ljubljana – In Your Pocket: The Local Slovenia Blog

2018 Best of Culture in Ljubljana

Every year on 8 February, Slovenia celebrates its National Day of Culture in honour of the great 19th-century poet and cultural iconic France Prešeren, which is not only a work-free holiday but among other events and festivities the vast majority of the country’s cultural institutions offer free admission to the public. At Ljubljana In Your Pocket each year we mark the event by asking our readers help us select the best of the city’s culture, and 2018 has special significance, as it’s been officially recognised as the European Year of Cultural Heritage.

To mark the occasion, we’ve pulled out all the stops and expanded our usual handful of categories to a total of nine, in order to more fully cover the diverse cultural scene in the capital city. Voting will be open from 17 – 31 January, and votes* can be cast once per week. The winners will be announced at a special event on 7 February, with the results also being published in the forthcoming March-April edition of our printed guide. Thanks in advance to all the voters and best of luck to all of the finalists!

*Please don’t cheat on our poll. By cheating, we mean using technological means to vote multiple times in the same poll. Individual computers, phones and other devices are allowed to vote once per week for the duration of the competition. Unfortunately, as Edward Snowden can tell you, nothing on the internet is 100% secure. Nevertheless, we take every reasonable precaution to prevent cheating in our polls, and we also reserve the right to not count votes that were obviously cast through illegitimate means, and/or take other necessary action in such circumstances. If you decide to cheat anyway, please don’t get angry and threaten us with legal action when/if we catch you. We are only trying to keep the polls as fair as possible, and we can assure you that we NEVER favour one venue over another. We honestly don’t care who wins any given poll, as long as the votes of our readers are counted fairly and equally. If you’d like further explanation of our rules or have any questions regarding our poll, please feel free to email us at ljubljana@inyourpocket.com.

Best Nightlife in Ljubljana 2018

Colourful trees, foggy mornings, chilly evenings, yes, it’s definitely that time of year again – the time of year when we ask all of Ljubljana’s party people, beer drinkers, students, hipsters, wine connoisseurs, concertgoers, pool sharks, clubbers, jazzophiles, cigar aficionados and night owls what their favourite after-dark destinations are, as it’s time for our 8th annual Best Nightlife competition!

As in years past, our expert editorial team (several of whom may or may not have a drinking problem) narrowed down the countless choices to shortlists of ten finalists in each of our nine categories, and we then turned things over to our dear readers to decide which venues were the most popular in town for 2018. Voting was open from 15 October till 15 November, and the final results (listed below) were announced at a special awards ceremony on 30 November. Thanks to all the voters, congratulations to all the winners and na zdravje to everyone!

BEST BAR

1. ŽMAUC 21.1%
2. Centralna Postaja 16.4%
3. Lepa Žoga 14.9%

BEST PUB

1. PIVNICA UNION 30.9%
2. Cutty Sark 24.6%
3. Sax Pub 12.7%

BEST CLUB

1. KLUB K4 28.2%
2. Cirkus 18.8%
3. Cvetličarna 18%

BEST LOUNGE BAR

1. KAVARNA ROG 24.4%
2. As Aperitivo 16.4%
3. Sputnik 16.1%

BEST LIVE MUSIC

1. KINO ŠIŠKA 43%
2. Cvetličarna 24.6%
3. Orto Bar 8.4%

BEST WINE BAR

1. DVORNI BAR 26.1%
2. Šuklje Wine Bar 22.7%
3. Movia 12.1%

BEST ALTERNATIVE VENUE

1. GALA HALA 31.2%
2. Klub Tiffany 16.3%
3. Channel Zero 10.1%

BEST LATE NIGHT LEISURE

1. BILJARDNA HIŠA 30.6%
2. Kolosej 18.3%
3. Klub 300 15.3%

BEST LATE NIGHT SNACK

1. BUREK OLIMPIJA 36.9%
2. Nobel Burek 17.7%
3. Hot Horse 10.2%

BEST ADULT ENTERTAINMENT

1. HARD CORE CLUB 36.6%
2. Rocco 25.3%
3. Escape 11.5%

Ljubljana #6 in the top 10 cities on In Your Pocket

Provi sional figures from the Slovenian Tourist Board show that tourist arrivals were up by more than 10% in 2016, with the numbers for both domestic and foreign tourists showing strong growth over the year. This trend is predicted to continue in 2017, as the country and its many attractions become better known and more confident on the international scene, a development strongly supported by this blog and its published guides.

