36 hours in Ljubljana, Slovenia
I always used to get Slovakia and Slovenia mixed up as their names are quite similar and I haven't been to either. It's a bit like many people getting Thailand and Taiwan mixed up because both are in Asia and starts with T. In my defence, the first four letters of Slovakia and Slovenia are the same, so you can't really blame me for getting them mixed up!!
Now that I am actually in Slovenia, I finally know they're different and can add another pinned country in my Worldmappin map. But I have another problem. How do you pronounce Ljubljana? It's totally unfamiliar to me, not a place I hear on the news or in TV programmes. "Lj" is not pronounceable in English, L-jub ... then I give up. I've literally been pulling my hair out since I started to organise my Slovenia trip. After a few months, and watching many YouTube travel videos, I finally got it. Lu-bi-ana. How difficult was that? 😉
I had 36 hours in Ljubljana, that included one full day. I spent all of that time in the old town, mostly walking along the Ljubljanica. That's the river in the city. Ljubljana isn't a big capital city, in fact the country isn't that big, it's population is 2.1m, and is one of the smaller countries in the EU. As a first time tourist, I wandered around the city centre, and the famous bridges such as the Dragon Bridge. The dragon has historical (probably mythical) ties with Ljubljana and even features on the city's coat of arms as seen in the first image above.
The Triple Bridge is another famous bridge, it's actually a group of three bridges, hence the name. The centre bridge is much wider than the other two, and the best thing is that it's all pedestrian only.
Across the river is Mestni trg, and the city's iconic Robbov Fountain. This area is also pedestrian only making it very comfortable to walk around. For a capital city, and such a beautiful cobblestone paved street, it wasn't busy at all, and didn't have many big shops, let alone luxury stores as you would normally find in a capital city's prime area. That's not a bad thing. Over consumerisation can kill a city.
I enjoyed walking around the city, particularly along the river. It's very green everywhere and it feels so calm and refreshing.
In the afternoon I went up to Ljubljana Castle. You can take the funicular up, it only takes 1 minute, or you can walk up. Of course I opted to walk, it's only a short trek up... so she says! That night I woke up in the middle of night with cramps in my calf 😬😅.
After a short but strenuous walk, it was lovely to just sit at the castle grounds, looking back down to the city. It's been a while I've seen so beautiful undulating mountain views. I think, but can't be certain, they may be the Julian Alps.
I didn't go inside the castle because I was a little tired, and didn't want to fork out €23 for the two of us when I knew I didn't have the energy to enjoy my visit.
I walked around the castle grounds, and before I headed back down to town left a #proofofpin from Hive behind.
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Wow, it looks like the weather was amazing for you. The city looks beautiful too! I'm glad you got to pin another pin in your board. I also don't blame you for messing up the two countries!
We've had some amazing weather so far. In fact UK has a mini heatwave this week, typical it's always nice at home when I'm away
Haha, that sounds about right!
That looks like such a beautiful place. Were you going somewhere else too or did you just decide on a quick 36 hours trip to a country you had never been too. Yes, people do that with Taiwan and Thailand so often!
I haven't won the lottery to travel on a whim like that yet 😆
There's a Hive meetup at Graz in Austria on Friday and Saturday and there are no convenient direct flights. I figured I'd go via a country I've never been before and have always wanted to go to Bled in Slovenia. It's an hour away from the capital, hence the stopover. And from Bled it's 4 hours to Graz. Ended up as bit of a convoluted travel in the end
Oh fun, that makes more sense, it would be cool if you had won the lottery and could travel like that. So fun that you can do Hive meetups more often! :) yay.
Wow, it's so amazing, the middle bridge looks so big and wide and the design is so beautiful, showing really amazing buildings, it's so amazing ❤️🙏
Surprising you found the boring bridge interesting compared to everything else, almost like you're paraphrasing my post
Precioso, un lugar paradisíaco
You're welcome
Wow, what a beautiful country, thanks for sharing, amazing photos!! 📸
You're welcome
I loved getting to know lu-bi-ana through your beautiful photographs... oh how bad are those cramps in the middle of the night! 😖
I may have bitten more than I can chew that day, other than that, I slept like a log all night
What beautiful pictures, excellent publication.😍💖
You're welcome
Wow!
A spectacular tour!
Magical hours indeed!
Congratulations!
Thanks for sharing every detail!
Hugs!
Welcome to Ljubljana, Slovenia!
36 hours is a start, but come for few days next time. A week and you can get whole country done. Its really a nice one.
Hope you will enjoy the rest of the country!
Hello local! You haven't been active much, busy in real life?
I am in Bled now, very pretty 😄
Hi there!
I would invite you for a coffee if I would be home and have some time...
