fountains and an elegant terrace where you can sip coffee or a cocktail.

It’s directly opposite Zagreb railway station, which was a major stop on the Orient Express between the wars. Agatha Christie took that famous train in 1928, stayed here, and placed the whole of her all-time favourite crime story, ‘Murder on the Orient Express,’ around Vinkovci, which you can still reach by rail from Zagreb today. The 1920s saw the Esplanade in its pomp, with famous names such as entertainer Josephine Baker and aviator Charles Lindbergh among the guests.

It enjoyed a second heyday in the 1960s and 1970s, when Orson Welles, Alfred Hitchcock and Laurence Olivier all signed the guest book. Privatised in the 1990s, revived and reopened in 2004, the Esplanade today offers luxury accommodation, fine dining and top spa treatments. 

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Find more Things To Do in Zagreb: Bars At Tkalciceva | Break-up Museum | Dolac Market | Funicular Zagreb | Gothic Cathedral Zagreb | Lake Juran | Museum Of Contemporary Art Zagreb | Maksimir Park | Nikola Tesla Technical Museum