Ljubljana - Slovenia

There is a reason, they call Austria the heart of Europe. My homeland is surrounded by 8 countries. Germany, Switzerland, Italy, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Slovakia, Liechtenstein and a small little country called Slovenia. With its population of only 2 million people, Slovenia is one of the tiniest countries in all Europe. But there are a few reasons why you should visit the capital Ljubljana once in your lifetime.

After a 3 hour bus trip from Graz, I arrived in this beautiful little city. The bus/train station is only a 5 minutes walk away from the center. The town is pretty much build around the Save river and the two main roads are connected with 5 wonderful bridges. The Triple Bridge, the Shoemakers Bridge, the Fish Market Bridge, the Butchers Bridge which is full of love padlocks and the famous Dragon Bridge with it‘s 4 huge dragons sitting on each stake.

The center is one big pedestrian zone. A fact I love about bigger cities even if this one has only about 300.000 inhabitants.

I stayed at Vander Urbani Resort directly in town. A place i would definitely recommend for travelers who want to wake up and be directly in the middle of the city. The roof top with its pool offers a wonderful view on the Save river on the one side and gives you a chance for a great picture of the Ljubljana castle on the other side.

Cankarjevo nabrezje is the street you have to go if you are searching for good local or international food. Also the bars in this street are the most popular in town.

Two restaurants I really enjoyed while staying in Ljubljana were the Ek Bistro and Pop‘s place. Ek Bistro located at the Grain Bridge offers an amazing breakfast in a fancy room looking like an old stable. Try the eggs benedict or the Shakshuka, you will love it.  If you are more into burgers Pop‘s is the place to be. It‘s always packed, so be sure to be there early if you wanna have dinner. The staff is super nice and I had a wonderful evening in the restaurant located at the Fish Market Bridge.

The gardens around the castle of Ljubljana are more impressive than the castle it self. I think the entrance fee of 15 Euro are just crazy so I skipped the inside of the castle and enjoyed the gardens and the view down to the heart of the city. Anyways, if you are there you should do the 10 minute walk or take the rack railway up there.

One of the things I loved in Ljubljana was sitting near a bridge enjoying a good Lazko or Union beer and watching people try to get their perfect picture of the castle or the bridges. The outside areas of the pubs are sunny all day, so take a break have beer and enjoy your life.

You can find tons of street art all over the city. Metelkova is definitely one of the biggest graffiti spots I visited. It's the alternative art district of Ljubljana. It is a colored city in the city. If you wanna see more good and fun street art you should walk through Tivoli park up to a little cinema called Kino Siska. Make sure to check out the toilet in the cinema, where you find some cool art on the walls.

• Have dinner and some drinks directly at the Save river on Cankarjevo nabrezje street
• Check out the street art at Metelkova
• Walk over all 5 bridges to see the inner part of the city
• Visit the Ljubljana castle
• Take a walk at Tivoli park