June 25, 2026
Day One: Dragons, Castles, Ljubljana! Oh My!
“Ljubljana ended up being much smaller than I expected, but somehow that made it feel even more magical. Every bridge, river walk, and side street felt close enough to wander without a plan.”
🗺️ Today’s Plan
✈️ The Traveler
Hi there! Ignore my messy bed and PJs. This is my first time visiting Slovenia, and my first completely solo trip, and am SO excited!
What Actually Happened
🐉 Dragon Bridge
Cute! Nice to walk by the dragon statues. Not crowded at all and I got there at 10:00. I love getting morning time to just walk around and explore the sights, free of crowds.
My favorite thing about this city is how pedestrian friendly it is- in public squares, cars have to bypass turnstiles to get through, so you’re never afraid of some rando running you down like in the states!
🏰 Ljubljana Castle
Overall: This was unexpectedly great! I actually enjoyed the little exhibits like the museum of puppetry, the 4d castle history (I went in thinking it was goofy, and it was, but reminded me so much of the Witcher game w the graphics and was really historically informative!! It’s 4d because they sprayed water at you and rumbled the seats), the “video mapping” which was just hand drawn cartoon art displayed on big walls with sound (def meant for kids, but nice to sit in a dark air conditioned room!)
To start, I went with the regular Ljubljana Castle ticket. It was €13.50 to not go up with the funicular. It’s €3.60 more for the audio guide. Honestly, I’m glad I did not go with the audio guide. I just wanted to wander and see what I wanted to see. There was also a “Time Machine” guided tour available (where actors dress in costumes and explain the history to you) at certain times for €3.60 more as well.
I almost wish I got the escape room ticket for €5.50 more- I would have done that if I went with other people. It did look really cute. I actually saw the actors! A guy dressed as a Roman gladiator and a girl dressed in a Roman toga walked by me at one point after their lunch break and everyone around took pictures of them. There’s even a part 2 of the escape room for those who have already completed the first one called “Redeem the Witch.” How cute! I love that things like escape rooms and Dungeons and Dragons and stuff are getting more popular. Embrace whimsy, people!
Now, as far as the funicular goes: the walk up was only like 10–15 minutes, but it was really exhausting. I will say I’m pretty fit, but I was really tired/jet lagged as this was my first day. It was also really hot, and I didn’t have any food or coffee beforehand. If I had eaten breakfast, I would’ve been totally fine, but running on no caffeine and no breakfast, I was exhausted. The way back down is easy sauce, of course, but most of the advanced tickets offer a “free” funicular ride back down anyways.
I beelined straight to the café, which was sadly really understaffed. I felt badly for the workers, but it took a while to get food. Which is fine, but you know when you’re tired, you really don’t want to wait.
Da Food
The food was pretty all right! I got a matcha smoothie, mostly just for the slight caffeine. It had spinach in it, so hey, I got my cup of veggies! It also had pineapple and was pretty good. It was not amazing, not super sweet, but it was good.
Then I had this Ham and Swiss sandwich for €6.50. That’s crazy. I feel like that’s way too expensive for a single sandwich, especially one that had three slices of bread. It was bread, cheese, more bread than ham, more bread, cheese, and bread. What an insane bread sandwich. They served it with the tiniest cup of chips you’ve ever seen in your life. The guy back there probably opened one of those tiny bags of chips, poured in like a quarter of the bag, and served it with tomatoes, a little mini wooden fork, and ketchup. I have no idea what I was supposed to do with the ketchup. Was I supposed to dip the sandwich in it? I put a little ketchup on the sandwich and it was fine. It was just bizarre. What do you put on a ham and Swiss sandwich- ketchup??
It’s funny going to different cultures. You expect completely wildly different foods, but actually they just use the same ingredients everyone else uses, just in weird ways. At least in Europe anyway.
Overall though, 10/10 castle experience. They had free tap water with water fountains everywhere, just like they do all around Ljubljana, which I absolutely loved.
I especially enjoyed the Museum of Puppetry (one pictured left… Listen your honor, I love him). The little virtual 4D experience about the castle was actually surprisingly really fun. It reminded me of The Witcher with the graphics, and it also taught me a lot of history. Some of it was somewhat similar to Bran castle’s Romanian history about {Vlad the Impaler}.
I also enjoyed the virtual mapping room, which was just a bunch of hand-drawn cartoons projected all over the walls that moved around. It was definitely made for kids. Honestly, so much of the castle was made for kids. In fact, a ton of Ljubljana in general feels made for kids and families. It’s really cute. The city feels incredibly family friendly.
Dragons are everywhere in this city! I tried taking a picture of all that I saw, but there’s no way I could get them all.
