Greetings fellow travelers: My sister and I will be traveling to Slovenia in March 2025. We will be flying into Ljubljana and spending 4 days there and wondered what to focus on. We are both active and love the outdoors, but also enjoy history and food! Any information is welcome. Thanks in advance.
Posted by
Phoenix, Arizona
46 posts
Someone asked a similar question recently on this forum. Here are the responses they received.
https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/slovenia/time-in-ljubljana-pre-tour
Posted by
OP
Vancouver, BC
32 posts
Thank you so much!
Posted by
Southeast US
4043 posts
A few thoughts not in the other thread:
For food... Ljubljanayum offers an excellent food tour. Many tastes. May venues. A bit of a tour about town. I loved it. Come hungry!
https://ljubljananjam.si/
For hiking... Be like a local and hike up Šmarna Gora. I did it with Alenka, a guide from Ljubljana Guides, a company that works to offer truly local experiences to visitors to the city. Alenka brought along her significant other Gasper who had been a Yugoslavian exchange student in the US in the 80's. He talked about the difference in the education systems: "Read this book and repeat it like a good comrade" in Yugoslavia, "Read this book and analyze it" in the US. At the end of the half day, Alenka and Gasper offered to go biking in their neighborhood with me as a friend, not as a customer. https://www.ljubljanaguides.com/
For nature... You have 2 cave choices: Postojna or Škojan. Every local I encountered recommended going to the latter. I followed the locals advice, so I can't tell you what Postojna Cave is like (though I'm told a little more in the direction of entertainment attraction than Škocjan). Škocjan caves is pure nature... and one of the most amazing things I have seen. There is a gigantic cavern that made me want to grab a staff and do my best Gandalf impression, slamming the staff into the ground and shouting "You shall not pass!" Slovenia Explorer offers a full day Škocjan/Piran tour. I used the company for a private tour to the mercury mines at Idrija and to an old Partisan hospital in the mountains; I much enjoyed my guide and would recommend the company. Private tours, though, are pricey!
For food again... Friday nights... a large variety of food vendors at the Central Market for "Open Kitchen." https://www.livetheworld.com/post/delicious-open-kitchen-food-market-ljubljana-h1zq
For history... A history museum I liked: The National Museum of Contemporary History of Slovenia. Learn about the 20th and 21st century history of what is now Slovenia. Tito! Some people love him -- some people despise him. https://www.muzej-nz.si/en/
For hiking again... Bled and Bohinj to the north both offer many hiking options.