Tourist boats between Jarun and Bundek in Zagreb planned

Railway Bridge (Photo: Branko Radovanović/ CC BY-SA 4.0)

It may sound surprising, but passenger and tourist boats could soon be sailing along the Sava River in Zagreb.

Croatia’s Ministry of the Sea, Transport and Infrastructure has launched a project called Green Navigation on the Sava, aimed at finally making use of the river’s long-neglected potential, HRT reported.

The conceptual design has been completed, project documentation is being prepared, and the first boat is expected to begin operating in 2027.

From Jarun to Bundek by river

The planned route would run between Jarun and Bundek, covering around 5.5 kilometres of the river. The journey would take approximately 40 to 45 minutes, depending on passenger boarding and disembarkation.

Each boat would carry up to 55 passengers, with a total of five stops along the route. Initially, the service would be focused on tourism, though there is potential for it to become part of Zagreb’s public transport system in the future.

Duška Kunštek, Head of the Directorate for Inland Navigation at the Ministry, explained that the route would connect key parts of the city.

“The route would run from Bundek to the Arena area and Jarun, creating a river link over roughly 3.5 kilometres, with the possibility of crossing from one riverbank to the other,” she told HRT.

Planned stops along the Sava

In addition to Jarun on the northern bank and Lanište on the southern bank, stops are planned at several key bridges:

• Željeznički Most (Railway Bridge)

• Most slobode (Freedom Bridge)

• Most mladosti (Youth Bridge)

Once the project is completed, the area beneath Most mladosti will be one of the main passenger boarding points for tourist,  and potentially public, river transport.

Experts believe the river will be navigable for most of the year, despite natural water-level fluctuations.

“There is a relatively small chance that a limited number of days each year will be unnavigable due to extremely low water levels,” Kunštek explained. “Likewise, during periods of flooding, when the Sava overflows its main riverbed, navigation would also not be possible.”

Zagreb (Photo credit: Ivo Biočina / Source: CNTB)

To address these challenges, floating, adjustable docks will be installed. These will rise and fall with the river level, ensuring accessibility throughout most seasonal conditions.

“The docks are designed to be attached to pilings with clamps, covering the full range of water levels of the Sava,” explained Vlatko Kadić from Hidrokonzalting projektiranje, the company involved in the project.

To make the river suitable for navigation, around 20,000 cubic metres of gravel will need to be excavated from the riverbed.

While the final cost has not yet been confirmed, preliminary estimates place the value of the works, excluding the boat itself, at between €5 and €6 million. This includes construction, floating infrastructure, protection from debris and other essential elements.

One of the final obstacles to the project was aligning it with Zagreb’s General Urban Plan (GUP), which was recently sent back for revision specifically because of this initiative. All remaining permits are expected to be secured by early 2027.

If everything proceeds as planned, the first tourist boat should be sailing on the Sava by the end of 2027, marking a significant step in reconnecting Zagreb with its river and introducing a new, greener form of urban transport.