In Ljubljana, I learned that the dragon is important because it is a blend of several different myths. One is of St. George and the dragon, to which the the chapel in Ljubljana Castle is dedicated (you can also get your name written in calligraphy by this cool guy with a fountain pen in there for a small donation!!). Historians think the city’s dragon symbol may have been influenced by St. George’s dragon-slaying imagery, and over time, the dragon itself became more important than the saint and evolved into Ljubljana’s symbol and protector.
Local legends also tie it to Jason and the Argonauts from Greek mythology, who supposedly fought a dragon near the Ljubljana Marshes (this was brought up in a lot of museums), as well as older Slavic dragon-slayer myths associated with water, fertility, and defeating chaos (this is more mentioned in the Karst region of Slovenia). ANYWAYS, dragons are cool!
I wanted to take the funicular back down, but it was €6 and I wanted to see the Bastille, so I walked in that direction instead. I ended up walking all the way down out of the castle, so I think the Bastille was the only part I didn’t get to see. But honestly, I’m fine with that. I saw literally every single thing in the castle and enjoyed it.
🌉 Triple Bridge
Neat, quick stop, literally right around the corner to the Dragon Bridge. Famous architect Jože Plečnik designed this and the Central Market, which I’ll talk about later, and we’ll even visit this dude’s house today!
🏘️ Old Town & Prešeren Square
Right after the triple bridge. Neat, quick stop, these are all right near each other and visiting them all in one day helps me realize how small Ljubljana proper really is. Very doable, walkable city.
This is Prešeren Square, specifically the Franciscan Church of the Annunciation. It wasn’t open, but I was able to {go back later on} and visit the inside!
There’s also a nice little water fountain feature thing that sprays water at children who run around it. Nice on a hot day I’d imagine!
🥕 Central Market
Smaller than expected, but tasty looking fruits and veggies!
🌊 Walk Along the Ljubljanica River
Very nice river, lots of places in the shade to picnic by, also cute neighborhoods and old classic home styles.
🥐 Burek
ALL HAIL BUREK!!!
I had a Burek Sirov (cheese) at a local place by my airbnb and it was so good and cheap! €3 and it kept me fed all morning as my breakfast. If I had gotten the pizza one or one with meat it may have filled me up more but cheese was tasty and tangy, like a feta. SO GOOD. These saved my BUNS when I was starving and 1. No other place was open at my weird travel-times and 2. I felt sick at the prospect of dropping another €20 on a single meal.
I later on told my tattoo artist in Ljubljana {more on that here} about my love for burek and how I wish we had these in Cali, and she laughed and said that was so strange. How funny, it can sometimes take a stranger seeing your home for the first time to realize all there is to appreciate about it. That’s why I love travel so much. Thank you, burek!
⛪ Church of St. Nicholas
Neat, quick stop, €3 to get in. Nice to cool off on a hot day. {Later on}, I realize that the Franciscan Church of the Annunciation is way better, also €3. If you’re strapped for time, skip this one maybe.
⛲ Robba Fountain
Neat, quick stop.
I was taking this picture when right outside a couple of girls (mid twenties maybe?) stopped me and said, “excuse me excuse me,” in thick accents. Then they complimented my hair!! How sweet! It’s funny how everyone defaults to English. It really is the Common in the real world. Sad. I could’ve been German or Italian or Sloevenian, or they could’ve been, and we all found common language to communicate, at least. Everyone is SO nice here!
🌳 Congress Square
Honestly, congress square was crowded and under construction. Not a bad spot to be in if you want to relax when you’re in the city, but parking yourself by the river seems better to me.
🏡 Plečnik House
The Plečnik house tickets come in two kinds- one, where you explore by yourself and do not get access to his apartment but instead the smaller museum and gardens; and another that is a guided tour with access to the apartment rooms.
Wish I did the guided tour! Beautiful gardens. Plečnik seems like a chill guy.
Tickets are €12 for adults with the guided tour, €6 for the student ticket with no guided tour.
Here’s a quote I enjoy a lot from the musuem: In 2021, selected works by Jože Plečnik in Ljubljana were inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List under the title “The works of Jože Plečnik in Ljubljana – Human Centred Urban Design”. The inscription comprises seven component parts: the water axis (embankments of the Ljubljanica River with its bridges), the land axis (Vegova Street and Congress Square with Zvezda Park), Trnovo Bridge, the archaeological park along the Roman Wall, Plečnik’s Zale cemetery, and the churches of St Michael inČrna vas and St Francis of Assisi in the district of Šiška. With his original and contextual approach, Plečnik shaped a human-centred city, connected the past with the present and created a unique sequence of public spaces, buildings, and green areas. His work stands apart from modernist approaches and represents an exceptional example of holistic urban design on a global scale.
I LOVE human-centered design, and it was so cool to actually feel it after a day spent walking around the city!
🧭 The Guide
Travel Tips
💧 Water
I’ve seen a few! The water doesn’t taste mineral-y at all- just tastes like regular tap to me. So cool that free water is available anywhere in the city without having to ask! I love this about Ljubljana!
