A Little Trip to Ljubljana

Ljubljana, the capital of Slovenia is one of the nicest cities I've visited and was the 3rd stop on my inter-rail tour last summer. I instantly fell in love with the city and it's people and was so glad to be spending nearly a week in the country. Ljubljana is super small for a capital city, but that adds to it's charm. The city centre is compact, with a small river running through the middle and a hill top castle overlooking the city.

We arrived in Ljubljana in the early afternoon, after a 6 hour train ride from Vienna. As the weather that day was so glorious, we decided to head to a local outdoor pool to soak up the rays then headed home for an early night. Wild, I know. We stayed in Celica Art Hostel, which used to be an old prison and was only a short walk from the city centre and less than 5 minutes from the central train station. The hostel was lovely, with large open dorm rooms and a small kitchen on the top floor for cooking. There was also a bar/ café on the ground floor which served a good selection of meals.

Our first full day in the city was spent doing a walking tour in the morning (standard) before heading up to the castle and then getting thoroughly lost looking for a tent. The walking tour took us in a loop around the city centre and we were told about the history of Slovenia as well as the city itself. I always recommend going on a walking tour whenever you visit a new city. You get to know your way round quickly and can learn tips and knowledge from a local. The tours depart daily at 11am from the main square - the guides wear bright yellow t-shirts, so you won't miss them! 

After the walking tour finished we decided to head straight up to the castle. Just as we began walking up the hill (it's a steep climb) to the castle entrance the heavens decided to open and we got thoroughly soaked. Typical. Once at the top you can admire the beautiful views over the city, however ours were slightly marred by grey rain clouds. We had a quick walk round the castle, which also provided some great views, before heading back to the city centre to find some shelter from the rain.

The rest of the day was spent traipsing round the city in the rain in an attempt to find some tents to buy, as our next destination was camping in Lake Bled. We'd still be walking round in search of a tent to this day, if it wasn't for the help of a lovely local lady who showed us where to go.

That evening, like any well behaved Brits abroad, we went on a good old bar crawl. To be honest, if you've been on one bar crawl (no matter where in the world you are) you've pretty much seen it all. They're all much of a muchness. Free shots and drinks wherever you go, free entry to all bars/ clubs and a few silly games along the way. Don't get me wrong, they're great fun and I love them, but they all blur into one. So I can't actually tell you much about this one, other than I got rather drunk and vaguely remember a few games of beer pong. Classic.

After waking up extremely hungover the next morning, we had to checkout and board a coach to take us to our next destination in Slovenia; Lake Bled. I'd love to return to Ljubljana. Even though it's a small city, I don't feel i got to experience enough of it during my short stay. It's on my must-return list for sure.