Travelling from Dublin to Zagreb isn't the easiest with neither Aer Lingus or Croatian Airlines flying the route. And it's made more challenging as Ryanair reduce their service to just three days a week in November and December.
Ryanair have evening flights on 20th and 23rd December and a morning flight on 22nd - with a cabin wheely costing an extra 18 euro or a 20kg hold bag an extra 30.49 euro
Of course there are connecting options - with KLM having a decent choice as they code share with Aer Lingus on the DUB-AMS sector and with Croatia Airlines on the AMS-ZAG sector.
Some of the connections only allow 1 hour in Amsterdam Schiphol - so you'd need to consider a possible delay to your luggage arriving (at the very least).
A wheely is included in the KLM pricing, and a 23kg hold bag costs 40 euro or 38/41 euro if you choose the "Standard" bundled pricing!
Zagreb's location means that it's within driving distance of a number of different airports.
Trieste airport is about 2:45 drive from Zagreb - which would cost about 60 euro each way in a SUV
There's a civilised morning flight from Dublin on 21st December, and an uncivilised early departure on 23rd December
Budapest is about 4 hours drive from Zagreb with Ryanair offering morning flights on 20th, 21st & 24th December and afternoon/evening flights on 21st, 22nd & 23rd December.
Aer Lingus also fly DUB-BUD departing at 16:50 five days a week
Aer Lingus allow a 10kg wheelie to be checked in for free or charge 10 euro to carry it on board. At this time of year a 20kg hold bag costs 40 euro on this route. Upgrading to "Plus" pricing for 49 euro includes both a carryon and a 20kg hold bag - a whole 1 euro saving (plus free seat selection).
Zagreb's location means that it's within train distance of further airports!
Aer Lingus offer morning flights to Vienna
and Ryanair offer evening flights on 20th, 21st, 22nd & 23rd December and morning flights on 23rd and 24th December
and from Wien Hauptbahnhof (a short 15 minute train connection from the airport) there are various connections to get to Zagreb. The quickest is the daily 15:58 departure (with a change in Graz) which arrives into Zagreb at 22:20
Prices start at an incredible 29 euro if booked far enough in advance. And first class (on the Austrian train) costs just 10 euro extra.
Another Fly-Rail option is via Zurich Hauptbahnhof - an easy 10 minute connection from the airport.
Aer Lingus have morning flights on 20th, 21st, 23rd & 24th December and afternoon flights on 20th, 22nd & 23rd December (too late for the train connection).
Swiss have morning or lunchtime flights on 20th, 21st, 22nd, 23rd & 24th - as well as evening flights each day that are too late for the rail connection.
Swiss include an 8kg wheelie, and charge 30 euro for a checked bag (presumably 20kg).
The overnight sleeper departs Zurich at 20:40 each evening - arriving into Zagreb at 10:39 with sunrise at about 07:44 in this region around Christmas.
However there are expected to be engineering works on this route between Schwarzach-St.Veit and Villach from 18th November 2024 until 13th July 2025 - so maybe not the best time to take the sleeper (or not so sleeper) train!
On the Swiss Railway website a 3 person cabin purchased for single occupancy booked far in advance costs around 250 chf (267 euro) or 125 chf for twin occupancy or 100 chf for triple occupancy. The SBB website appears a bit flaky with pricing on this route.
On the Austrian Railway website a 3 person cabin purchased for single occupancy costs 250 euro or 210 euro total for twin or triple occupancy. The Deutsche Bahn website shows the full range of options with more sensible prices
And the NightJet website also shows the full range of Seating / Couchette / Sleeper options for EN40465
There is another daily sleeper train from
Stuttgart via
Munich Ost to Zagreb - but it also runs over the same track that is subject to engineering works, so isn't a reliable option until Summer 2025.
This EN40237 sleeper service doesn't seem to have couchettes - just seats or cabins
Conclusion
Whilst the sleeper train sounds lovely - Christmas 2024 is not the time to try it out - and you'd get to see more in Summer anyway!
But there are plenty of other options available - with Trieste on Saturday 21st December looking like the best value option.
