Ljubljana, Slovenia's Capital City. Ljubljana complete guide for visitors.
Ljubljana is a small city that packs a huge punch. Think castles, canals, bridges, dragons, caves, wine and stunning landscapes like nowhere else in the world. Every where you walk along the canal there are many restaurants with covered outdoor seating under the beautiful flowering trees. The city has a fantastic vibe and makes you want to explore every corner - which we did.
Ljubljana Castle
The most dominant building on top of the hill in the old town is Ljubljana Castle. You can see it from all over the city. You can reach the top by funicular, driving or walking. We took the funicular up and walked back down. You can see the beautiful views and the track we took in 2, 3 and 4 above. The first picture is of the view from our hotel balcony. We stayed in City Hotel. It was in a fantastic position.
Once you reach the castle you can wander around the courtyard and go into the chapel (pictures 3 and 4 above). There are restaurants, cafes, souvenir shops, museums and wine tasting rooms around the castle grounds. You can walk up to the walls for a spectacular view of Ljubljana old town area.
Ljubljanica river Canal
Ljubljana is also known for the river or canal that dissects the town in two. It is so picturesque and a joy to wander along. There are many stunning buildings, restaurants and cafes that line each side of the canal. There are lush green trees and many flowering varieties that provide colour and shade in warmer days. Make sure to sit and enjoy the passing parade at one of the many spots along the canal, you won’t be disappointed.
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There are many boats that do tours up and down the canal. The one we recommend includes a walking tour as well, that way you know all about where you are going and the buildings and places you see along the boat ride. It is very relaxing and scenic on the canal. Click the button below to see the details of the tour.
There are three main bridges in Ljubljana. The most well-known one is the Dragon bridge. This bridge is in memory to Greek mythology story of Jason who slayed the water monster, which then became a dragon. Jason is also credited with being the founder of Ljubljana. The other two famous bridges are the Butcher’s Bridge - also known as Lover’s Bridge because of the 100,000’s of lovelocks that adorn each side of the bridge.
The other famous bridge was designed by Joze Plecnik and is called the Treble Bridge. Instead of designing a whole new bridge to cope with all the extra traffic, Plecnik added two pedestrian bridges, turning the one bridge into a triple bridge.
St. Nicholas Cathedral
St Nicholas Cathedral was originally a Gothic church but in the early 18th century it was replaced by a baroque building. It is easily recognizable with the huge green dome and twin towers located near the central markets and town hall. Its front door is a was made in 1996 to celebrate the Pope’s visit. The whole door tells the story of Slovenia’s history (pic 4 above)
Tivoli Gardens Park is a lovely green park in the centre of Ljubljana. It covers a large area with many walking trails surrounded by green grasslands and tall deciduous trees. There are a couple of restaurants, an ice rink, tennis courts, a large pond plus stunning flower beds. There are plenty of places to enjoy picnics or play outdoor games in the park. We saw quite a few quite squirrels playing around under the picnic tables when we visited.
One of the best things to do is to wander around the streets and check out the buildings, shops, cafes and unique places around the city. There are many things to look at and when you are finished you can easily find a nice cafe, restaurant or bar to do some people watching on the edge of the canal. Make sure you look out for bikes though, as there are many on the streets of Ljubljana.
One of the things we highly recommend doing is a private walking tour. We learned so much from our guide and it is really nice to hear about the history and stories from a local. It is a great way to find out about the city and its culture. We also found out all about the best restaurants to go to and when it is best to visit the local markets. The tour we recommend is in the link below. You can do a free walking tour - but there are often so many people that it is difficult to hear what is going on - and you do have to tip at the end. If you pay a small amount for a private tour you will get much more information about the things that interest you and you will cover a whole lot more as you can move a lot quicker with less people.
As you can see we had some fun exploring the pretty streets of Ljubljana and we would highly recommend visiting this fairytale capital city of Slovenia.
