Ljubljana

Introduction

ljublanica river

© herbert44

Ljubljana, the capital of Slovenia is a charming Central European city that has gained great popularity among travellers in recent years. It has regularly been compared to Prague and offered as a smaller, less busy alternative.

Although the largest city in Slovenia, its population is below 300,000 making it relatively small for a capital city. Despite its size, it oozes charm - from the river Ljubljanica running through the centre to the historical city centre. The ancient castle atop a hill looks down upon the city and can be seen anywhere from the centre of town. A mixture of Baroque and Art Nouveau style buildings dominate the architecture to the east of the river with more modern commercial buildings to the west.

Neighbourhoods

The Ljubljanica river flows through the centre of town, past Baroque buildings and under the ramparts of the ancient castle on the hill. The new city and modern-day commercial core lies to the west of the river, while the old city and the castle are located on the east side of the river.

Sights and Activities

Ljubljana Card

Visitors can buy the Ljubljana Card which offers discounts to many of the popular sights. It is valid for 72 consecutive hours and costs €12.50. It can be bought at the tourist information offices. For the latest information about this card visit the Ljubljanacard website.

Old Town

This is the historic centre of the city. Stone-paved and lined with well preserved Baroque/Art Nouveau style buildings and churches lining the riverfront. The old stone bridges over the river are a sight to see too. Museums are closed on mondays.

• Ljubljana Castle (Ljubljanski Grad) - Built on top of Castle Hill (Grajska Planota) it cannot be missed. Entrance is free however to ascend the tower for spectacular panoramic views of the city you must pay. At the moment the the tower is closed for renovation. However the Virtual Museum is still open. It is a 20-minute 3D film recalling the history of Ljubljana - not essential viewing but available in many languages. To get to the castle, you can catch the 'tourist train' from the main square (Prešernov Trg) every hour (€3 - adult, €2 - concession), walk up the steep hill (there are multiple paths each taking about 20 minutes) or the funicular (€2 - adult/rtn, €1.50 - concession/rtn) next to the puppet theatre.
• Cathedral - Twin-towered with single green dome. Small but pleasant. Has a daily market outside selling fresh fruit, vegetables and flowers.
• Franciscan Church (Frančiškanski Samostan) - Located right by Prešernov Square (Trg), painted in bright pink.
• Triple Bridge (Tromostovje) - one of Ljubljana's most recognisable sites. 3 beautifully designed bridges designed by Plečnik himself. Leads right onto Prešernov Square.
• Dragon Bridge (Zmajski Most) - one of the more photographed birdges. Guarded by four large dragons.

Museums

In general, check the Museums in Ljubljana website for more information about prices, opening hours etc. Some of the best include:

• City Museum
• National Gallery of Slovenia
• National Museum of Slovenia
• Architecture Museum, Plečnik House
• Railway Museum
• Contemporary History Museum - Located inside Tivoli park with a large tank in front of it. Sometimes can be hard to find. (€7 - adult)
• International centre of Graphic Arts - Also located within Tivoli park. Not much in terms of permanent works. (€3.40 - adult)

Churches

• Holy Trinity Church
• Orthodox Church
• St. Peter's Church
• Synagogue

Parks and Cemeteries

• Tivoli Park - about 10 minutes walk from the city centre. Also houses the city zoo. Rolling hills and swathes of green grass in this very large park.
• Žale Cemetery - 10 minutes walk northeast of the train station. Has a grand stone arch, final resting place for Plečnik.

Events and Festivals

Ljubljana Festival

The Ljubljana Festival is Slovenia’s biggest cultural event, with performers from all over the world providing 10 weeks of dance, opera, and musical performances. First held in the summer of 1953, the production runs annually from June until September, encompassing 50 to 70 individual shows.

Ljubljana International Film Festival (LIFFe)

The annual November film festival aims to bring the best of international cinema to Slovenia. First held in 1990, the event is hosted by Ljubljana’s Cankarjev Dom (Cankar Hall, named after Slovenian playwright Ivan Cankar), which is Slovenia’s largest cultural center. It has expert and audience awards to encourage movie-goer participation.

