Is Ljubljana (the capital of Slovenia) on your travel bucket list? If not, I highly recommend adding it! We found Slovenia overall was such a great place to travel to with kids — it has a reputation for being a small country that "has it all" (mountains, the Mediterranian, beautiful cities, and on), not to mention it's so pristine and renowned for being incredibly environmentally-friendly. And, it did not dissapoint... although there's still so much of the country we need to see (check out my post on visiting Lake Bled with kids here).
We went to Slovenia at Christmas time, and loved all the festive holiday decor and Christmas markets in Ljubljana, but summer would also be a great time to go (you'd be able to take a dip in Lake Bled, too!).
Almost every restaurant along the Ljubljanica River was dripping in decorations, and there was a holiday parade (and show!) for children, right in the heart of town. Our kids also got to meet the Slovenian version of "Santa Clause" which they thought was a real treat. Here are some of our other Ljubljana highlights for your whole family to enjoy (no matter what season you go):
1. Visiting the iconic Ljubljana Castle. You can take a funicular up to the castle, which our kids found to be a fun “ride.” The castle has lots of exhibits our kids loved (including one on puppets and another on armor) and a lookout tower, which of course meant lots of nice stairs for our littles to climb. There’s also a cute cafe (in addition to other fine-dining restaurants… which we skipped) for coffee and a treat.
2. Discovering all the bridges. Ljubljana is famous for its bridges, including the Triple Bridge, which was redesigned by the famous architect Jože Plečnik. There’s also the iconic Dragon Bridge, which is decked out in dragon statues… aka it’s a kiddo favorite (and promptly inspired our two littles to each want a dragon stuffed animal, which you'll notice are conveniently sold all over the city. Plan this into your budget, haha).
3. Playing — and Strolling — in Tivoli Park. This huge and beautifully maintained park (think of it like New York’s Central Park or Munich's English Garden) is not only great for adults to stroll around, but its many playgrounds kept our kiddos entertained for hours (which was ideal because we were hopping on a train later in the day, so it helped them get their wiggles out). Spending time here is a great way to relax a bit on your trip and get a taste of local life (considering, as far as we could tell, we were the only non-locals at the playgrounds).
Where did we stay?
We booked a bed and breakfast near Tivoli Park, which had a large "family room" for us, and we also had a nice breakfast spread each morning. It was a really charming spot and the staff was super nice, so I would otherwise recommend it, but it was a little further out of town than we would have liked (thankfully we had our travel stroller for the long walks there and back). We ended up staying there due to our last-minute booking, but if you're planning early, you should be able to find a number of options right in Ljubljana, and probably for a pretty good price (another perk of traveling to Slovenia!)
Even if you rent a car when traveling throughout Slovenia, I would recommend staying right in the town center, as most sights are walkable, and it's just so pretty there.
How did we get there?
We took a train from Munich to Ljubljana (we had one train change in Austria), and it took us about six hours in total. It was a pretty simple travel day (and the trains in Austria had a restaurant car — and even one train car that had a "kinder kino" film zone with stadium-style seats for our littles to watch an animal-themed movie. You could also take the train from Vienna (about five and a half hours), as well as fly in to Ljubljana airport or drive in from wherever you may be in Europe.
If you're thinking about taking a trip to Slovenia with your family (and plan to include Ljubljana or Lake Bled), let me know if you have any questions in the comments below.
Can’t wrap your head around how to plan your family trip? Want real advice on where to go, what to pack, and how to fill your days so that EVERYONE legitimately has fun? Check out my course here! And to see our trip in real life, here's my reel below on Instagram @biworld_littletravelers.
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