Ljubljana, (C) Encyclopedia Britannica
You might not have heard of Ljubljana before. It is normal, as Slovenia, in general, is not a well-known country for people outside of Europe. Sometimes, people mix it with Slovakia, which makes it even harder to know about this beautiful country. Ljubljana, this gem of a city, is located in the middle of the nation. The capital and biggest agglomeration of Slovenia is 400 kilometres from Vienna, 195 kilometres from Graz, and 86 kilometres from Klagenfurt, all in Austria. It is also 138 kilometres from Zagreb, Croatia, 100 kilometres from Trieste and 240 kilometres from Venice, Italy, just to name a few.
Slovenija, who braked away from Yugoslavia 32 years ago on the 25th of June, is living a rebirth touristically speaking. There are many activities, festivals, and vestiges of the past to see in this country, most of them being in the capital. Multiple organizations and Slovenian and European government bodies have been promoting Ljubljana to tourists. With all those efforts, they won the prize of the European Best Destination for 2022. Let us get a look at the city hoping to eventually visit it for real!
Transport to Ljubljana
If you want to go to Ljubljana, you will probably need to take the plane unless you are already in Europe. The test I have made departs from Toronto, Canada, and New York City, United States. On the other side, the best airports to land from America are in Ljubljana, Slovenia, and Vienna, Austria. The dates I chose for the tickets are in early May 2024. The cost covers round-trip airfare for two people.
Toronto
Option I: Toronto — Ljubljana, Slovenia
This option cost around $2200 CAD and is done by Air Canada and Lufthansa. To go, it is a four-hour stop in Frankfurt and on the return, a four-hour stop in Munich. After that, you can take a private shuttle with GoOpti from the airport to the city centre, where you will probably live. The airport is not exactly in Ljubljana and it is the best option unless you want to take the bus. The shuttle cost around $65 round-trip if you take a shared one and $100 if you take it only for you two.
*Prices are subject to change.
Toronto
Option II: Toronto — Vienna, Austria
This option cost around $2300 CAD and is done by Air Canada. It does not have any stop; it is directly from Toronto to Vienna. After that, you can take a private shuttle with GoOpti. Even if it is a four-hour drive, they do have the option. The service cost around $250 round-trip if you take a shared one. If you want to have it just for you, it is not a very affordable option. If you want, you can also take the bus with FlixBus. It would cost you around $120 for two for a one-way ticket. The ride takes around six hours. You can also look on Nomago around the time of your departure, as they do not have many offerings in advance. You might be tempted by the train option for comfort. It is offered by ÖBB, an Austrian company. The cost and time are pretty similar to the one of FlixBus.
*Prices are subject to change.
New York City
Option I: New York City — Ljubljana, Slovenia
This option cost around $2200 CAD and is done by Turkish Airlines, which means the stop to go and to return is by Istanbul. The return is done on the same day. However, on the way to Europe, it is very long, as the layover is around twelve hours. If you prefer an option shorter in time on the alley, you can take the one offered by Singapore Airlines and Lufthansa. Assuming you take the same return, it is $2750 in total. After that, you can take a private shuttle with GoOpti from the airport to the city centre, where you will probably live. The airport is not exactly in Ljubljana and it is the best option unless you want to take the bus. The shuttle cost around $65 round-trip if you take a shared one and $100 if you take it only for you two.
*Prices are subject to change.
Toronto
Option II: New York City — Vienna, Austria
This option cost around $2500 CAD and is done by Scandinavian and Austrian Airlines. On the way to Europe, there is a four-hour layover in Copenhagen. On the way to America, there is a two-hour-and-a-half layover, also in Denmark. After that, you can take a private shuttle with GoOpti. Even if it is a four-hour drive, they do have the option. The service cost around $250 round-trip if you take a shared one. If you want to have it just for you, it is not a very affordable option. If you want, you can also take the bus with FlixBus. It would cost you around $120 for two for a one-way ticket. The ride takes around six hours. You can also look on Nomago around the time of your departure, as they do not have many offerings in advance. You might be tempted by the train option for comfort. It is offered by ÖBB, an Austrian company. The cost and time are pretty similar to the one of FlixBus.
*Prices are subject to change.