In this context, it’s also notable that Ljubljana’s small size has not stopped it from being among the top 10 cities searched for on In Your Pocket’s global website for 2016. The city comes in at number 6 out of around 200, following only Krakow, Prague, Warsaw, Johannesburg, and Bucharest, with the top 10 rounded out by Gdansk, Riga, Zurich, and Wroclaw. This high ranking is an indication not only of the growing popularity of Ljubljana as a tourist destination, but the importance of its In Your Pocket site to visitors, which is among the very few online resources available when they plan their trips and days out.

As such, we start 2017 with the hope for a prosperous and healthy new year for the city, its people, visitors and businesses, and that by working together we can continue to make Ljubljana a fine place to live.

Having a stag party in Slovenia

In the last few years the tourism in Slovenia has developed a lot, which reflects in more frequent inquiries from foreign tourists. Especially in the last two years the number of groups that come with only one purpose in mind – to celebrate a stag party – has increased exponentially. The summer months are the most saturated with foreign and home stag groups, which are usually seen in the city centre, wearing the same uniforms and taking part in different, entertaining activities.

What are the most popular and interesting activities for such groups in Slovenia, aside from those that take place in Ljubljana?

Cave kayaking
Kayaking through an abandoned mine, which leads to a beautiful underground lake.

White Water Rafting
Travelling through the wilderness of untouched nature that you can observe while paddling the rapids of the most beautiful Slovenian rivers.

Canyoning
Moving along on the river gorges, jumping down small waterfalls, and ending up in beautiful pools.

Wakeboarding
A mixture of water skiing, surfing and snowboarding, with a rush of adrenaline.

Zipline
A breathtaking ride by wire through Učja canyon, giving views which are otherwise known only by the birds. You can see the Beautiful Bovec Green River Valley, cliffs, canyons, a view of the highest mountain, Triglav, a experience for everyone

Bled Experience
A visit to Bled is also an unforgettable experience, as this is one of the most beautiful alpine resorts, surrounded by picturesque mountains. From Bled Castle one can see majestic mountains arranged around a small island with a church, which sits in the middle of the lake.

Slovenia’s smallness is also its strength, because it enables transitions from mountains to the sea in less than two hours. Most people find this feature very fascinating, because they rarely have the opportunity to first slide along the natural slides of a river canyon, and soon after be racing down wire over one of the most beautiful valleys in the country.

Click this link for more activities suitable for a stag celebration in Slovenia.

Best Nightlife in Ljubljana 2017

For the 7th year in a row, we once again asked Ljubljana’s partygoers, students, beer-drinkers, clubbers, connoisseurs, cigar aficionados and overall sophisticates to vote for their favourite nightspots in Ljubljana for our Best Nightlife poll. After receiving more than 20,000 votes last year, we decided to bring some old categories back to the competition and discontinue some others, bringing the total to nine, which includes ones for Nighttime Entertainment, Culture, Live Music (ie venues that regularly host bands and or singers), a bit more upscale Lounge Bars and another dedicated solely to Ljubljana’s famed alternative scene.

As always, the Ljubljana In Your Pocket editorial team narrowed down each category to a shortlist of contenders, and our readers decided who was the best of the best in open voting between 15 November and 15 December 2016. Thanks to everyone who voted, and congratulations to all of the winners and top finishers!

Best of Summer in Ljubljana 2016

We couldn’t care less if there was a snowstorm in Ljubljana during the last week of April, for us the May Day holidays will always mark unofficial beginning of the season, which means it’s already time once again for our annual Best of Summer in Ljubljana poll.

As in past years the headliners of the 2016 competition include the best summertime attractions and activities, and we’ve once again brought back multiple categories for best terraces (namely restaurant, café and bar/pub), as well as our sweetest category to find out who serves the best ice cream in the town. New categories include a diverse selection of the best tours in Ljubljana, and as much as we detest the word and strongly feel that selfie sticks should either be banned completely or heavily taxed, you can also now vote for the places in the city for taking self-indulgent vanity shots for your social media pages. And last but not least, there’s our shortlist of the best concerts in Ljubljana taking place between last May and early September, which range from Yugo legends and contemporary Slovene rockers to American punk, grunge and hip hop to whatever exactly it is that Alice Cooper does.

Voting in the 9 categories below was open from 11 May till 10 June, and the results were published in the July 2016 issue of our Ljubljana In Your Pocket guide. Congratulations to all the winners and top finishers, and a big thanks to everyone who voted and helped us share the poll. If you have any questions or comments, feel free to email us at ljubljana@inyourpocket.com.

