Have you ever visited Ljubljana? If you haven’t, you should be packing your luggage and hitting the road as it’s so worth visiting and spending some relaxing time just chilling by the river, wandering the picturesque little squares and streets, discovering pretty details on every corner and overall enjoying the super easy relaxed vibe that this city has to offer.
Recently I had an opportunity to spend a couple of days in Ljubljana and even if I visited the city before, quite a few years ago, I was again impressed with beautiful architecture, so much greenery and this wonderful atmosphere that puts you in the holiday mood straight away. Even if I was not there on holidays but rather a work related visit. Luckily I had just enough time for walks and taking photos, you guessed it right, my favourite thing to do when travelling!
I started my walk on Preseren Square, it’s a central square situated in the pedestrian zone and a major meeting point, also a place where lots of events and festivals are taking place. It’s named after the famous poet France Prešeren and makes a great starting point for exploring the city and also a place where you can sit, relax, listen to the street musicians and watch the world goes by, just like I did!
One of things that make Ljubljana so special is Ljubljanica river that goes straight through the old part of the city as well as many beautiful and architecturally interesting bridges that give plenty of photos opportunities. That area by the river is full of charming lively cafés where you can sit outside, drink your coffee (or gin tonic!) and simply relax and it makes the centre of Ljubljana’s social life. I highly recommend doing that and taking your time to slow down and enjoy the atmosphere. Besides walking, good way to see the old city centre and its beautiful bridges, picturesque and vibrant buildings from a totally different angle is to take a tourist boat cruise along the river. I didn’t have the time to do that but it seemed like a great fun. There are few famous bridges: Trnovo Bridge, Cobblers’ Bridge, Triple Bridge and Dragon Bridge and you should take lots of pictures of all them as they are simply stunning!
One of my favourite parts of the city was Mestni Trg (Square) that since the 12th century, has been one of the centres of the medieval city. Later, medieval buildings were replaced by Baroque palaces, including the Town Hall. There you can find the beautiful Fountain of the Three Carniolian Rivers, the work of the sculptor Francesco Robba. This square is simple picture perfect and I cannot count how many photos I took there! In fact I also had the best chocolate orange sorbet from Vigo ice cream that I enjoyed while sitting at the fountain stairs. Sorry I don’t have the photo but it was melting too fast and my fingers were already stained with chocolate haha! 😀
I absolutely love taking photos of pretty details and Ljubljana is full of them so just keep your eyes opened and for sure something will catch your attention. One thing that I can highly recommend is Slovenska hisa, bar & restaurant situated just by the river in the city centre. They have great coffee, drinks and I don’t know about other food but I had some amazing ‘struklji’, traditional baked sweet dough filled with cottage cheese, apple etc, you should definitely try it, it’s delicious!
For the great quality coffee I would recommend taking a short walk to the City Museum of Ljubljana (I’m sure it’s worth exploring and visiting too!) because they have a pretty little cafe there called Stow that had the great coffee and desserts too.
Another very pretty and colourful square was Novi Trg Square and I enjoyed exploring that part too. Actually the City museum that I mentioned before is not far from here and on the way I saw many other cute little cafes where would be great to have a drink or coffee a bit further away from the crowds. Definitely the area to explore!
I recommend taking a walk up hill or a short drive by funicular to get to Ljubljana Castle, originally a medieval fortress, probably constructed in the 11th century and rebuilt in the 12th century. It offers great views of Ljubljana and it’s a great place to learn more about the history of the area and have a coffee in beautiful surroundings.
What better way to finish this walk in Ljubljana but with the sunset… The Market area is another very beautiful place to explore and enjoy. I’m sure it’s very lively and busy in the mornings but in the evenings it’s much more peaceful and makes a great place for a romantic walk with your loved one or as in my case, with the nice company of camera in your hands haha! 😀 I definitely took my time there to slow down, watch the golden light bathing the walls and roofs and reflecting in the river. It was pretty special I must say… Hope you enjoyed this little story about my visit to Ljubljana and let me know if you did, I always love hearing from you!
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Wanderful!
Thank you so much, I’m glad you like it! 🙂
Really great PHOTOS!! I am so familiar with my home town that I overlook how beautiful it is. It is nice to see it again through your EYES 👍.
Thank you so much Andreja, I’m very happy you like the photos! I will actually add some more photos to this blog post as I visited Ljubljana again recently and shot some more pretty streets and details. I just love Ljubljana and will be back again soon! 🙂