Our fourth annual sister trip is complete; this time, we were exploring the streets of Ljubljana. Yes, it took me a while to learn how to say it too (and to google where it actually was). It is the capital city of Slovenia. Very small in size, a bit more untouched by tourism; but incredibly charming and thoroughly enjoyable to visit.
I'm not sure what I imagined in my head Slovenia looked like, but it definitely wasn't what we saw! It is one of the prettiest places I've ever been. Not to say I didn't think it would be pretty of course, but I was really blown away by how picturesque it all was - just look at my Instagram!
This blog isn't going to be as long as my other travel blogs; simply because there's not actually a lot to do in Ljubljana. If you're there you must do the day trips to Lake Bled, Postjana Caves and Predjama Castle. If you didn't I think you'd get a little bored, to be honest. We spent the first day meandering around the city, it's definitely one of those places where you can just wander around for a few hours. Every street is filled with old but beautiful buildings, for someone who's a bit snap happy with their camera you can imagine I was in heaven!
We popped into Ljubljana Cathedral, which is worth a look if you're into that sort of thing, then we got on the Furnicular and went up to the castle. We had been told beforehand that there wasn't much point going up there. There are different things to see, but to be honest, it's not the most impressive castle so we didn't bother; we just went up there for the view. Luckily for us, it was such a beautiful sunny day, you could see the mountains in the distance which made for quite beautiful scenery. I would say it's worth a look whilst you're there; travel on the funicular is cheap and you can always walk if you want - although it is pretty steep so I wouldn't recommend walking up, maybe just down.
We spent our second day at the Postjana Caves and Predjama Castle. The caves are one of the largest in the world and they are over seven million years old - wow! They're so big there's even a train in them, yes, a train. Overall you spend about an hour and a half on the tour; with a guide talking you through all the interesting facts about the caves. I'll be honest when I first heard that time I did a subtle eye roll. I thought that's way too long to spend in caves surely? That being said, I did enjoy it and actually found it very interesting.
Predjama Castle is quite the sight to behold. It's basically a castle sticking out of some rock (see pictured). Also very interesting if you're into a bit of history with some cracking views. You get an audio guide to listen to whilst walking around, I normally pass on any sort of guide and did find myself skipping some bits but still worthwhile to get a bit more info on certain areas. To get between the caves and castle you can only really get a taxi, during summer months there's a shuttle apparently but for us, we had to cab it. A bit annoying for our budget but much better than walking; and our taxi driver waited for us whilst we were in the castle so he could take us back to the caves when we had finished. It is worth mentioning that most of the excursions are quite pricey, The castle and caves were around 30 euros each and the cab on top of that was another 30.
Our third and final day was spent at Lake Bled, if you do anything whilst in Slovenia, it must be this! I don't know if it was the weather but the whole place was stunning. I took so many pictures I think everyone's bored of them by now! It was about an hour and a half bus journey there, but the bus was very comfortable and the scenery on the journey kept it interesting. We rented some bikes for a few hours and cycled the perimeter of the lake, which was probably the best way to do it, it would have been a very very long walk! We did also walk up to the castle at the top of the hill, a very big hill that is, but decided not to go in the castle. You do get a pretty good view whilst you're up there but with an 11 euro entry fee and our funds dwindling we decided to give this one a miss. One word of warning, most places there do NOT take card payments so make sure you have plenty of cash as the ATM's are also very few and far between. We found ourselves walking back and forth most of the day. Even so, Lake Bled is a must see!
We had some veryyyyyy decent food whilst there. The stand out meal was having the tasting menu at Monstera Bistro; a bit more pricey but a really lovely experience. The service was friendly and fun and the food was divine! Other honourable mentions are Druga Violina for lunch and EK Bistro for breakfast. If you're a fan of cocktails then you must visit the rooftop bar Neboticnik Skyscraper; tasty cocktails with some brilliant views - especially in the sunshine! Saturday night was a bit of a struggle for us, we had intended for more of a night out but unfortunately, Ljubljana doesn't quite offer the same nightlife as London. We attempted to go to a place called Metelkova which appeared to be more of a student area, but it wasn't quite the vibe we were going for at the time so we gave it a miss. We did, however, find a nice bar on the river that had heaters under the table so we parked ourselves there for the night (although even that closed at around midnight).
If you love more relaxed city breaks than you will love Ljubljana; the locals are really friendly, a cocktail costs no more than 5 euros and it's just so darn pretty. Not a huge tourist hotspot at the moment, it's definitely one to visit ASAP!
Watch my vlog of the trip below!
This blog isn't going to be as long as my other travel blogs; simply because there's not actually a lot to do in Ljubljana. If you're there you must do the day trips to Lake Bled, Postjana Caves and Predjama Castle. If you didn't I think you'd get a little bored, to be honest. We spent the first day meandering around the city, it's definitely one of those places where you can just wander around for a few hours. Every street is filled with old but beautiful buildings, for someone who's a bit snap happy with their camera you can imagine I was in heaven!
We popped into Ljubljana Cathedral, which is worth a look if you're into that sort of thing, then we got on the Furnicular and went up to the castle. We had been told beforehand that there wasn't much point going up there. There are different things to see, but to be honest, it's not the most impressive castle so we didn't bother; we just went up there for the view. Luckily for us, it was such a beautiful sunny day, you could see the mountains in the distance which made for quite beautiful scenery. I would say it's worth a look whilst you're there; travel on the funicular is cheap and you can always walk if you want - although it is pretty steep so I wouldn't recommend walking up, maybe just down.
We spent our second day at the Postjana Caves and Predjama Castle. The caves are one of the largest in the world and they are over seven million years old - wow! They're so big there's even a train in them, yes, a train. Overall you spend about an hour and a half on the tour; with a guide talking you through all the interesting facts about the caves. I'll be honest when I first heard that time I did a subtle eye roll. I thought that's way too long to spend in caves surely? That being said, I did enjoy it and actually found it very interesting.
We had some veryyyyyy decent food whilst there. The stand out meal was having the tasting menu at Monstera Bistro; a bit more pricey but a really lovely experience. The service was friendly and fun and the food was divine! Other honourable mentions are Druga Violina for lunch and EK Bistro for breakfast. If you're a fan of cocktails then you must visit the rooftop bar Neboticnik Skyscraper; tasty cocktails with some brilliant views - especially in the sunshine! Saturday night was a bit of a struggle for us, we had intended for more of a night out but unfortunately, Ljubljana doesn't quite offer the same nightlife as London. We attempted to go to a place called Metelkova which appeared to be more of a student area, but it wasn't quite the vibe we were going for at the time so we gave it a miss. We did, however, find a nice bar on the river that had heaters under the table so we parked ourselves there for the night (although even that closed at around midnight).
If you love more relaxed city breaks than you will love Ljubljana; the locals are really friendly, a cocktail costs no more than 5 euros and it's just so darn pretty. Not a huge tourist hotspot at the moment, it's definitely one to visit ASAP!
Watch my vlog of the trip below!
YouTube: Julianna Green
Instagram: juliannagreen
Snapchat: juliannagreen
Twitter: @_juliannagreen
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