As you see, there are multiple options, it depends on how much time you have, your budget, and where you will depart from. Sometimes the austrian option is cheaper, other times, the slovenian option. At the moment of writing this article, passing by Vienna is a more expensive option. However, you have the chance to travel on a scenic route, seeing the Alps from the air and the ground. You might not know when you will have that chance again!
Hotels
After hours of travel from America to Europe, you hope that your trip will be fantastic. For this, you need an excellent hotel room. In the city, there are multiple options for all budgets and taste! You should try to look for one that is more international or part of the chain if you do not speak the local language. Here are some options.
AB Ljubljana – The Residence: 5/5
Price: Minimum of $137 CAD per Night
Good: Clean, Downtown, Apartment Type
Bad: Not Enough Reviews, Breakfast Apart (Apartment).
Best Western Premier Hotel Slon: 4,4/5
Price: Minimum of $191 CAD per Night
Good: Clean, Downtown, Breakfast
Bad: Cost
Boutique Hotel Asteria: 4,1/5
Price: Minimum of $147 CAD per Night
Good: Clean, Downtown, Breakfast
Bad: Room Size
Holiday Inn Express Ljubljana: 4,5/5
Price: Minimum of $112 CAD per Night
Good: Clean, Cost, Breakfast, Airp. Shuttle ($)
Bad: Just Outside Downtown (3 KM)
These are very good options. You have a mix of international brands, local entities, hotels, and apartments. I have to admit that even if the Holiday Inn Express is thirty minutes walk from downtown, having a shuttle at the client’s disposition is a big plus. Yes, you need to pay. However, it might be cheaper than the GoOpti option. Another advantage is that while you are leaving the airport, they know you are coming and almost everything will already be prepared when you will arrive at the hotel. The AB Ljubljana might also be an option if you are looking for an apartment hotel type of place. If nothing suits your ideal, you can also look on AirBnB. However, the language barrier can affect the negotiation if the owner is not speaking in English and you cannot speak in Slovenian.
Transport in Ljubljana
To go to the best restaurants, visit downtown, or go to museums, you would need to either walk or take transportation. If you are already in the city centre, you will probably not need to take anything. If you do need to, you can take the bus, as they do not have any subway, metro or tramway. To get around, you would need to buy at a booth or a shop an Urbana Card. It is similar to New York Metro Card or Toronto Presto Card. Each ride cost $2 Euros ($2,88 CAD). You can load it up to $50 Euros ($72 CAD). You can also take the Kavalir, which is a free cart service circulating in the city centre. It is a car-free downtown, which means Uber or other companies as such cannot drive you straight to your destination, unless you are taking it to leave this area. There are also regular taxis. If you prefer doing sports, you can indeed walk or take a bicycle. The bikes are free for the first hour and cost more the longer you take them.
As an initiative to get more people to use transportation rather than cars, and also to help tourists get around, the city and the government have worked on a new card. The Ljubljana Card cost $36 Euros per day per person (around $50 CAD). It gives you access to transportation, a funicular ride to the castle at the top of the hill, guided tours (on foot or bicycles), a boat cruise, and access to multiple activities. You can also get that card for a longer time, as there is one for 72 hours costing $50 Euros ($72 CAD). The last one is more advantageous. Look on Visit Ljubljana’s website for more details.
Restaurants
There are hundreds of restaurants in the city. However, only a few are interesting if you are just de passage in Ljubljana. It goes from some restaurants étoilés to international chains. Then, it depends on your budget and your taste. You might also ask someone working at your hotel or one of the guides if you take a tour. They might know a hidden gem of Slovenian gastronomy!
Das Ist Valter: 4,6/5
Type of Food: Bosnian Cuisine
Prices: Low
Pop’s Place: 4,5/5
Type of Food: Burgers
Prices: Medium
Restavracija Most: 4,5/5
Type of Food: General & Traditional
Price: High
Špajza Restaurant: 4,6/5
Type of Food: General & Traditional
Price: High
As I said, they are plenty more restaurants in the city, but these places have garnered the most attention because of their food and services. Das Ist Valter offers affordable Bosnian cuisine. One of their signature dishes is the ćevapčići, which are little meat rolls, mostly of beef or lamb. It is served in a bread. They won the prize for the best restaurant with Balkan foods in 2017. For the second one, they offer burgers, fish and chips, and chicken wings. The prices are similar to if you were eating in an American sports bar. The third one is probably the best restaurant in the country. They offer a bit of everything, including traditional food, such as prleška tünka (minced lard and pork) and krškopoljec (black belly pork). It is recognized internationally, thus explaining the price range. The last one, Špajza Restaurant, also offers general and traditional food, but in a more local setting. They do not have a specific website but past clients have said the prices are similar to those of Restavracija Most.
