11 Best Things to Do in Ljubljana (And What to Skip)

Ljubljana (pronounced loo-bee-ah-nah) is proof that a city doesn't need world-famous landmarks to be worth your time.

After visiting more than 450 cities around the world, we've become pretty selective about which ones we'd recommend adding to an itinerary. And while Ljubljana isn't a city we'd prioritise over places like Prague, London, or Seville, it absolutely has its place.

It's compact, colourful, and quite charming. You can walk the whole old town in an afternoon, the river running through it is beautifully turquoise, and there's a castle on the hill watching over everything.

We spent a full week here exploring the city in depth and using it as a base for day trips. And while not everything lived up to expectations, a handful of experiences did stand out.

So instead of listing everything you could do, we're focusing on what's actually worth your time.

Here are the 11 best things to do in Ljubljana we'd put on your itinerary, including our favourite old-town spots, where to try traditional štruklji, and two of the most memorable day trips we've done in Europe.

We've also included a few attractions we'd skip… yes, even Ljubljana Castle. And we'll explain exactly why.

The Triple Bridge sits right at the edge of the square, and connects the square to the old town. The whole architecture gave off a serious Venice vibe the moment we saw it.

And the river underneath is SO TURQUOISE. Coming from London, where the Thames is… well, not that, it was one of those things we wished we had at home. 

The guide of the walking tour we did mentioned Jože Plečnik on this square, who designed this bridge (and many more buildings).

Think of him as what Gaudí is for Barcelona. Once we heard the name, we started noticing his work everywhere, and if you keep reading, you will too.

Ironically, the creature he killed ended up becoming the city's symbol of protection, power, and courage.

Ljubljana liked the story so much it put dragons on the coat of arms, the beer labels, and eventually this bridge. We love that the city ran with it.

And if the dragon connection has you curious… wait until you hear about Postojna Cave further down. There are actual living dragons in there! We’re not joking.

3. Explore Ljubljana on a walking tour

After visiting hundreds of cities, a walking tour on day one is basically non-negotiable. It really is the fastest way to get to grips with a new city.

You leave with proper context for what you're seeing, and a handful of stories that make the rest of the trip more memorable.

Ljubljana was no different. We booked this Ljubljana walking tour on our first day, and everything we saw for the rest of our stay made so much more sense because of it.

The guide covered everything from the city's Roman beginnings to modern Slovenian life, encouraged questions throughout, and wove in personal stories along the way. Never once felt like a lecture.

👉 This is the Ljubljana walking tour we'd book if we were going back.

4. Walk the Ljubljanica promenade

The promenade is the heart of Ljubljana, and the moment you see it, you'll understand why.

The whole stretch is pedestrianised, lined with willow trees that dip into the water, and packed with open-air cafés, restaurants, and bars on both sides. We had a hard time deciding where to go. There were just so many good options.

Definitely stop at Moji štruklji Slovenije, right on the Ljubljanica River, where we had some of the best štruklji (traditional Slovene dumplings) of the whole trip.

And Ala Pršuterija is just a short walk away, a tapas bar with a brilliant outdoor terrace and a cheese and cured ham board we're still thinking about.

If you'd rather take it all in from the water, a boat tour is a lovely option.

If you're also planning to do a walking tour and visit some of the paid attractions, the Ljubljana Tourist Card is worth looking at. It includes a boat trip, a walking tour, and entry to 30+ museums and galleries.

5. Wander the old-town route

Ljubljana's old town is one of the most charming parts of the city, and the easiest way to explore it is by following the route through three squares: Mestni trg (Town Square), Stari trg (Old Square), and Gornji trg (Upper Square).

We've put together an illustrated map below to show exactly where it goes.

One thing we kept noticing along the route were honey shops. They have every colour and every flavour you can imagine (including pink!).

We later asked our walking tour guide about it, and he mentioned that Slovenians have a deep relationship with beekeeping. Funnily enough, even the Slovenian word for bear, medved, essentially means “the one who eats honey”.

Oh, and do you remember the living dragons we teased back in the section about Dragon Bridge earlier? They're here in Postojna Cave.

It's actually an olm, a blind cave salamander, that lives in these waters (they can live for up to 100 years), and locals call it the “baby dragon”. Absolutely wild.

We'd give this trip five out of five stars, and we don't say that lightly.

👉 This is the Postojna Cave and Predjama Castle tour we booked and loved.

7. Browse at the Central Market

Ljubljana’s Central Market runs along the river and this is where locals actually do their shopping. We visited on a few different days, but Friday was our favourite.

That's when the Open Kitchen (Odprta kuhna) takes over the square next door from March to November, with around 30 Slovenian restaurants cooking outdoors.

Oh, and keep an eye out for the vending machines. You can get things like eggs and fresh cow's milk straight from the machines.

We thought we'd seen every vending machine possible after Japan (they even have vending machines for umbrellas, pizza, and cakes in cans), but Ljubljana really surprised us here.

What makes Tivoli Park stand out from most green spaces we've visited is how much is actually going on. Most parks are just grass and a few trees.

Here there's a skatepark, tennis courts, football pitches, wide tree-lined boulevards, and even meditation circles. It was buzzing when we visited in late March, and it felt really good to just be there.

