Ljubljana Off the Usual Route: Nebotičnik, Šmarna Gora and Open Kitchen

Ljubljana keeps three of its better pleasures off the postcard: one up, one on a hill and one on a single day of the week. A skyscraper café, a church above the treeline and a Friday market kitchen all sit away from the Triple Bridge crowd, and each can be done in under a day.

Nebotičnik opened on 21 February 1933, and it was built to be seen. Architect Vladimir Šubic gave it 13 storeys and a height of 70.35 m, which made it the tall newcomer on a skyline of church towers and low roofs. It still reads as a tall building when you walk towards it along Štefanova, number 1. It looks out of place, and handsome with it.

The reward is at the top. The café occupies the last three floors and reopened in July 2010. The best seats go to whoever arrives before the sun does. Come for a coffee late in the day, when the light turns the castle hill the colour of toast, and take the table that faces the old centre.

Šmarna Gora is the highest hill in Ljubljana at 669 m, and it needs no ticket. The summit is crowned by a pilgrimage church built in 1711 and 1712 by Gregor Maček, and a bell rings there every day half an hour before noon, in memory of a Turkish raid that was turned back. Nobody who lives in the city seems to treat it as an event, which is the best sign that you should.

A circular path has gone round the hill since 1974, and the neighbouring peak, Grmada, is taller by seven metres at 676 m. The circular path lets you come down by another way than you went up, so the summit becomes a loop. Pick Šmarna Gora on a clear morning and leave the rain for Postojna. Start early rather than planning the descent down to the minute. Bring water and shoes with grip. From the top you see the city you just left in one piece, tiny and orderly, with the castle hill small in the middle.

Friday on Pogačarjev trg

Open Kitchen turns the square into a kitchen every Friday from mid-March to the end of October. Cooks from Slovenian restaurants prepare dishes from all over the world. One stall may serve a plate that has nothing to do with Slovenia, cooked by someone who knows the local produce. Entry to the square costs nothing, and you pay only for what you eat.

It does not run in bad weather, so decide on Friday morning, not on Thursday night. The Central Market is only a few steps away, which makes the sensible plan simple: browse the Plečnik arcades first, where the halls of 1940 to 1944 keep the fish market downstairs and shops with Slovenian products upstairs, then cross to the square and eat. If your visit has no Friday in it, the market stalls are the closest substitute, though they close on Sundays. Come hungry and let the cook explain what is in the pot. Half the pleasure is hearing a Slovenian chef describe a dish from another country.

3 daysThese three fit the gaps in the three-day plan, one Friday and two clear mornings.Ljubljana in 3 days →

FoodWhat to eat once you have found the right square.What to eat in Ljubljana →

MistakesThe usual mistakes, for the hours when nothing off-route is open.Mistakes everyone makes in Ljubljana →

When to goWhich months give Šmarna Gora a view and Open Kitchen a table.The best time to visit Ljubljana →

Day tripsBled, Postojna and Škofja Loka, for the day you leave town.Day trips from Ljubljana →

Getting aroundHow to reach the foot of the hill and the top of the town.Getting around Ljubljana →

BudgetŠmarna Gora and Open Kitchen are free to enter, and the budget page prices the rest of the city.What Ljubljana costs →

Where to stayWhere to sleep, from the Old Town to Tivoli, is set out on the page about accommodation.Where to stay in Ljubljana →