The best place to start from is Gornji Grad, or the Upper Town, which has more than a few landmarks, such as the Uspinjača/Funicular, quite possibly the shortest funicular, or indeed any tracked transportation, in the world. Starting just off Ilica, Zagreb’s main street, you can hitch a ride for 5kn up to the base of Lotrščak Tower, standing guard over the entrance to Gornji Grad; that is of course if you can’t be bothered to spend 30 seconds or so climbing the steps that run up the side of the tracks.
Lotrščak Tower, which hosts the Grič Cannon, was built in 1266 to defend the southern entrance to the city and ever since 1877 and indeed to this day, the cannon blasts one shot as the clock strikes noon. Kaboom! Back in the day, all the city’s church bell ringers used this cannon shot as their way of telling the time. There’s an exhibition, overseen by the utterly magnificent Klovićevi Dvori Gallery, inside the tower, running until the end of the year; and while you’re in there you can enjoy majestic views of the city, just like Novi Fosili did in 1987 while filming their video for Yugoslavia’s Eurovision entry that year, ‘Ja sam za ples’.
The tower is open to the public Mon - Fri 09:00 – 21:00; Sat-Sun 10:00 – 21:00.