What Ljubljana costs
The castle, Plečnik House and the day trips break the bill; bridges, parks and a sausage save it.
- From the airport
- €4.10, Arriva bus
- Bus ride
- €1.50 (valid 90 min)
- Dorm bed
- from €12 (dorm bed)
Ljubljana is cheap to walk and costly to tick off. The centre is a car-free loop of bridges, squares and riverbank that nobody charges you to cross, so the bill is settled by a handful of tickets: the castle, Plečnik House and one cave. The table below sets out beds, buses and meals. The two sections after it show where the total climbs and where it can be held down.
Everything per person, in euros. The day is the same basket across the site: a bed, two meals, city transport and admissions.
Where the bill breaks
The castle is the first decision. A ticket without the funicular is €15 at the box office and a little less online, and the version with the return ride is €19. Both cover the tower, the 4D film Virtual Castle, the video mapping in the casemates, the Puppetry Museum and the Slovenian history exhibition. Most of what you pay buys contents, not a ride, and children under 7 go in free.
Plečnik House on Karunova is the second line, €12 with the guided tour. The tour is the only way into the original rooms. The permanent exhibition alone is cheaper, €8, but it leaves the house itself out. Postojna is the largest single item, because the cave alone is €34.90 and Predjama Castle alone is €24. The package of both with the EXPO is €55 and brings the train through the cave, the aquarium with the olm and the castle on its 123 m cliff.
The tourist tax comes on top of every bed, €3.13 per person per night. Children aged 7 to 18, guests of IYHF-network hostels and campsites pay a reduced rate.
Where to save
Everything that fills the postcards is free. The Triple Bridge, the riverbank, Tivoli Park and the Šmarna Gora hill cost nothing. The funicular is the saving most visitors miss. The return ride is €6 on its own and the path from the Old Town takes 10 to 20 minutes, so walk up and ride down once the legs have had enough. On Fridays from mid-March to the end of October the Open Kitchen on Pogačarjev trg is free to enter, and the cooks are local restaurant chefs.
Food and wheels follow the same rule. A sausage at Klobasarna on Ciril-Metodov trg is lunch for €5.50, and the BicikeLJ weekly subscription is €1, with the first hour of every rental free. The Ljubljana Card is the one saving that needs arithmetic: €41 / €49 / €54 for 24, 48 and 72 hours. Each attraction counts once and the clock starts at first use.
The card lists the castle, a river cruise, a city tour, unlimited LPP buses and the National Gallery among its thirty-plus attractions. The funicular and the museums are not on that list. Add up the two or three tickets you actually plan, then compare the sum with the card.
The same comparison for 156 places: hostel, hotel, getting into town and a day pass. Travel costs →
Where to next
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.
Bled · 46 km
→A lake with an island, a castle on a cliff and the Julian Alps behind it all: Bled takes two days, or three with Vintgar and Bohinj
How well does Ljubljana suit you?
→Six questions: a score for this place and others like it.
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.
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