Getting Around Ljubljana

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In September 2012 I left Ljubljana by plane to Frankfurt in Germany. Slovenia's national airline is called Adria Airways and belongs to the Star Alliance network. My flight cost only 49 Euro and was quite convenient.

Ljubljana's Joze Pucnik Airport is also known under its previous name Brnik Airport. It is located about 26 km north of Ljubljana in the town of Brnik. The airport is served by several bus and shuttle services from surrounding cities in Slovenia.

As our flights on a Saturday morning left too early for the public bus service, I contacted a shuttle service in advance by e-mail.

Taxi Brnik Shuttle service charged 20 Euro for the two of us and collected us at our accommodation at 05:15 h in the early morning. The trip to the airport took about 25 minutes. A normal taxi is said to cost around 40 Euro.

Website Airport Ljubljana: http://www.lju-airport.si/

Website Taxi Brnik: http://www.taxibrnik.com/

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As Ljubljana is one of the smallest capitals of Europe, it is best explored on foot. Most sights are in walking distance to the Preseren Square.

Even the steep castle hill can be climbed on foot. For the lazier travellers a tourists street train serves the route between the Preseren Square and the castle.

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The Municipality of Ljubljana has set up a bike project that enables everybody to explore the city by bike for free. The offer is limited to two hours and in summer 2004 a full refundable deposit of 1000 SIT had to be paid.

Bikes are available from staffed bike-stands at several locations in the city. The most central one is probably at the end of the Trubarjeva ulica street, just next to the Preseren Square.

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I hadn't read about taking a boat trip along the Ljubljanica River but we saw several mostly empty boats pass by while we were walking through. The tourist guide we picked up at the tourism office says they go from April-September, last 1 hour and are narrated in Slovenian and English. The trip starts from the pier at Ribji Trg, near the Cankarjevo nabrezje embankment (on the other side of the river from the Triple Bridge and a little south) and goes to the Dragon Bridge, turns around and goes by the Triple Bridge, Cobblers' Bridge, St. James's Bridge to the Spica embankment, where it turns around. Cost is currently 7.50E, 4E for children under 12.

We easily saw all of that on foot but if you are looking to relax for an hour and get a different perspective plus a narrated tour this might be a nice thing to do.

There is a low fare route between London and Ljubljana with easyJet. There will be another low fare route ( easyJet ) between Berlin and Ljubljana from November 2004.
Otherwise, there are good connections between Ljubljana and other major cities across the Europe with slovenian national carrier Adria Airways.

There are decent taxis in Ljubljana. They are not very cheap, neither too expensive. Tipical fare within Ljubljana should be about 4-5 EUR for about 4-5 km, which makes it more convenient than bus for 3-4 people. Still prices may vary significantly between companies.

I have read many scary stories about taxi drivers cheating on customers in many cities. I doubt it is like that in Ljubljana, and if it happens than it is certainly not frequent.Of course visitors must be somewhat cautious for they are not aware of local customs, therefore it is always smart to ask for approximate price before entering the taxi - that is general rule anywhere!

Some links:
http://www.ljubljana.si/usefulinformation/traffic/
http://www.geocities.com/ljubljanalife/GettingAround.htm

During hot season bicycle is excellent option to get to know Ljubljana. There is relatively good network of bicycle paths around Ljubljana. Also trail of remembrance and comradeship around Ljubljana is very convenient for cycling.

You can hire bike for free here:
Presernov trg square (at the end of the Trubarjeva ulica street), in the Plecnikov trg square and in the square in front of Ljubljana Railway Station

As kilometers of new automobile highways are built every year in Slovenia, it is possible to reach Ljubljana quickly by car from many locations. I.e. Ljubljana can be reached from Vienna in only 4 hours.

There is automobile highway ring outside Ljubljana which is convenient when reaching diffirent parts of the city or when bypasing Ljubljana. Within new parts of Ljubljana the roads are wide and good, while the old city centre is not the best place for car, especially during traffic jams around noon.

Parking is also problem in the city centre. Until 6 p.m. you have to use parking ticket (buy it at newspaper shops) but parking is mostly limited to 1 hour. There are also some parking houses around the city centre.