With 293,000 inhabitants and 50,000 university students, Ljubljana is among the smallest capitals in Europe. The economic and cultural centre of Slovenia, the city offers a concentration of attractions and events, an exciting mix of different cultural traditions and interesting gastronomic highlights.
Cues that can be captured quite well by spending an evening at the Union Brewery, at 22 Celovška cesta. Once you have parked your car in the Tivoli Park car park, which is directly opposite, you will no doubt notice the large red cube with the dragon drawn on it. To find the entrance, just look for a large barrel hanging on the wall of a building and an equally large Union Pivnica Experience sign. The vast halls inside, with large communal tables, are just what you would expect to find in a beer hall. Lager and non-alcoholic beers, unfiltered and dark beers, elderflower radler and orange radler are brewed from the fresh groundwater located right below the brewery. All to be accompanied by tasty dishes from the Union Pub.
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After a nice lunch in a beer hall - the advice does not apply to dinner, best avoided at night - you can work off what you have eaten and drunk with a nice walk in the Tivoli Park, a 5-square-kilometre green area, marked by avenues of chestnut trees, with a small castle, a lake and a botanical garden.
A much more conspicuous castle dominates the hill and the town itself. It can be reached on foot, by car or by a convenient funicular railway. Surrounded by a beautiful park, the ancient building is interesting to visit, offers the best view of the whole of Ljubljana, houses the museum exhibition on Slovenian history, the Puppet Museum and various historical rooms and exhibits, including the chapel of sv. Jurij, the prisons and the Virtual Castle.
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Very real, though placid, is the Ljubljanica River, which flows through the centre of the city centre. Its waters are overlooked by the Triple Bridge and the Dragon Bridge. Not far from its high banks are the farmers' market, where you can find excellent local produce, many cafes and shops, the Congress Square with tall trees and a House of Illusions.
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What may appear to be a small city with few attractions turns out instead to be, for the most curious and attentive tourists, a treasure chest of small and large treasures, to be discovered calmly and appreciated with the right spirit of exploration.
Image Eugene Kuznetsov on Unsplash
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