And so yesterday morning we drove into the Slovenia capital city of Ljubljana. We left our nice overnight spot by the river at about 7:30am and did the 20 kms (12 miles) or so drive in the fog!
I had found a parking lot only 1.5 kms (less than a mile) from the old historic center. It's suitable for small motorhomes, and it's free on weekends. GPS 46.059918, 14.497052
We had a late breakfast and then we set off to explore the city.
Interesting architecture.
This is a fancy facade!
The historic center is starting to get busier.
Even at 11:00am there is still fog around the castle.
The Franciscan Church of the Annunciation.
Scenery in the historic center.
Glen and Steve had been here a week prior to us, so she sent some tips along. One of them is the very odd art installation "Faces of Locksmith Street", where there are a bunch of random bronze facial expressions inserted into a gulley.
“To think, for instance, that I have never been aware before how many faces there are. There are quantities of human beings, but there are many more faces, for each person has several.”
Okay.
From there, we headed up to the castle where the fog was almost burned off.
Doors along the way.
Starting to get a view.
And it's starting to turn into a nice day!
The castle exterior.
These extended windows are neat.
The tower was extended in 1982, and renovated again in 2009.
The outside of the castle is fairly impressive.
Ruth on the castle grounds.
Rooftops of Ljubljana.
Because we did the expensive Bled Castle just the other day, we didn't have any ambition to spend more money on this one, which is kind of underwhelming to begin with as far as castles go. The box office is located well below the entrance gate, and we saw the prices on the board. €10 ($14.35 CAD, $11.50 USD) per adult.
As we were about to head back downhill, I noticed that people were going in and they weren't showing a ticket to anyone. We walked back up there, past the box office and directly into the castle courtyard. It turns out it totally free to go into the castle. The ticket price is if you want to do the "extras". It's a little deceiving because I'm sure that many people spend the money not realizing that they could just go ahead in.
Not only that, standing in the courtyard makes you feel as if you're standing in the food court of a shopping mall. This castle is all about restaurants, wine shops, and art installations. Perhaps it used to be an historic castle, but it's not anymore.
Ljubljana Castle courtyard.
So, our recommendation for visiting Ljubljana Castle? Do the hike up and back for the exercise, wander the exterior castle grounds and see the different views, visit the castle penitentiary (totally free, which makes no sense) and save your money for a more worthwhile castle visit. Remember, there are lots of castles in Europe.
For an example of what we like to see when visiting a castle, see this post...
From there, we walked back down to the city center and wandered around.
The Ljubljanica River flows through the city.
Scenery along the way.
There are a lot of sidewalk cafes along the river.
It turned into a beautiful afternoon!
Buildings beside the river.
Alleyway view.
Looking back at the castle.
One other tip Glen had given us was to see the statues adorning the entrance to the Slovenia Parliament Building. They are all totally naked people. A very strange art exhibit at the entrance to the Parliament!
Naked people. Quite detailed!
Very odd.
The Saint Cyril Orthodox Church.
Yep, it's pretty fancy!
Look up!
Ruth, admiring all the painting.
And then we walked back to Max and had a late lunch. After lunch, we did a hike in the big park located right beside our parking area. It was really busy, and obviously a popular thing to do on a nice Sunday afternoon. We probably did 4 or 5 kms, with quite a lot of up and downhill. It's a really nice park, with tons of trails.
And then we drove back to our nice parking spot by the river in the town of Škofja Loka. Other than the fuel to drive back and forth, we didn't spend anything all day.
To me, Ljubljana was just okay. That doesn't mean I disliked it, I just thought it was okay. I guess I'm comparing it to Salzburg which I thought had a lot more to offer. It's certainly worth a one day visit, though. Ruth had wanted to wander around the central area a bit more, but she thinks I am "citied out", which I disagree with. We don't always agree on everything!
But we do agree that we want to spend one more day here by the river. Max will take a day off from driving, and we will go for a hike in the surrounding hills.
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I hope Ruth got to wander around the city a little. I loved what I saw in the photos.
ReplyDeleteNo, I didn't go around and wander more in the city, after we came back to Max we had lunch and then went for a hike through the huge park and I was happy to doing that. The city will be here another time if we happen to decide to stop by again some day.
DeleteIt looked very pretty to me, but I do get that after doing several cities, sometimes things start looking the same...kind of like with tropical beaches! It's the variety of going to different types of places that makes them even more special, to me.
ReplyDeleteIt was a pretty city and Kevin doesn't disagree with that, he just liked Salzburg more. I think if he had seen Ljubljana before Salzburg he might have thought different of it. He said that he doesn't think he was "citied" out but I know that I pretty much am! We are definitely both looking forward to spending a bit more time out in the countryside enjoying the gorgeous scenery. I agree, it is nice to get a variety of different types of settings when you are traveling, it makes things more interesting.
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