DAY 1
Arrival in Slovenia and Ljubljana Castle
Our Slovenia trip was officially kicked off when we departed Amsterdam’s Schipol airport at 10am. We had a short layover in Zurich and by 2pm, we landed in Slovenia’s capital city of Ljubljana.
We traveled to Norway just a few weeks before and learned that it’s worth paying a premium for quick and convenient transportation when traveling with a toddler. So this time around, we skipped public transportation and paid for a shuttle transfer service to take us directly from the airport arrivals to our hotel.
45 minutes later, we arrived to our hotel in the heart of the city, Hotel Cubo.
Where we stayed: Hotel Cubo
We were staying a few nights, so we did some unpacking and got ourselves properly settled in.
Three full days in Ljubljana is a bit more than what is really needed to see the city, but I find that it’s nice to have some extra time at the start of the trip when traveling with kids so that you have plenty of time to recover from your journey and get settled into your new rhythm.
After a brief rest, we headed out for an afternoon walk around the city.
We first walked to Cyril Methodius, a central corridor in the heart of the old town. Luna was a little cranky from all the travel — frankly, I think we all needed a little pick-me-up — so we picked up a chimney cake to refuel.
We had a good amount of time to kill before dinner. The weather was nice, too, so we decided cross off one of the must-dos from our list and check out the Ljubljana Castle.
The funicular up to the castle leaves right from the center of town. We got the roundtrip ticket that included entry to the castle’s museum and were quickly on our way.
We headed straightaway to the viewing platform at the top of the funicular. The view of the city was great, but the better view was at the top of the castle’s tower. The spiral staircase to the top of the tower was not exactly stroller-friendly (this proved to be a trend for our castle visit), so Dan and I took turns hanging out with Luna in the courtyard while the other went up for the view.
At the top of the tower was a fantastic 360-degree view of the city — well worth the cost of admission!
After the tower, we wandered around the rest of the museum’s exhibits, which frankly, didn’t take us very long.
The highlight was a small chapel of the X
We rode the funicular back down to the city and made our way to the waterfront. Both sides of the Ljubljanica River are lined with restaurants, each with plenty of outdoor seating. On a nice day, the area is bustling with activity.
We settled on the Burger Bar. Dan ordered a burger and sweet potato fries, and Luna and I split the sliders. We always talk about how Amsterdam doesn’t have very good burgers (surprising considering the number of burger places), so it was nice to have a delicious American-style cheeseburger for once.
After dinner, we took a leisurely walk back to the hotel. We got our first glimpse of the iconic Triple Bridge, which we would see many times over the course of our three days in the city.
We had only been in Ljubljana for a few hours and already felt like we saw a lot. It’s amazing what you can accomplish in just one day while on vacation.
DAY 2
Tivoli Park, Ljubljana Zoo, and Open Kitchen
Out first full day of the trip got off to a solid start with coffee and croissants at Moderna coffeeshop.
Dan is a recent coffee convert (nothing like being a first-time parent to get you hooked on caffeine), so we made sure to do some research on the best coffee shops in Ljubljana. Moderna was consistently ranked as one of the top in the city.
Our cappuccinos were great and I loved the eclectic interior and cool layout. Of all the coffee shops we visited, this was our favorite.
Funny enough, we found out a few days later that our food tour guide was also our barista at Moderna. Small Ljubljana!
Feeling a bit more energized, we headed next to Tivoli City Park. The park is massive and right in the middle of the city.
We discovered the most amazing playground at the edge of the park. It was massive and had areas for kids of all ages. Luna got some energy out on the swings and in the sand pit (her playground go-tos). If you’re visiting Ljubljana with kids, you definitely have to check this place out.
We eventually made our way further into the park to Svicarija, a restaurant recommended by our food tour company that serves traditional Slovenian food. We had a pleasant lunch while Luna took a midday nap in her stroller.
After lunch, we followed the edge of the park until we reached Ljubljana Zoo.
This was probably the smallest zoo we’ve ever been to, but it was still a fun way to spend a couple of hours.
The exhibits toward the entrance of the zoo weren’t very impressive. The portion toward the back, however, was pretty unique. All of the native species were in more natural environments, which made it feel at times like you were just going for a hike in the forest.
There was also a small petting zoo with sheep, goats, and pigs. We got to brush a potbelly pig, which was pretty fun.
After a failed attempt at using public transport, we ended up walking back to the hotel. For dinner, we hit up Ljubljana’s popular food market called Open Kitchen. It’s only open on Fridays, so I made sure to add it to our itinerary.
There were dozens of vendors there, all set up in neat rows around the square. The number of options were overwhelming, but we eventually settled on a pulled pork spread from a BBQ stand, some “Grandma Style” pasta, and the traditional Slovenian strudel.
We grabbed a spot to sit and eat along a set of stairs. There was live music and everyone seemed to be in a great mood. A nice time was had by all!
We ended the day with a leisurely walk along the river back to our hotel.
DAY 3
Butcher’s Bridge, Dragon Bridge, and Food Tour
Our third morning, we discovered La Petit Cafe, a restaurant not too far from our hotel with a nice breakfast menu that was open early. Exactly what we needed with our toddler waking us up at 5am.
We ordered an Eggs Benedict, Monte Cristo, and an omelet for Luna. The restaurant was occupied by only a few others families when we were there, but later on in the day we passed by and it was packed to the gills with a brunch crowd.
After breakfast we made our way to the riverfront. We did a short walking tour of the area using our guide book as a reference.
We first saw the Butcher’s Bridge, which despite its name, seems to be the most romantic bridge in the city. It’s covered with row after row of locks, each one with two names and a date etched into it.
We then walk to the city’s most famous bridge, the Dragon Bridge. About the dragon X
We had a food tour scheduled for the afternoon. This was a two-coffee kind of day, so we made a pit stop by Kavarna, another one of Ljubljana’s highest rated coffee spots.
The coffeeshop is located inside of the Ethnographic Museum. The space was really nice — unfortunately we had to hustle to meet our tour guide and had to take our drinks to go. The coffee was excellent though!
With coffees in hand, we routed to a square where our tour guide met up with us beneath a statue.
We ended up having a private tour, which was pretty amazing. Our guide was a sommelier that worked at a local wine shop (and apparently, at the Moderna coffee shop, too!). She was super knowledgeable in all things Slovenian cuisine and wine.
We kicked things off at an unassuming food truck just off of the square. Our guide ordered us a plate of small white fried fish spritzed with lemon that’s a popular late-night snack. We went on to have a number of amazing dishes — the stew and strudel were my personal favorites.
And the best part, we got to sample five or so different Slovenian wines, which were paired nicely with the dishes.
Oh yeah, and we saw a guy having a beer with his pet ostrich… wearing a t-shirt of himself and his pet ostrich. Not sure what that was about.
Feeling exceptionally full after our tour, we spent the remaining couple of hours before dinner walking around town. We did some souvenir shopping in the city center and went back to the Tivoli Park playground so Luna could get her sand pit fix.
We kept it quick and easy for dinner and ordered carry-out from a nearby restaurant. We got back to the hotel on the early side and did some repacking.
The next morning we were leaving the capital city and heading on to the second stop of the trip, the coastal city of Piran.
Don’t miss it…
This post is a part of a larger two-week trip around Slovenia. Check out the full itinerary and an overview of the trip here!
