Our visit to Ljubljana Old Town

Our Visit to Beautiful Ljubljana Old Town

The header photograph above shows a view of the Ljubljanica river with Ljubljana Castle in the background.

Related post: Our visit to the Slovenian Railway Museum in Ljubljana.

To view full-sized photographs, click or touch any image.

The wife and I visited the charming and picturesque Ljubljana old town in Slovenia in late May/early June 2024. We thought this city was one of the most underrated places we had visited.

During our week in the city, we mostly heard lots of North American accents, German and Italian-speaking tourists and almost a complete lack of UK accents.

Don’t worry about your favourite translation tool. Everyone speaks English!

Ljubljanica River in Ljubljana Old Town.
Ljubljanica river

The photograph above is of the Ljubljanica river that winds its way through this beautiful city.

We couldn’t figure out why there seemed to be a lack of British tourists. Perhaps many from the UK have yet to discover this very pretty and friendly city.

I have made it my mission to introduce Ljubljana Old Town to potential tourists from the UK and those of you from other countries. I am sure that if you do visit, you will not be disappointed.

An Introduction to Ljubljana Old Town

The associated two-minute video is an introduction to Prešeren Square, Prešernov trg in Slovene. Depending on where you are staying this may be your first meeting with the old town of Ljubljana. In our case, we stayed at the Eurostars uHotel on Miklošičeva cesta, about a two-minute walk to the old town.

I have no affiliation with this hotel but I do like to give credit where I have received excellent service and have no hesitation in recommending the Eurostars uHotel.

Prešeren Square in The Old Town

The Prešeren Monument in Ljubljana, Prešernov spomenik in Slovene, commemorates the Slovene national poet France Prešeren.

The building behind the monument is the Central Pharmacy in Ljubljana.

Prešeren Monument.
Prešeren Monument

Other Buildings and Monuments in Prešeren Square

Franciscan Church of the Annunciation.
Franciscan Church of the Annunciation

The The Triple Bridge over the Ljubljanica river, Tromostovje in Slovene, is in the foreground of the photo.

Hauptmann House and and Frisch House.
Hauptmann House (left) and Frisch House (right)

Two bourgeois palaces in the square.

Urbanc House.
Urbanc House

The first department store in Lubljana was built in 1903 by Feliks Urbanc.

Views of The Ljubljanica

The Ljubljanica.
The Ljubljanica.
The Ljubljanica.

Kongresni trg square

This square held some amazing surprises. The centre of the square is occupied by the leafy Zvezda park.

Around this park are the splendid buildings of the University of Ljubljana, the Slovenian Philharmonic and the Slovenian School Museum.

Zvezda park.
Zvezda Park

Architectural Gems in Kongresni trg

University of Ljubljana.
University of Ljubljana
Slovenian Philharmonic.
Slovenian Philharmonic
Slovenian School Museum.
Slovenian School Museum

Slovenes Take Pride in Their Capital

Ljubljana is a clean and tidy city with a complete absence of litter. There are numerous nicely designed recycling bins throughout the city, and I observed them used many times.

The associated photo shows recycling bins in Zvezda Park.

Recycling bins in Zvezda Park.
Recycling bins in Zvezda Park

Slovensko Srbski Antikvariat in Ljubljana

A bit of Yugonostalgia?

I came across the Slovenian-Serbian Club at Trubarjeva cesta 19, close to Ljubljana old town.

According to an online article on the Novice Svet 24 website, the bookshop/club also includes an antique shop.

The bookshop owner, Dušan Cunjak, says there is a lot of interest in Serbo-Croat literature, especially among philosophers, economists and doctors.

Slovene Serbian book and antique shop.
Slovene Serbian book and antique shop

I have, until now, shielded you from the prolific amounts of graffiti in the Ljubljana old town. You can see an example of this graffiti in the above photograph of the Slovenian-Serbian Club. This was our only disappointment in the old town. Opinions about this graffiti are divided. The official Visit Ljubljana website raves about this, while at the same time telling us that creating graffiti is illegal. I’ll let you be the judge. I stress that seeing this graffiti was a minor annoyance to us. I would encourage you not to let this dissuade you from visiting Ljubljana.

Ljubljana’s Love Bridge

Ljubljana’s love bridge is called the Butchers’ Bridge.

Numerous couples have symbolically padlocked their love here and thrown the keys into the Ljubljanica, which runs beneath.

The love padlocks attached to the bridge’s railings are one of Ljubljana’s many romantic stories.

Butchers' Bridge.
Butchers’ Bridge

Ljubljana Castle

Ljubljana Castle has towered on a hill above the city for about 900 years. The views of Ljubljana old town and beyond to the mountains are beautiful. You can either take the funicular railway for a short ride to the castle or take a 15-minute leisurely walk.

Ljubljana Castle.
Ljubljana Castle
View from the castle.
View from the castle
Funicular railway.
Funicular railway

Our Thoughts About Ljubljana Old Town

We think that Ljubljana is a hidden gem that will reward you immensely. If you are looking for a destination with a laid-back atmosphere, with very friendly hosts and excellent cuisine, Ljubljana old town will be just the ticket for you.

We flew with EasyJet from Gatwick and the flight time was just over two hours. EasyJet flies to Ljubljana from other London airports and BA fly there from London Heathrow. We used EasyJet’s hotel booking service and as previously mentioned, we loved the hotel we chose.

The wife enjoying her meal in Ljubljana Old Town.
The wife enjoying her meal in Ljubljana old town

Related Post

Our visit to the Slovenian Railway Museum in Ljubljana.

The associated photograph is of an Ex Kriegslok, renumbered to JŽ 33-339. This is now in a very sorry state at the Slovenian Railway Museum.

Ex Kriegslok JŽ 33-339.
Ex Kriegslok JŽ 33-339

External Links

Visit Ljubljana – Official website

Eurostars uHotel

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