*Please don’t cheat in our poll. By cheating we mean using technological means to vote multiple times in the same poll. Individual computers, phones and other devices are allowed to vote once per week for the duration of the competition. Unfortunately, as Angela Merkel can tell you, nothing on the internet is 100% secure. Nevertheless, we take every reasonable precaution to prevent cheating in our polls, and we also reserve the right to not count votes that were obviously cast through illegitimate means, and/or take other necessary action in such circumstances. If you decide to cheat anyway, please don’t get angry and threaten us with legal action when/if we catch you. We are only trying to keep the polls as fair as possible, and we can assure you that we NEVER favour one venue over another. We honestly don’t care who wins any given poll, as long as the votes of our readers are counted fairly and equally. If you’d like further explanation of our rules or have any questions regarding our poll, please feel free to email us at ljubljana@inyourpocket.com.

Top 7 Ljubljana Apps for Tourists

Much to our chagrin it seems that this “smartphone” fad may have some staying power after all. So while we personally still rely on the old-fashioned ink printed on paper as our primary conveyor of travel information, we’ve gone ahead and compiled a list of the most useful apps for visitors to Ljubljana. Just don’t forget to look up from your phone every now and then whilst strolling around the quaint capital of Slovenia, by all objective measures it’s quite a pretty town, so it’d be a shame to miss it.

#1 Visit Ljubljana

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The local tourist office’s in-house app contains a wealth of info about the city’s sights, restaurants, shops, events and more. The most convenient feature is being able to sort venues based on how close they are to your current position, which works with GPS even when you’re offline. Another useful tool for visitors is the ability to easily add venues to a My Visit list with a single tap, creating your own itineraries or reminders of places you’d like to see. [Android / iOS]

#2 LJBus

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Of the many public transport apps that keep track of arrival and departure times for Ljubljana’s two dozen or so local bus routes, we find this one the most useful, mainly thanks to the easy-to-use map view, which shows you exactly where the bus stops are and lets you bring up a full schedule for all routes with one click. Of course all the technical info still comes from the LPP system itself, which means the displayed times can be trusted most of the time, but seemingly never when you need them the most. [Android / iOS]

#3 Bicikelj

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In 2015, Ljubljana made its debut on the list of the 20 Most Bike-Friendly Cities on the Planet in an impressive 13th place. With some 134km of bike lanes and 73km of cycle tracks, the city’s cycling infrastructure continues to rapidly expand, as does its award-winning bike share programme, known as Bicike(LJ). This app of the same name will not only help you find the nearest station, but also tell you how many bikes are available and how many parking spaces are free, so you can avoid the frustration not having a bike to take or a station to park at. [Android / iOS]

#4 Prevoz

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While there are many popular ride share websites covering all of Europe, for rides within Slovenia or international rides departing from or originating in Slovenia, the locally run prevoz.org is by far the most frequently used option, saving you both time and money on trips as long as you don’t mind sitting in a car with a stranger. The site’s companion app is simple and easy to use, although it is only currently in Slovenian and also required registration to view drivers’ contact info. [Android / iOS]

#5 Radio Študent

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We’ll be honest, most of the radio stations in Slovenia are terrible, unless you like hackneyed commercial pop or Slovenian folk music, however, the student-run Radio Študent is one glowing exception. Founded back in 1969, it’s one of the oldest non-commercial stations in Europe, but being students they’re also tech savvy, with this simple app you can use to stream the station (from anywhere in the world). They play a diverse mix of Slovenian, regional and international music, leaning more towards the alternative and indie scene, but encompassing pretty much every genre imaginable. [Android / iOS]

#6 English – Slovenian Dictionary

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The vast majority of Slovenians speak at least passable English, especially in the capital Ljubljana, but picking up a few words of the local language always makes a good impression when interacting with locals. There are a handful of free English to Slovenian dictionaries on Google Play and the App Store, but this one seems to be the highest rated. [Android / iOS]

#7 In Your Pocket City Essentials

Still in its version 1.0 beta release, we have a feeling that once some more bells and whistles are added, this app will move firmly into the #1 position on our chart, mostly because it’s the most elegant, easy-to-use and up-to-date Ljubljana travel app on the market, but perhaps also in part because we made it. A curated selection of only the best content from our most popular categories, the In Your Pocket City Essentials app is the perfect companion for weekend break, business trip or short excursion to our fair city. [Android / iOS]

Have an app recommendation for us? Let us know at ljubljana@inyourpocket.com!