Supermarkets in Zadar: Food Shopping for Self-Catering

Which supermarket chains and stores you'll find in Zadar

Croatian food shopping runs on a handful of chains with very different footprints. Large hypermarket-style centres on the edge of town carry the widest range: fresh meat counters, fish, household goods and parking. Small neighbourhood stores in the old town and suburbs stock the essentials but a thinner selection, so plan a big shop at a centre and top up locally. Supernova Zadar is the centre covered here, with its Spar supermarket and food units all in one building.

If you are cooking most evenings, buy your staples in one trip at a large centre rather than carrying bags through the old town's lanes. A larger store is also where you will find the sizes that suit a week's stay: bigger water bottles, bags of rice and pasta, and family packs of meat. Small shops are better for a forgotten loaf or a bottle of milk.

Supernova Zadar: the Spar supermarket and food shops inside the centre

Supernova Zadar sits at Ulica Akcije Maslenica 1, and its store directory lists a Spar supermarket among its food units. That makes it a workable single stop for a full fridge restock: supermarket groceries plus the other food and drink shops in the same building. The directory also lists Tutto Bene and Tvornica Zdrave Hrane among its units, alongside the dm drugstore on the ground floor near the eastern entrance, useful for toiletries and household basics in the same trip.

Shopping here works best as a planned run rather than a browse. Arrive with a list split into supermarket items and pharmacy or household goods, take the supermarket first, then pick up anything else on the way out. Trolleys and parking make a week's shop easier here than in the old town, where narrow streets and stairs work against heavy bags.

Supernova Zadar opening hours and Sunday shopping

The centre's published hours are 09:00 to 21:00, Monday to Sunday. On 24 December it closes at 15:00 and on 31 December at 17:00. Treat these as the centre's own hours, as individual units can differ.

The seven-day opening matters for a self-catering stay. A late arrival or a Sunday arrival does not mean going without dinner: the centre trades across the weekend, so you can land, shop and cook the same evening. The Christmas and New Year early closures show why a holiday-week shop is best done in the morning.

What to buy for a self-catering stay: bread, cheese, pršut and produce

Split your shopping by what each place does best. Use the supermarket for water, coffee, pasta, rice, oil, tinned fish, yoghurt and cleaning supplies. Then buy bread fresh from a pekara, the Croatian bakery, and cured meats and cheese from a market stall or deli counter. Pršut, the Dalmatian dry-cured ham, sliced thin, plus a young cheese and tomatoes, makes a fast lunch that needs no cooking.

For fish and produce, a market beats a supermarket shelf on quality and lets you buy only what you need. The Zadar Market is the place to build a meal around what looks good that morning, with the fish market a short walk away for the day's catch. Go early, bring cash for small stalls and ask for fish cleaned on the spot if you plan to cook it that evening.

For a lighter meal, keep a supermarket bag of salad, a jar of olives and a wedge of local cheese in the fridge, and add bread from the bakery each day. Yoghurt, fruit and muesli cover breakfast without a hob. If you would rather eat out in the morning, the best breakfast in Zadar is worth a look, but a stocked fridge saves money on the days you are out early.

Card or cash at Zadar supermarkets

At Supernova Zadar, the dm store lists card, cash and the Supernova gift card among its payment options, and larger Croatian supermarkets usually take major cards. Carry a little cash anyway: market stalls, small bakeries and family-run konobas often prefer it. Croatia uses the euro, so there is no currency conversion to think about at the till.

Keep a few coins and small notes for the market and the bakery, and use your card for the big supermarket shop. Self-checkouts and card terminals are common in larger stores but not guaranteed at every small shop. If a stall has no terminal, a nearby cash machine solves it before you queue.

Shopping for a picnic or boat day

A boat day or a long afternoon out needs food that travels: bread, cheese, pršut, tomatoes, fruit, olives, water and something sweet. Buy the bread last so it stays fresh, and pack a small knife and a bag for rubbish. The supermarket covers water, fruit and snacks in one run; the market or bakery adds the items worth carrying properly in a cool bag.

Keep the picnic simple and avoid anything that spoils quickly in the sun: skip creamy pastries and soft cheese for the day, and take hard cheese and cured meat instead. Freeze a bottle of water overnight to keep the bag cool. If you want a proper sit-down meal before or after the boat, leave it to a konoba and treat the supermarket shop as supplies only.

For a treat at the end of the day, a cake shop will box something to take back to the apartment. Cold drinks and ice from the supermarket complete the picnic kit, and a coffee stop in town is the natural short break between shopping and the waterfront. If you want the local café scene at its best, the Best Cafés in Zadar for a Proper Coffee Stop guide is a good place to start.

Do your big shop at Supernova, top up at the market

Plan your Zadar food shopping in two layers. Do the heavy, packaged shop at Supernova Zadar, where the Spar supermarket and the other food units sit together and the 09:00 to 21:00 hours cover a Sunday arrival. Fill the gaps with bread from a pekara and produce and fish from the market, bought early and paid for with cash. That Split covers a self-catering week without carrying heavy bags through the old town.