Weather

Ljubljana has a moderate continental climate with warm summers and relatively cold winters. Temperatures in summer range from 22 °C to 27 °C during the day and around 15 °C at night. Summer peaks in July. Precipitation is quite high throughout the year, with some less wet conditions in winter. During winter, temperatures are between 3 °C during the day and around -5 °C at night.

Getting There

By Plane

Adria Airways is the national airline of Slovenia, based at Ljubljana Jože Pučnik Airport (LJU). International destinations served by this airline are Amsterdam, Barcelona, Birmingham, Brussels, Bucharest, Copenhagen, Dublin, Frankfurt, Istanbul, Kiev, London, Manchester, Moscow, Munich, Ohrid, Paris, Podgorica, Priština, Sarajevo, Skopje, Stockholm, Tirana, Vienna, Warsaw and Zürich. It also has charter flights to about 20 destinations mainly in the south of Europe. About 20 other airlines (both scheduled and charter flights) have direct flights to Ljubljana as well. Low-cost airline easyJet regularly flies to/from London-Stansted (STN).

The airport is served by a highway exit off the A2 motorway and by bus service connecting it with Ljubljana and Kranj. A rail line to both cities is planned as well. The airport is located 20 kilometres north from the city centre. There are many minibuses outside the airport and is the easiest way to get to Ljubljana. The journey to the main train/bus station costs €5-8 and lasts 35-45 minutes. From there it is about a 10-minute walk to the old town centre. Minibuses will typically leave when full, pay onboard. Taxi's from the airport to the centre of town will cost around €40. Minibuses also wait outside to take you to other popular destinations such as Bled (33 kilometres).

By Train

The Slovenske železnice (Slovenian Railways) has an efficient train network of both intercity and local trains with regular departures to and from Ljubljana, with daily fast trains to and from Maribor. The train station is located next to the main bus station. The train station is just 10 minutes away from Ljubljana city centre by foot.

Direct trains also run to many international destinations from the main train station. Popular destinations include Prague (11 hours, €91), Zagreb (2.5 hours, €12.20), Venice (5 hours, €25), Budapest (9 hours, €50) and Belgrade (10 hours, €44.20). Direct trains also run daily to countries as far as Austria, Germany and Switzerland. For up-to-date schedules and prices visit the official website - international rail information. It is best to book tickets 1 or 2 days in advance for international journeys.

By Car

Ljubljana is at the centre of the Slovenian road network, which means that if you're not driving towards the border, you're approaching Ljubljana. Traffic can be frustrating at rush hours, but is generally lighter than in larger European capitals. Huge jams can occur if there's an accident or road works.

There are several car parks throughout the city centre, and cheaper ones at the outskirts. Those offer day-long parking with return city bus ticket included in the price. Most car parks are operated by the Municipal company. Short-term street parking in blue zones is payable at parking meters scattered around (€0.7/h in the city centre, 2 hours max; €0.4/h further out, 3 hours max; Saturday afternoon and Sunday parking is free). Parking meters don't return change, but they also accept the Urbana card.

By Bus

There are many buses to and from Ljubljana to almost any towns and village in the country including Maribor, Bled and Koper.

The bus station is located next to train station is a 10-minute walk north from the old city centre. Just get on the bus and pay onboard. Alternatively you can buy tickets at the ticket counter in the main bus building.

The latest timetable can be viewed at the offical bus station website.
There is car rental information at the bus station kiosk.

Getting Around

By Car

Taxi Ljubljana (tel. 080 11 17), Taxi Metro (tel. 080 11 90) and Intertours Taxi (tel. 031 311 311) are considered the cheapest taxi companies. These are free numbers (all numbers starting with 080 are free in Slovenia), so you can use a phone booth to make a free call. Note that not all taxis charge the same fare.

By Public Transport

Avtobusna Postaja runs the Ljubljana city buses. To ride the buses, you must first purchase an Urbana card. These can be bought at self-service stations ("Urbanomat") found at the larger bus stops across the city, LPP sales sites, Tourist Information Centres and newspaper agents for €2 and need to be loaded with an amount ranging from €1 to €50. Upon entering the bus by the front door, you need to position the card next to the reader to pay for the route. The confirmation is a quiet beep and an illuminated green light, while a negative response is a louder beep and a red light. After that, you proceed to take your seat / stand. The cost per journey is €1.20 and includes an unlimited number of free transfers within 90 minutes from the first entry to the bus. Most lines operate at least once every 15 minutes.

