Ljubljana
Slovenia’s capital with no cars in the centre: Plečnik’s bridges, a riverside market and a castle on the hill
- When to go
- October 12° · 10 rainy days
- Per day
- €€€price 3 of 5
- How many days
- 2–3days
- For you
- 6 questions →
- Nearest airport
- 20 km Zgornji Brnik
- Right now
Ljubljana takes two to three days, or four to five once Bled, Postojna and Piran are added. The capital since 1991, with 302,826 residents in the municipality, has kept cars out of its centre since September 2007, so the visit is one long walk along a river.
The airport is 26 km from the centre, and the Arriva bus that covers the distance takes about 45 min and costs €4.10. After the central station you will rarely need a vehicle again, because the centre is closed to traffic apart from residents with a permit, and Kavalir, a small free electric cart, carries anyone who struggles with the walking. Distances are short.
Start at the Triple Bridge, where a stone bridge of 1842 now has two footbridges beside it from 1932. The river then leads to the Central Market, which is shut on Sundays and holidays, so go in the morning. Climb to the castle on foot, a path of 10 to 20 minutes from the old town, and save the funicular for heat or rain. Keep the old town for the evening.
Book Plečnik House first and plan the rest of the day around that slot. The house opens only on a guided tour, every hour on the hour, with seven people at most, and it is shut on Mondays. The afternoon belongs to the neighbourhoods, Tivoli for air and Metelkova for the opposite. The works of Plečnik in the city have been on the UNESCO list since 2021, and the Nebotičnik skyscraper of 1933 serves coffee on its top three floors.
Decide about the day trips before you set out. Bled lies about 50 km north-west of the city, and Postojna Cave with Predjama Castle is a package that costs €55. The Ljubljana Card costs €41 for 24 hours, and the tourist tax is added per night: €3.13 per person per night. Drivers need an e-vignette for motorways, the ring road around Ljubljana included.
hostel, dorm bed, per night
Timed-entry tickets and guided tours in one place.
Both sites fill in your nearest airport for you; change it in one click.
Guides for Ljubljana
Shorter, practical pages for one concrete question each — how many days, how much money, where to sleep, where to escape the city.
Ljubljana in 3 days
→The Old Town and castle on day one, Plečnik and Tivoli on day two, Bled or Postojna on day three, and Monday changes the order.
Day trips from Ljubljana
→Bled about 50 kilometres north-west, Postojna Cave with Predjama in half a day, Škofja Loka for a short walk, Piran for a full day.
Where to stay in Ljubljana
→The Old Town for walkers, Metelkova for price and nights out, Tivoli for greenery, airport hostels for early flights.
What Ljubljana costs
→The castle, Plečnik House and the day trips break the bill; bridges, parks and a sausage save it.
Ljubljana Off the Usual Route: Nebotičnik, Šmarna Gora and Open Kitchen
→A 1933 skyscraper with a café on top, a hill with a church above the city and a Friday when the market turns into a kitchen.
What to eat in Ljubljana
→A Carniolan sausage on the square, jota for lunch, štruklji after, and on Fridays the market turns Pogačarjev trg into a kitchen.
The best time to visit Ljubljana
→May and June for walking, July and August for the river and the heat, autumn for rain and fog, winter for the fair and the cafés.
Getting around Ljubljana
→By bus from the airport to the station, on foot through the centre, with BicikeLJ and Kavalir, and up to the castle by path or funicular.
Mistakes everyone makes in Ljubljana
→The mistakes are Plečnik House without a slot, a funicular you did not need, the market on a Sunday, a bus without cash and a vignette that is missing.
What to see in Ljubljana
- L
Ljubljana Castle
The castle crowns the hill above the old town and opens every day of the year. Its ticket covers a lookout tower, a 4D film called Virtual Castle, a video show in the casemate and a puppetry museum. The funicular has run since the end of 2006 from Krekov trg, and the walk up starts in the old town.
€15–19
- T
Triple Bridge
The stone bridge by Giovanni Picco opened in 1842, and Plečnik designed the two footbridges that flank it in 1929, with the work finished in 1932. Together they join Prešeren Square to the old town. They have carried only pedestrians since 2007, and crossing them is free.
free
- C
Central Market
Plečnik built these two-storey arcades along the Ljubljanica between 1940 and 1944. Upstairs are shops with Slovenian products and places to eat, and downstairs the fish market. It is shut on Sundays and holidays. On Fridays from mid-March to the end of October Open Kitchen turns Pogačarjev trg nearby into a kitchen.
free · closed Sundays and holidays
- P
Plečnik House
The architect's own home at Karunova 4–6 is visited on a guided tour only. A tour leaves on the hour for seven people at most, in Slovenian or English, and the last one starts at 17:00. The permanent exhibition belongs to the visit, and the house is shut on Mondays.
€12 · closed Mondays; 1 January, 1 November and 25 December · booking: timed slot
- M
Metelkova
Barracks built in 1882 became an autonomous cultural centre when squatters moved in during September 1993. Seven buildings on about 12,500 square metres now hold galleries and clubs, and Hostel Celica uses part of them. It has been national cultural heritage since 2005, and entry is free.
free
- T
Tivoli Park
Tivoli is the city's park, about 5 km² once Rožnik hill is counted. It lies inside the city and needs no ticket, which makes it an easy hour of green between two sights.
free
Stories from Ljubljana
How it actually was when we were there, and what was worth it.
Ljubljana Christmas markets: where the stalls are and how to walk them
→Ljubljana's Advent market runs as a string of stalls along the river, from Prešeren Square to Breg.
New Year's Eve in Ljubljana: four squares, midnight and the ride home
→Ljubljana spreads its New Year's Eve over four free squares in the old town instead of one stage.
Nomadinho scores out of 100, the same ones behind “Where to go”.
If you like Ljubljana
Three places with the closest scores, from any country.
Ready for Ljubljana?
Within reach from here
Places sorted by straight-line distance from Ljubljana — day trips or weekends.
Slovenia
→Alpine peaks, a capital with no cars in its centre and 47 kilometres of Adriatic coast in a country under twenty thousand square kilometres
Croatia
→A thousand islands and one road that looks down on all of them
Austria
→A country where the train from a Vienna coffee house to a Tyrolean cable car takes just over four hours — so you choose the order, not the country
Italy
→The cities on the high-speed line are an hour or two apart; the coast, Matera and the Tuscan hills lie off it
Hungary
→A capital on the Danube, a hill-country wine town, a southern city near Croatia and Central Europe's biggest lake, all in a country without the euro
Bosnia and Herzegovina
→Two cities, a mark pegged to the euro and mountains that were Olympic in 1984
North Macedonia
→Skopje on the Vardar, Ohrid on a UNESCO lake and about three hours of road between them
All 292 places we write about sit on one page — narrow them down by continent, country, price or what you are travelling for.
Within reach from here: Bled, Klagenfurt and Trieste
See how much of that actually suits you — or pin Ljubljana if you have been.
Front row for the next trip
Leave your email and we'll let you know when a new destination or story goes up.