About this journey

Golubovec station sits at the southern end of the L201 railway, a 35-kilometre single-tracked, non-electrified line that threads northward through the Hrvatsko Zagorje region to reach Varaždin. Diesel traction is a necessity throughout, and the journey is handled by an HŽPP KALMAR/FIAT Y1 railcar — a lightweight diesel unit well suited to a rural local line that carries both freight and regular passenger services.

The line passes through Ivanec before descending toward Varaždin, where the railway meets a city with a layered past. Varaždin served as the capital of all Croatia in the mid-eighteenth century, housing the Croatian Sabor and the Royal Croatian Council, until a fire in April 1776 destroyed more than half of its buildings and ended that administrative role. The city rebuilt in a predominantly baroque style — an identity reinforced by its Croatian National Theatre, completed in 1873 to designs by Viennese architects Herman Helmer and Ferdinand Fellner, and by a baroque music festival held annually since 1971. In 2023 Varaždin became the first Croatian city to receive UNESCO Creative City status in the field of music. The 35-kilometre ride from the quiet end of the line thus closes at a destination whose compact historic core carries considerably more cultural weight than its modest size might suggest.