Berlitz Pocket Guide Slovenia (Travel Guide eBook)

• Publisher: Berlitz Travel
• Year: 2017
• ISBN:
  9781785730351
• Edition: 4
• Topic: Personal Development
• Subtopic: Travel

Slovenia is a diverse and varied country, with some of Europe's most pristine and dramatic landscapes. From its friendly capital city, Ljubljana, to its snowcapped mountains, azure lakes, dense forests and fragment of jagged coastline, Slovenia has much to offer. The new edition of Berlitz Pocket Guide Slovenia, a concise, full-colour travel guide that combines lively text with vivid photography, brings this enchanting country to life. Inside Berlitz Pocket Guide Slovenia: Where To Go details all the key sights in the country, from its charming capital, Ljubljana, to spectacular scenic spots like Lake Bled. Top 10 Attractions gives a run-down of the best sights to take in on your trip, including the arresting Soca Valley and the medieval splendour of Koper old town.A Perfect Day provides an itinerary for the best things to do in one day in Ljubljana.What To Do is a snapshot of ways to spend your spare time, from an array of outdoor sports to shopping in Ljubljana's upmarket boutiques. Essential information on Slovenian culture, including a brief history of the country.Eating Out covers the country's best cuisine.A-Z of all the practical information you'll need.About Berlitz: Berlitz draws on years of travel and language expertise to bring you a wide range of travel and language products, including travel guides, maps, phrase books, language-learning courses, dictionaries and kids' language products.

Where To Go

Slovenia is small, compact, and incredibly diverse. From the central location of the capital, Ljubljana, almost anywhere can be reached in less than two hours. If you do not have a car, efficient buses link the capital to the most remote regions.

First-time visitors should start in Ljubljana, then explore the sublime mountains and lakes of the northwest, and round off with the splendid Venetian coastal towns of the southwest. The main draws of the northwest are the majestic alpine landscape of Triglav National Park and the turquoise River Soča. The southwest is known for its ‘coast and karst’: the Italianate sea towns of Koper and Piran, the commercial resort of Portorož, plus the mysterious caves of Postojna and Škocjan, and Lipica Stud Farm. Less visited by foreigners but dear to many Slovenes, the southeast’s architectural treasures include the monasteries and castles of Krka Valley, plus several spas. The flatter landscape of the northeast leads to the border with Hungary and the old Baroque towns of Maribor, Ptuj and Celje; there are also sophisticated thermal spas and a network of wine roads with cellars open to the public.

View of Ljubljana’s rooftops from the castle

Neil Buchan-Grant/Apa Publications

Ljubljana

Compact, easy-going and friendly, Ljubljana 1 [map] is a remarkably human city. The River Ljubljanica, crossed by elegant bridges and lined with weeping willows and open-air cafés, flows through the heart of the Old Town, lending an air of informality to the cobbled streets and Baroque buildings, while the whole scene is presided over by a proud hilltop castle. The city was founded in the 1st century BC by the Romans, who built a fortified military encampment, named Emona, on the left bank of the river, which was destroyed by the Huns in the mid-5th century AD. Slavs founded a second settlement on the right bank below the castle hill in the area that is now Old Square (Stari trg) and Town Square (Mestni trg), the heart of the city in the Middle Ages. This was largely destroyed by an earthquake in 1511, and rebuilt in Baroque style. After another earthquake, in 1895, new buildings took the Secessionist style, the Viennese Art Nouveau.

In the 1980s, Ljubljana was Yugoslavia’s centre of underground culture, with punk rock bands and satirical magazines. Today’s alternative scene lives on through the thriving student community, a large chunk of the city’s 280,600-strong population.

The rose-red Franciscan Church by the River Ljubljanica

Slovenia.info

Around Prešeren Square

Lying at the heart of the city is Prešernov trg (Prešeren Square), giving onto the Ljubljanica. Watched over by a bronze statue of poet France Prešeren (1800–49; for more information, click here), this square has a couple of notable Secessionist buildings, the Urbanc occupied by Centromerkur, Ljubljana’s oldest department store, and the Hauptman House (Hauptmanova hiša). To the left is a small relief of Julija, Prešeren’s lifelong love. City-dwellers meet on the steps that lead up the rose-and-cream façade of the 17th-century Baroque Franciscan Church (Frančiškanska cerkev).

Jože Plečnik

Born in Ljubljana in 1872, Plečnik studied architecture in Vienna under the great early Modernist Otto Wagner, moving in 1911 to Prague where he supervised the renovation of Hradčany Castle and lectured at the School of Arts and Crafts. He returned to Ljubljana in 1921, became head of the university’s new Faculty of Architecture, and set about transforming the face of the city, adding the Triple Bridge, the Shoemaker’s Bridge, the National and University Library, Križanke Summer Theatre, Trnovo Bridge, the Central Market, Žale Cemetery and the Church of St Michael on the Marshes, all in a curious blend of Classical and Art Deco. Plečnik House, (Plečnikova hiša), his charming former home and studio, is at Karunova 4, in the eastern suburb of Trnovo (Tue–Sun 10am–6pm; www.mgml.si/plecnikova-zbirka).

Miklošičeva, the thoroughfare to the right of the church, is lined with Secessionist buildings, notably the white Grand Hotel Union by Josip Vancaš (1905) and the elegant former Cooperative Bank by Ivan and Helena Vurnik (1922), with colourful geometric patterns. Miklošičeva leads north to the train and bus stations.

From Prešeren Square the splendid white, three-span Triple Bridge A [map] (Tromostovje) by Jože Plečnik connects the city centre to the Old Town and gives visitors their first taste of the ingenious works of the famous architect.

The Old Town

Though largely Baroque, the Old Town dates back to medieval times and is the only part of the city to have survived the 1895 earthquake. To the right of the Triple Bridge, the waterside promenade of Cankarjevo nabrežje is lined with cafés, and holds the Sunday morning flea market, with stalls selling antiques and bric-a-brac, including memorabilia of Communist Yugoslavia.

Left of the Triple Bridge lies the Central Market (Glavna tržnica), an open-sided colonnade designed by Plečnik in 1939. It runs upstream all the way to the Art Nouveau Dragon Bridge (Zmajski most). The green dragons at its four corners are said to wag their tails each time a virgin crosses the bridge. Inside the Central Market, the lower level beside the water has fishmongers’ stalls, while the upper level accommodates a variety of goods. The landward side opens onto Vodnikov trg (Vodnik Square), where a colourful market is held (Mon–Sat, most stalls around 7am–2pm), with stallholders selling seasonal fruit and vegetables, fresh flowers, honey, beeswax candles, dried herbs and clothes.

Dragon Bridge – the dragons are said to wag their tails

Neil Buchan-Grant/Apa Publications

West of Vodnik Square stands the 18th-century Baroque Cathedral of St Nicholas (Stolna cerkev svetega Nikolaja), designed by Italian architect and Jesuit monk Andrea Pozzo. Close to the river, it is aptly dedicated to St Nicholas, the protector of sailors and fishermen. The modern bronze doors commemorate Pope John Paul II’s visit in 1996.

Between Vodnik Square and the castle hill, at Krekov trg (Krek Square) 10, lies the Slovenian Tourist Information Centre (tel: [phone]; www.visitljubljana.com). Check out cultural events, book places on guided city tours, collect free brochures and maps, or hire a bicycle here.

Close by is Mestni trg (Town Square), a cobbled square overlooked by the 18th-century Town Hall (Rotovž). The charming Baroque Robba Fountain (Robbov vodnjak), a three-sided obelisk, was designed by the Italian Francesco Robba in 1751 to represent Slovenia’s t...