If you do not like any of these, you are a bit difficult. In these conditions, there are multiple fast-food chains present in Ljubljana such as McDonald’s Subway and local ones. There is one Kentucky Fried Chicken, but it is in Maribor, Slovenia.
Activities
If Ljubljana was not interesting, Europeans would not go. There are tons of activities to do in different categories like visiting museums, churches, parks, gardens and others. There are also things to do for different budgets. Some of these places can be paid for by having the Ljubljana Card if you do not want to pay individually for all of the activities you want to do. At some point during the year, there might interesting festivals too! Let us look at some options, without too many pictures to keep the best for your trip!
Museums
- Brewery Museum
- City Museum of Ljubljana
- Museum of Illusions
- Museum of Modern
- National Museum of Slovenia
- Permanent Exhibition of Slovenian History
- Plečnik House
- Railway Museum
- Slovene Ethnographic Museum
- Slovenian Museum of Natural History
- The Museum of Contemporary Art Metelkova
Churches
- Holy Trinity Church
- St. Bartholomew’s Church
- St. Francis Church
- St. James Church
- St. John the Baptist Church
- St. Nicholas Church
- St. Peters’s Church
- Visitation of Mary Church
Parks and Gardens
- Argentina Park
- Hrvatski Trg (Croatian Park)
- Kongresni Trg (Congress Park)
- Ljubljana Botanic Garden
- Ljubljanica Kanal
- Park Grudnovo Nabrežje
- Park Špica
- Prešeren Square
- Tivoli Park
- Volčji Potok Arboretum
Others
- Fabianijev Most
- Funicular
- Government Building and President’s Office
- Ljubljana Zoo
- Ljubljanica Sluice Gate (Ljubljanica Bridge)
- Ljubljanski Grad (Ljubljanski Castle)
- National Assembly Building of Slovenia
- Šuštarski Bridge
- Tromstovje
- Dragon’s Bridge
Festivals
- Ana Desetnica
- Dragon Festival
- Druga Godba
- Jazz Festival
- Ljubljana Festival
- Ment
You have plenty of things to see, do, and appreciate in the biggest city in Slovenia. Multiple museums, churches, parks, and gardens to see, and many more activities to attend. You can also look for art galleries or stand-up and music shows of a specific artist, if those people speak a language you can comprehend. There are festivals at different times during the year, which means you can still travel to Ljubljana during winter and have a wonderful experience. If you like sports, you can also go to a football, soccer, or hockey game, or go skiing in a mountain outside the city. You should ask a local on how to get a ticket for a game, as it might be only accessible to locals.
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In this article, you got all the information to travel to Ljubljana, Slovenia’s capital and biggest city. Prices might change over time and will depend on which season you are going. It was voted the best destination to travel to last year, which means it was all worth it. If you have the money and the time, go for it! If you do not have the fund right now, you might take advantage of the extra time to learn Slovenian, just enough to understand local people. You can also use apps such as Tandem to learn the language and have friends waiting for you when you arrive in the country. You might feel safer travelling with people you know a bit more and will be able to have a more authentic trip. Your friend will be able to translate, which means you will have a more complete experience in Slovenija. I hope you find the information useful and maybe we will see each other in Ljubljana in the future!
Ljubljana (C), VIsit Ljubljana
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Sources:
- Booking.com
- Culture Trip
- Encyclopedia Britannica
- Expedia
- Google Maps
- GoOpti
- Rome2Rio
- TripAdvisor
- Trip.com
- Boutique Hotel Asteria
- Gourmet Ljubljana
- IHG Hotels & Resorts
- Ministry of Economy, Tourism, and Sports
- Restavracija Ljubljana
- Slovenia Info
- Visit Ljubljana