Photo: Brigita Plander · CC BY-SA 4.0
Lake Trakošćan is an artificial lake in the north-west of the Hrvatsko Zagorje, below Trakošćan Castle, the old seat of the Drašković family. A carefully shaped landscape park of meadows, flowers and shrubs and a protected forest surround it. The lake was made as a fishpond and as the decorative heart of the romantic park, and the path all round it is a favourite walk.
The lake was laid out in the second half of the 19th century, when the castle grounds were redesigned as a romantic park, and it served from the start both as a fishpond and as an ornament of the park. A mill and a sawmill once worked on its shore. In 2023 and 2024 the lake was drained so that the silt could be cleared, and it was full again by the autumn of 2024.
The castle above the lake dates from the late 13th century, when it guarded the road from Ptuj into the Bednja valley, and it is first named in records in 1334. It passed through many hands before becoming the home of the Drašković family, and since 1954 it has been a museum of the Croatian nobility, with paintings, furniture and weapons shown in the original rooms. The forest and the park around the lake are what remains of the family’s large estate.
The lake freezes in winter, often for months. It holds plenty of fish and is a favourite with anglers, and the forest park around it has a varied flora and fauna, which the lakeside educational trail sets out to show.
Nearest settlement: Trakošćan
No reliable information
Summer water temperature: 22 degrees Celsius
The Fairy Trail (Put vila), an educational path of about 5 km with 20 stops and a fisherman’s hut that serves as an information point and resting place, circles the lake from the castle entrance; at an easy pace it takes about two hours, so wear sturdy shoes. A landslide has closed one section of the lakeside path: walking round the lake is still possible, but follow the signs. Tickets are sold at the museum reception.
Give the castle museum 45 minutes to an hour. Trakošćan is about an hour from Zagreb by car, and autumn, when the woods turn, is a lovely time for the walk. Pedal boats have been offered on the lake in season; ask at the castle.
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Fortress
The castle above the lake in the north-west of the Zagorje, once held by the Drašković family. Its landscaped park reaches down to the water. Visiting Trakošćan Allow 45 minutes to an hour for the castle, whose museum covers the…
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