By Foot

Ljubljana is relatively small for a capital city. As such it is very easily walkable. Free tourist maps can be found at the Tourist information offices at the train station or city centre.

By Bike

Bikes are available for rent at the Slovenian Tourist Information Centre (beside the Central Market) as well as some of the hotels in the area (€2 for 2 hours, €8 for the whole day. There is also a system called "Bicikelj" where you can rent bikes (first hour free, second hour €1, third hour €2, each additional hour €4). It is designed for short-term hire. It has 300 bikes on 30 stations around the inner city part and you can subscribe with a credit card online.

Eat

Downtown Ljubljana is full of trendy cafes (outdoor seating in the summer!) and high-quality restaurants. You can find local Slovenian food, and restaurants with ethnic food from many places around the world. Pizza in Ljubljana is of very good quality. Try a burger Slovene style with a horse burger at the Hot Horse! Cheap and good for returning from a night out.

Drink

Most of Ljubljana’s bars tend to cluster on the streets running parallel to the river, radiating from Prešernov trg, which is the main square in Ljubljana. The more interesting bars tend to be on the backstreets, rather than directly facing the river.

Sleep

Budget

Ljubljana offers several hostels and student homes that function as hostels in the summer.

Upscale

Learn

• University of Ljubljana

Keep Connected

Internet

Slovenia is generally well covered by inexpensive broadband internet due to fierce competition between multiple companies. Internet cafes are thus common in cities and internet access is offered by most hotels and hostels.

A free wireless internet network is also being set up in some cities by volunteers (Ljubljana, Maribor, Nova Gorica). You can use it if you have a computer or a WiFi enabled phone.

Phone

See also: International Telephone Calls

The international calling code for Slovenia is 386, and the prefix for international calls is 00; the area code prefix is 0. Some number blocks are reserved for special use: 080 are toll-free numbers and 090 are commercial services, which are usually expensive.

Mobile networks use the common European frequencies (900 and 1800 MHz for GSM/LTE and 2100 MHz for 3G; 800 MHz is planned for LTE). Two major Slovenian mobile companies, Mobitel and Simobil, provide an excellent coverage in GSM and 3G, but 3G can be unavailable in mountainous regions. Roaming between European phone companies is becoming cheaper due to the EU regulation setting a maximum of 0.29€ per minute for calls made and 0.09€ for calls received, while calls to or from non-EU providers remain expensive. Slovenian pre-paid SIM cards are also available in supermarkets and gas stations.

Telekom Slovenije operates around 3500 phone booths. They unfortunately do not accept coins but require the use of cards costing 3-15€.

Post

Posta Slovenije is the national postal service of Slovenia. It has relatively fast and reliable services. Post offices are generally open from 8:00am to 6:00pm Monday to Friday and 8:00am to noon on Saturdays. Only the larger central post offices keep longer hours and/or are open on Sundays. You can also use them for money transfers and some other simple banking services. Stamps are available here or at newspaper stands/kiosks. Domestic rates for sending postcards/standard letters start at €0.29. International rates start at €0.39 for postcards and €0.44 for standard letters. Parcels start at around €16 for delivery to other Europena Union Members. You can also use companies like UPS, TNT or DHL to send parcels, as they offer comparable prices and fast services.

External Links

• Official Governmental Website

Day Trips

The following places provide excellent excursion opportunities. You can either take them as a day trip with an organised tour group or choose to stay there for longer.

• Bled is a picturesque town with a fresh water lake surrounded by the Julian Alps. There are many (20+) coaches leaving regularly from the main bus station. It costs €6.20 and takes 1.5 hours.
• Postojna's main attraction is the huge caves and Predjama Castle north of the town. There are regular buses and trains.
• Škocjan Caves, located in the town of Divača. Bigger and better than the Postojna caves, it is also harder to get to. It's a UNESCO World Heritage Site.