Yes, unfortunately not active posting anymore. One time I will be back for sure. But right now I am very busy real life yes. Changed job. Have 3 kids, youngest little over half a year. So yes, busy...
But still curating daily for Curangel so I am going through feed.
Bled is very nice indeed and I think I know what I can expect from you hike post in next week(s).
What a beautiful city, I love the quiet atmosphere and the vegetation. I can imagine how your calves must have looked like..... it's steep that slope!!!! Thanks for taking us to know a new place. A hug and a great Hive meetup 🤗😉
I always end up walking a lot when I go away, I think the steep climb was the final straw, luckily I was ok the next morning
beautiful scenery
The weather is perfect for exploring the beautiful place. I like the center bridge with a nice view of all the surrounding old buildings. The river gives the place a different view and vibe. You surely had a great time exploring the place and discovering something unique or amazing along the way and between those moments.
I love the photos that you shared. Thanks for these wonderful pictures. I feel like going to these places by just looking at you photos. Thanks again !BBH
The beauty of Hive, you travel the world without having to leave home
Another country another sticker I feel your pain with a night time cramp, it just creeps up out of nowhere then wham jeez they are painful!!
I guess living in the pointy bit of the Uk it is quite flat with not many hills, shudda done the funicular.
Ljubljana looks and feels like a peaceful and scenic place to visit. A bit of everything
My physical strength is not as good as it used to be, that doesn't help😅
I only covered a very small part of the city, was walking up and down and around most of the time, but what I saw was very nice. It would be a disaster for a capital city if they can't be even get that right
Always good to wander aimlessly
Spending 36 hours in a place you've never been to is a big surprise, we can explore and get a lot of new things and new experiences, I like the atmosphere of the river which looks very calm, the sunny weather adds to the beauty of some of the photos you took.
It's really amazing, have a nice day my friend.
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This is a really beautiful city and it is always a pleasure to watch from high above. For me Ljubljana is more difficult to write than to read haha.
Interesting information: The first time I heard the name of this city was when they played a football match with my favorite team Galatasaray, it was 2 years ago in August 🤣
Did your favourite team lose by a lot and that's why you remember them so well 😉
It's always a little hard work to trek up a castle or hill, but normally you are rewarded with fantastic views afterwards, well worth it
Nope my team won both games 😂
Damn, I love those (first) statues. Something very haunting about them, don't you think?
I had no idea (and forgive my ignorance here) that Slovenia was this beautiful. Meant to go once but ended up skipping it. Next time the chance arises, I'll definitely not make the same mistake again. Great photos!
They had a few of these 'unusual' statues around the city, but I didn't dig into their background.
I remember you like your bookshops? I saw quite a few small bookshops around the city selling old books. That probably says something about the city
Now I'm really curious. I found a trail of these little dragon guys in Krakow. What is it about cities and weird statues:)) and yes, a lot of old bookshops says a lot about a city! All good, I reckon!
Wandering through the city centre and crossing those iconic bridges felt like stepping into a blend of history and storybook charm. The Dragon Bridge it’s like standing face to face with a symbol of the city’s spirit and folklore.🥰 Nice shots!
I like the architecture of the city. I understand what you say at the beginning about Slovenia and Slovakia. The same for Taiwan and Thailand. In America there are similar thoughts but regarding continental expression.
Ljubljana looks like a Romance language, but it is not. Although it is easier to read it in English. :P
Of all the pictures I really liked the one of the sculpture, beautiful. If you look at it closely, it causes a state of anxiety. Maybe, the concept was guilt or something similar.
I was there for work a few years back. Only got to see a little of the city in the evenings, but it looked nice. Had a really nice meal there. As we were there in winter the people we worked with took us sledding in the mountains.
My daughter was there last year when she went inter-railing around Europe.
Hiya, @lauramica here, just swinging by to let you know that this post made it into our Honorable Mentions in Travel Digest #2546.
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Thanks so much Laura!!
You are very welcome @livinguktaiwan! it was well deserved. ☀️
Keep up the great work 💪
It's a beautiful place. Thanks for showing us
When I first encountered the city name Ljubljana several years ago, I was also wondering how the heck it would be pronounced! 😂 After a little poking-about online, I found a video about the city, and the name sounded so beautiful and melodic — you • blee • ah • na — and I have been charmed by the sound of the name ever since! I imagined that a city with such a lovely name must be pretty and interesting, so I was happy to see the blog of a Hivean who actually went there! Thanks for sharing the pics and story of your visit! 😊
Is there someone on Hive who sells those WorldMapPin stickers? Or do you just upload the design, yourself, to a site where you can print-on-demand (like RedBubble, CafePress, etc.)? I don't do a lot of traveling, but it would be nice to have a couple of them, just in case! I have an account on RedBubble already, if that's the best way to do it.