9. Take a day trip to Lake Bled

We love day trips from a city base, but if we're being totally honest, nature-heavy destinations aren't usually what draws us in. We're city people at heart. 

Our top tip: Lake Bled is about a one-hour drive from Ljubljana, but fitting the castle, the island boat, and the lake walk into a half-day without wasting time takes some planning. We booked this Lake Bled day tour and absolutely LOVED it. The guide handled the order, the timing, and the driving, and we were back in Ljubljana by early afternoon having seen everything we wanted to see.

The lake sits in the Julian Alps, with a tiny island church in the middle and Bled Castle on the clifftop in the background. There are swans on the water and wooden Pletna boats drifting across. It all looked almost too perfect to be real.

The town of Bled itself is nothing to write home about, to be fair. But the lake, the castle, the mountains behind it, and those swans drifting past? That view alone made the whole trip worthwhile. 

👉 One of the most beautiful places we saw in all of Slovenia. Don't leave without seeing it.

10. Discover Congress Square

Congress Square wasn't on our radar as a dedicated sight. We ended up here because our walking tour started in the square, and it turned out to be one of those happy accidents.

It's calm, spacious, and green, with grand buildings all the way around. The University of Ljubljana is the one that caught our eye, really elegant, and worth stopping to look at properly.

Plus, the square has one of the most beautiful views onto Ljubljana Castle.

Our tour guide mentioned that until the early 2010s, a large part of this square was a surface car park.

The city eventually moved the whole thing underground. We weren't surprised when we later found out Ljubljana ranks among the top 40 most sustainable cities in the world.

Now, the building really shows its age, the lift is slow, and it’s very much not a hip rooftop bar. Plus, the glass panels on top are fairly grimy, though there are gaps where you can get a clean shot without the smudges.

But we tried several viewpoints across the city, and this is the ONLY one that actually delivers.

What to skip in Ljubljana

Not everything in Ljubljana is worth your time, and we'd rather tell you that upfront than have you tick off a list of sights that left us a bit flat. These are all places we visited ourselves, so take this as a genuine heads-up rather than guesswork.

If you really do want to see the castle up close, skip the funicular and walk up via Reber Street (📍location here) instead. It only takes 10-15 minutes.

The inside is more impressive with its gold and white details. While they only charge a small entry fee of €3 (around £3 / $4), we still don’t think it was worth it.

If it were free, we'd say pop in for a few minutes. At €3, we'd save it for a coffee or something else.

On the ground floor they did have an iron lung, a large metal cylinder that kept polio patients alive by breathing for them, which was fascinating to see in real life.

A remarkable piece of history, and a little unsettling imagining what it must have been like lying inside. But beyond that, we'd skip this one.

In person though, it looked noticeably more run-down than either of those, and the people there appeared quite rough, with several looking like they were under the influence of drugs.

We didn't stick around long. For us, it definitely isn’t a must-see in Ljubljana and one we'd skip.

But let’s have a look into the card a bit more. The Ljubljana Tourist Card covers unlimited city bus travel, free admission to 20+ museums and galleries, a guided walking tour, a boat cruise along the Ljubljanica, bike hire, and a ticket to Ljubljana Castle + funicular.

Based on our list, the card doesn't quite add up. But once you add the castle and funicular in example 2, you're already saving money, and that's before factoring in any museums or galleries.

Before your trip, have a quick look at which paid attractions in Ljubljana you're keen to visit, run the numbers, and you might find that the Ljubljana Tourist Card saves you more than you'd expect.

We used two different shuttles during our trip. GoOpti on the way in, and Nomago on the way back. 

They dropped us off right in front of our hotel and picked us up there on the way back to the airport, which made a real difference after a long travel day. 

You can even pre-book a Nomago shuttle in advance (that’s what we did) and skip the hassle of sorting it on arrival.

Where the extra days come in is the day trips. We'd suggest building your trip around one day in Ljubljana, one day for Postojna Cave and Predjama Castle, and one day for a trip to Lake Bled.

That's three full days total, and a brilliant way to see this part of Slovenia.

We were there at the end of March and into early April, and the weather was really great. Warm enough to spend most of the day outside, without the heat and crowds that come with July and August.

Where to go after Ljubljana

What we'll remember most about Ljubljana isn't a single landmark, it's the pace. It made for a really nice change from busier capitals, even though we genuinely love big cities (London is our home and we wouldn't have it any other way).

If you're choosing between Ljubljana and somewhere like Vienna, and you want something calmer, smaller, and a lot easier to navigate, this is a brilliant call.

One of the best things about Ljubljana is the location. Slovenia borders four countries, so you're surprisingly close to a lot of brilliant European cities. Zagreb is about 1.5 hours by car, Venice around 2.5 hours, Vienna 4 hours, and Budapest roughly 5 hours.

No rental car for a road trip? You can also reach Vienna and Budapest by train and easily combine the two. If Budapest is on your radar, our must-sees in Budapest guide is the place to start.

And if you're still mapping out the broader trip, our roundup of the best cities to visit in Europe might help you decide where to head next.

Wherever you go next, Ljubljana is a great capital to see in Europe.

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