🍽️ Food
- Try burek for breakfast!
- The Castle café was classic amusement park cafe food- alright if you’re starving, and a bit overpriced.
On my walk to Plečnik House, I walked by a restaurant and legit did a 180 degree turn because the smells were so heavenly- Indian food! It was a bit expensive, but I took back leftovers and used it for two meals.
I had Malabar Chicken (a milder chicken curry with rice €13.90) and a refreshingly thick and sweet mango lassi for €4.90.
The hostess was so nice! She led me to a separate room with cooler AC, and after she left I literally stood underneath the unit with my arms up… yeah, I’m not proud. Does that convey how hot it was though?
She and I chatted about southern Indian cooking, and she asked if I was an American, because only Americans and Germans tend to eat at Indian food places here. So sad! Slovenians, get on this amazing food! She helped me pick my meal, too. What a sweetheart!
🚶 Walking
Ljubljana is much smaller than it looks on a map.
Most major sights can comfortably be visited on foot. Bring comfy shoes!
💬 A Note on Language
I said “Zdravo“!” [hello- though most Slovenians say “dober dan” which means good day] to the museum lady at the castle (section: Ljubljana history) and she spoke in Slovene to me until she saw my confusion, and said “start downstairs.” I noted the customs people in the airport yesterday (when I kept saying “prosim” thinking it was thank you, ugh embarrassing) who smiled and genuinely seemed appreciative of my efforts at speaking even BASIC Slovene. Hello and thank you should be givens, expectations, not the exception. Whenever you go to a new country, just TRY to learn some basics- like 4 words, seriously, it means a lot. It feels so insanely rude to me to go anywhere in the world and assume everyone speaks English, even if it’s not your first language. Anyways, lots of English is spoken here, even by Slovenians to Slovenians (ex: museum cafe workers sprinkled in English to each other in private conversation like “yes yes I know I know” in between rapid fire Slovene. Cool!)
🤌🏻 General Vibes
Lots of folks have colored hair and tattoos! Big cities are all the same. I assumed everyone would be more conservative here since it’s eastern Europe, but that is not ostensibly the case.
There are plenty of solo female travelers! I was far from the only one. And I kept running into the same girls- not actually talking, just crossing paths- today as we all explored the city at our own pace. Love it!
Chain smoking eugh. This is a major part of what America does better than Europe, at least. You can’t eat outside without being exposed to thick, cloying smoke that makes it difficult to taste your food. I had to move inside stifling heat to avoid the fumes. Oh, Europe.
📸 Traveler’s Notes
Favorite moment: Hmmm, probably when those nice gals complimented my hair. Close runner up was eating the Indian food in the nice AC!
Kindest interaction: The cashier at Plečnik House asked if I was a student for the cheaper ticket price- I said no. We chatted about a few things after he asked where I’m from (I stumbled over my words as I said, “Californ- United States!” and he gave a small smile and said “alright, Californ-United States.”). When he rang up my order, he muttered to himself, “Okay, one student ticket no guided tour, €6.” I did NOT correct him. There were so many kind interactions every single day, it’s hard to list out them all! My favorite part of travel is seeing how people everywhere are genuinely kind. That and the food.
Best food: Indian, duh!
Biggest surprise: Honestly that I could do all that after flying in the previous day. I always try to make the first day easy, but I very quickly checked MOST of what I wanted to see in Ljubljana in the first half of the day… very productive! I love it!
Favorite photo: rawr!
Favorite quote from today: “I love to draw and contrive things, but when I have to deal with people my joy in work wanes.”- Jože Plečnik
Ain’t that the truth!
💡 Turtle Dove Travel Tips
- Go to the castle hungry only if you enjoy expensive bread.
- Skip the audio guide.
- Free water fountains are everywhere.
- Wear good walking shoes.
- Ljubljana is much smaller than it looks on a map- easy to travel!
- The castle is surprisingly family-friendly.
💶 Expenses
| Item | Cost |
|---|---|
| Castle ticket | €13.50 |
| Church of St. Nicholas | €3 |
| Burek | €3 |
| Sandwich | €6.50 |
| Matcha smoothie | €8.50 |
| Indian food | €18.8 |
| Plečnik House | €6 |
| Total | €59.30 YIKES. Not including my stay, which was $103 a night, so I gotta do the math and… yeah, $170.75/day is not ideal. Wellllll that’s travel I guess! Slovenia is NOT cheap by any means- it’s about as expensive as southern California. |
⭐ Overall Rating
| Category | Rating |
|---|---|
| Walkability | ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ |
| Food | ⭐⭐⭐⭐☆ |
| Value | ⭐⭐⭐⭐☆ expensive but worth it. |
| Crowds | ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ not bad! |
| Would I return? | Absolutely! |
