“Dober Dan!”: One Day in Ljubljana, Slovenia
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Even if you only have one day to visit Ljubljana, it’s worth the detour. The main objective of my trip to Slovenia was to hike the Triglav National Park and Soča River section of the Alpe-Adria Trail, but I’d heard so much about the capital city of Ljubljana that I worked a quick visit into my plans prior to embarking on the hike. It didn’t disappoint, and was an informative introduction to the country in terms of culture, food, and architecture.
I’m glad I did this prior to the trek instead of after, because my experiences in the city informed my perspective on the villages and people I would later encounter. I was truly inspired by Ljubljana and still think of it often. If you’re strapped for time, I still wouldn’t skip it. Using my itinerary below, you can accomplish plenty in just a 24-hour timeframe.
Pre-Trip Planning Notes
Self-Guided: Backpack Slovenia via the Alpe-Adria Trail
One Day Itinerary in Ljubljana, Slovenia:
5:30AM: Coffee and Night Photography
I got into Ljubljana at 5:30AM because I had to take a 10 hour bus from Zurich after Adria Airways went bankrupt. You do not have to get started this early in order to fit everything in, but if for some reason the transportation gods have forsaken you and you’re having to consider arriving at a less than ideal hour, rest easy that there will be establishments open where you can hang out until your hostel check-in time. I was so grateful to discover this, as many cities throughout Europe that I visited on this trip had no early morning options at all, even for coffee.
Across the street from the bus station (Avtobusna Postaja Ljubljana) is Box Bar coffee shop, plus a bakery and a couple of fast food joints (like Fast Food Adja) all open either 24 hours or very late/very early. After that, most other coffee shops will begin to open around 7am. I was grateful to have a variety of cafes where I could sit and charge my phone and put all my faith in caffeine to revive me from a sleepless night on the bus, but I also found that I enjoyed walking around Ljubljana before the city was fully awake. I didn’t feel unsafe at all and actually took the opportunity to aimlessly explore and photograph the buildings that were lit up for passersby to admire in the cover of night.
If you are interested in night photography in Ljubljana, you could also consider joining a “city of lights” guided photography tour. There is a daytime version too.
8:00AM: Find Hostel + Ljubljana Central Market
My hostel check-in time wasn’t until 3PM, but reception opened at 8AM so I swung by to drop off my backpack. I opted to stay at Kva Hostel because of the price, central location, and great reviews, and I ended up happy with my choice. They have a greater variety of free breakfast options than most hostels, the staff was friendly, the main lounge room was vibey, the building was right on the absolutely gorgeous Ljubljanica River (my favorite feature of Old Town), and each bunk had an outlet and reading light.
I planned to stay at Hostel Celica after my hike, on my last night before my flight home to Denver. This is an old historical prison turned into a hostel, and I had reserved my very own prison cell. Unfortunately I had to cancel it when the Adria Airways bankruptcy forced me to rearrange my flights, but if you’re able to grab a spot there it sounds pretty cool! Pin Pal Stray With David was able to stay at Celica on his recent trip to Ljubljana, so I feel like I got to go in spirit!
Update: it appears Kva Hostel is now closed 🙁 They have been replaced by a new hostel called Vila Veselova. Check out plenty of alternative Ljubljana hostel suggestions on Hostelworld.
As I made my way towards Ljubljana Castle, I followed the directions to walk through Central Ljubljana Market in Vodnik Square (Vodnikov trg), not realizing I would truly stumble into an active market that day. It turns out there is an open air market every day except Sunday and on holidays! It was expansive, filling the entire square plus the promenade along the Ljubljanica River, and suddenly my morning was bustling with life. I imagined myself as a local, stepping out to collect my weekly groceries from the farmers who had gathered from around Slovenia. I could get used to this.
The next day was a Sunday and the antique market was set up right in front of my hostel, which is the opposite river bank from where the farmer’s market is throughout the rest of the week. If the only day you have in the city is a Sunday, you won’t get to experience the full extent of the Central Market (though a handful of merchants were still sat out), but you can check out the antique market instead.
