while not null: Europe Trip 2025

Ljubljana (pop. 300k) is the capital of Slovenia. For me the pronunciation of Ljubljana is easy, but if you need help, click here: Forvo.

I arrived by train and the first impression was one of crowded chaos caused by two things: a nearby construction, and a very busy open-air long distance bus station located in front of the train station - it is basically a series of angled bus parking spots in the middle of a street. One footpath was narrowed and further down the street completely blocked by construction. When the construction is finished, the buses will be moved to the other side of the tracks - a proper bus station will be built. Also, there will be a new train station with an underpass including a bike path. Underpasses are much better than overpasses for bikes, because the elevation difference is much smaller and the sequence of first riding down and then up is easier: you use the momentum gained when going down to climb up. Here are some designs for the train station part of the project: ELEA. There will also be a shopping centre, hotel, offices, apartments and more - all part of the new commercial and transport centre of Ljubljana.

One interesting fact is that Ljubljana had its first rail connection at about the same time (June 1849) as Warsaw (April 1848) and for both cities the line led to Vienna, which means that you could travel by train from Warsaw to Ljubljana already in 1849.

Very low platforms.

The offices you can see here are part of the redevelopment.

The old train station building with the painted bus bays in front.

Some buses like this FlixBus used the narrow footpath as a bus stop.

I love the bike path. The new city centre redevelopment is on the other side of the road.

The old town of Lubljana is beautiful. When I arrived there, by bike, there was some nationalist (skinhead?) gathering on Kongresni trg. The police were observing them from a distance. The black dressed men shouted something from time to time, but mainly just stood there. I parked the bike and went my way.

What surprised me was that I was in an earthquake territory. About 10% of Ljubljana's buildings were damaged by the last major earthquake in 1895. Another surprise was how tall the women were.

The castle on the hill beckons.

Art Nouveau

Art Nouveau - Hauptmann Building by Ciril Metod Koch

This was funny. The text says that there should be a fountain here.

Preseren - the national poet.

The castle tower - I will walk up there.

Underground rubbish containers. NotJustBikes made a short film about them.

No place is perfect. You will find places needing renovation also in the old town of Ljubljana:

A brief interruption for something to eat. This cake (Zagrebška rezina) was good, very light, only about 2 kcal per gram:

Now to the castle. You can walk up the hill or take the funicular. There are great views of the city already from the path, but for best views you need to buy a ticket to the tower.

You can see the last groups of the gathering on Kongresni trg.

Entrance to the castle.

The ticket to the castle also opens the door to the puppet museum. I didn't realise how important puppet art was in Slovenian culture.

While walking I noticed a plaque with names of people killed during WW2, because of the Yugoslav star I assume they were partisans:

There will be a blog dedicated to the complicated history of Slovenia.

Walking away from the old town, the architecture becomes very mixed: pre-war tenement houses, socialist blocks of flats, modern offices. The bike infrastructure is very good and you can see it in the number of regular people riding bikes. I love it.