Zagreb has thrown a birthday party for one of its quirkiest landmarks: the funicular linking the Lower and Upper Town marked 136 years of service on 8 October 2026 — the same year it emerged from a major renovation.

Opened in 1890, the funicular is the oldest form of public transport in the Croatian capital, and with a track of just 66 metres it holds the title of the world's shortest funicular built for public transport. Operator Zagreb Electric Tram (ZET) says it moves roughly 750,000 passengers a year, a mix of commuters and visitors ticking off one of the city's most recognisable sights. Impressively, in all those decades of operation there has never been a recorded accident or passenger injury.

The backstory is a good one. The idea came from David William Klein, an entrepreneur from Osijek who noticed in the late 1880s just how many people were huffing up the stairs between the two halves of the city. He proposed a funicular like those running elsewhere in Europe, signed a 40-year concession with the city in December 1888, and construction started the following May. When it opened, hundreds of Zagrebians turned out to watch — though reportedly nobody wanted to be the first to buy a ticket and ride up.

Early days were rocky. The steam-powered railway broke down often enough that locals cruelly nicknamed it zapinjača, a pun on the Croatian word for getting stuck. It recovered its reputation long ago: today the ride is a protected cultural asset, and the renovation finished in May 2026 carefully preserved its distinctive exterior while modernising what goes on underneath.

For travellers, this is more than a novelty photo stop. The funicular lands you in the Upper Town (Gornji Grad), the atmospheric old quarter of cobbled lanes, St Mark's Church with its tiled roof, and viewpoints over the red rooftops of the city centre. The ride takes under a minute, but it saves you the steep stair climb and delivers a genuine slice of local history for the price of a standard ZET tram ticket. Pair it with a stroll down Tkalciceva street or the morning market at Dolac, both a few minutes' walk from the lower station at Tomiceva.

In short: 66 metres of track, 136 years of stories, and one of the cheapest heritage rides in Europe.