9:00AM: Ljubljana Castle
Visitors with only one day in Ljubljana will want to prioritize its looming castle. Ljubljana grad (aka Castle) opens to visitors at 9:00am. There are a few options to get there, mainly by taking the funicular, by public transportation, or walking. The walk is steep but short, and it’s free unlike the 2-second-long funicular, so I climbed up the trail to get there. Once atop the hill, you’ll choose from a variety of ticket price tiers in order to enter the castle (you may be able to find cheaper prices/tours on TripAdvisor or GetYourGuide). I explored the viewing tower, the Slovenian history museum, and the penitentiary, but you are also able to walk the ramparts and surrounding gardens, visit a cafe and jazz club, and check out a puppetry museum.
11:00AM: Ethnographic Museum + National Museum of Slovenia + Metelkova Mesto
I walked across town to the Ethnographic Museum, where there was a special exhibit on Shamanism of the Peoples of Siberia and a permanent exhibit on Slovenian history. The shaman collection is one of the coolest museum exhibits I’ve seen anywhere, courtesy of the Russian Museum of Ethnography in Saint Petersburg. As of October 20, 2019 it’s no longer being featured at the Slovenian Ethnographic Museum (I hope it will be on display elsewhere), but current exhibits can be found here.
The Slovenian history exhibit was all written in the Slovenian language, so I didn’t totally understand the artifacts I was looking at which was a trippy experience. Some of the costumes looked like they came from another planet, or from the movie Midsommar, and I couldn’t grasp their purpose. Later I tweeted pictures, and Helene from Wandering Helene (an American living in Slovenia) chimed in to let me know that these costumes are part of the Kurentovanje celebration before Lent. This is why I love the blogging community – mystery solved!
The Ethnography, National, and Art museums are all right next to each other. Unfortunately each museum requires a separate ticket, so you don’t pay one price to see them all, but at least they’re cheap. It was only 6 Euros to get into the National Museum of Slovenia. According to the website, there are usually more exhibits than what I was able to see when I attended. The setup was a little strange, with randomly curated rooms where the artifacts and art on display didn’t seem to relate to each other in any way, and items from different eras sat next to each other (for instance, in the furniture room, a medieval chair next to a chair from the 1940s).
I skipped the art museum and went instead to Metelkova mesto, an old army barracks turned into a punk-AF public art display. I loved the graffiti and sculptures made of found treasures, and I know that the grounds see many tourist visitors every day, but I did feel a bit intrusive knowing that it’s also a squat. There were a handful of people hanging around who I thought might live there, so in an effort to be respectful I shuffled through pretty quickly.
1:00PM: Ljubljana Food Tour
The most popular food tours in Ljubljana are LjubljanaNjam Food Tours and Food Tour Ljubljana. I did the second one, which was also a bit of a history walk. They meet daily at 1pm which does cut your museum time short; you could opt to go with a different food tour company that has different times, or just do the museums after the food tour. Keep in mind the museums close at 6pm.
I learned a ton about the culture of Slovenia in addition to the food, and got to taste a few dishes I’d never had anything remotely similar to. I particularly remember the turnip soup and the sirovi štruklji, a side dish that’s often described as similar to a cheese dumpling. It was delicious and the tour guide explained that štruklji can also be a dessert dish, so obviously my interest was piqued. She told me that in the morning I should check out a cafe called Moji Štruklji in the Central Market area along the river for a huge selection, and to pick the buckwheat walnut version with a breadcrumb topping.
Twist my arm.
I was particularly surprised to taste how good the wine from Slovenia is, especially the various whites. For some reason I wouldn’t have pegged the country as particularly noteworthy for wine, probably because I don’t see too many Slovenian wines sold overseas in America. It turns out that’s because most of the sellers are local boutique companies you must buy from directly, which makes it a little more special, don’t you think?
I also learned Slovenia is known for its salt, pumpkin seed oil, olive oil, and tarragon. The entrees are rather hearty, including sausage (I had a particularly good Kranjska sausage) and a lot of cheese-based dishes. The desserts are often some form of pastry with either cheese or apple filling.
If you don’t do a food tour but still want to try local traditional foods, hop over to Güjžina which is hailed as having the best Prekmurska Gibanica layer cake. To be honest this wasn’t my favorite Slovenian dish I tried during the trip; I found the apple layers overpowering, but if you’re someone who loves apple-y desserts and pies, you might feel differently.
You might also give local pizza a go! I tried some from a spot just down the block from my hostel, not really expecting much, but it actually turned out to be fantastic. I kept forgetting how close we were to Italy, and that the entire region probably owns the pizza game.
4:00PM: Walk it Off
When the food tour was over, I decided to rest at the hostel since I hadn’t slept the prior night, but for you this would be a good opportunity to visit some of the places I didn’t get a chance to; perhaps Tivoli Park and the Botanical Garden, or the House of Illusions. Or, if you wanted more time at the museums, you still have a couple hours before they close. Choose your own adventure!
6:30PM: Gelato Wars
Ridiculous when you’ve already done a food tour, I know. I was on a mission. Two years ago when I was living in California and driving two hours every morning on the 405 to get to work every day, I would listen to travel podcasts to dream about the day I might get out of the grind. An episode of Extra Pack of Peanuts is the first time I heard about Ljubljana, and they dedicated a whole section of it to the tons of gelato places they tried in the city. I remembered how pumped they were about this place called Vigò, so I knew I wanted to check it out. It was, indeed, delicious.
In the podcast when they declared Vigò the best of all the ice cream shops they tried, it was noted with particular significance because all the official city guides repeatedly mention another shop, Cacao, as the best in town. I obviously had to compare the two, for science.
I’ve got to say, this place is as cool as everyone says it is. First of all, it’s not just gelato – at Cacao you can order unique looking cakes, tarts, and mousses as well, and the extensive menu features all kinds of dessert drinks, including an entire page of different hot chocolate concoctions. For some reason you can also order alcohol, and I think they might have regular food too (who cares). But the very first gelato flavor I tried was so good that I ordered it on the spot without sampling any others – a mascarpone gelato with a layer of chocolate cake and another layer of melty pistachio sauce. It was scooped out of the display like a regular gelato, but it was more of an ice cream cake. My god, it was the best gelato I’ve ever had, no exaggeration. I’m not a religious person but this gelato may be the proof I need.
Cacao wins the gelato wars for me (or at least that one flavor does).
8:30PM: Nightlife
I’m not much of a nightlife person because I’m usually waking up at dawn to begin another day of hiking. It’s become such a habit to just wander the streets and then read, do some work online, or start winding down early that it sticks with me even on days when I don’t have to be up the next morning. If you’re the type to barhop at this point in the night, I set you loose with a few resources for help:
Visit Ljubljana: Clubs and Nightlife
Party in Ljubljana: 7 Clubs You have to visit while in Ljubljana
Arrival Guides: Ljubljana Bars & Nightlife
Nightlife City Guide: Ljubljana Nightlife and Clubs
One day in Ljubljana is all you need to fall in love. I absolutely adored Ljubljana and Slovenia as a whole; I fondly think back to it quite often. I even tried to make buckwheat walnut štruklji at home (it did not go well…if a Slovene out there is reading this, please loan me a recipe so I can pursue justice). What’s your favorite town in Slovenia? And, most importantly – what’s your favorite ice cream in Ljubljana?
🏨 Find budget hostels in Ljubljana here, and standard hotel options here.
🇸🇮 Book a day trip from Ljubljana to Lake Bled or Postojna Cave and Predjama Castle.
✈️ Coming to Slovenia from further afield? Use an Airalo eSIM for affordable international cell data and don’t forget to protect your investment with travel insurance.
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