Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
times; €8, or included in €10 combo-ticket with castle sights and funicular; tour lasts 1-1.5
hours; winter tours possible to arrange upon request—call a day ahead).
Getting to the Castle:
A slick
funicular
whisks visitors to the top in a jiff (€2.20 one-
way, €4 round-trip, also included in combo-tickets described above, runs every 10 minutes,
1-minute ride, daily April-Sept 9:00-23:00, Oct-March 10:00-21:00, catch it at Krekov
trg—across the street from the market square TI). From the top, you'll find free WCs and a
feweasyflightsofstairsupintotheheartofthecastlecomplex(ortaketheelevator).Anoth-
er sweat-free route to the top is via the
tourist train
that leaves at the top of each hour (or
morefrequentlywithdemand)fromthestreetinfrontoftheTownHall(€4round-trip,daily
in summer 9:00-21:00, shorter hours off-season, doesn't run in snow or other bad weather).
There are also two handy
trails
to the castle. The steeper-but-faster route begins near the
Dragon Bridge: Find Študentovska lane, just past the statue of Vodnik in the market. This
lane dead-ends at a gravel path, which you'll follow up to a fork. Turn left to zigzag up the
steepest and fastest route, which deposits you just below the castle wall; from here, turn left
again and curl around the wall to reach the main drawbridge. Slower but a bit less steep is
Reber, just off Stari trg, a few blocks south of the Town Hall: Walk up to the top of Reber,
and,atthedeadend,turnrightandstartclimbingupthestairs.Fromhereonout,keepbear-
ing left, then go right when you're just under the castle (follow
Grad
signs).
Visiting the Castle:
The castle's information office is on the courtyard above the top of
the funicular. Across the way are the well-stocked Rustika gift shop and three eateries (the
fancy Strelec; Gradska Kavana, the “town café”; and the recommended Gostilna na Gradu,
with traditional Slovenian cuisine). The upper floors house two wedding halls—Ljubljana's
most popular places to get married (free for locals).
Most of the sights worth seeing at the castle are in the opposite wing, clustered around
the base of the tallest tower. As you face the tower, the entrance to the history museum is to
the left, while the “Virtual Castle” film and tower climb itself are to the right.
The
Slovenian History Exhibition
offers a concise but engaging overview of this little
country's story. As you enter, ask to borrow the free audioguide, then head downstairs and
work your way up. Dark display cases light up when you approach, revealing actual arti-
facts,videoclips,andtouchscreenswithmoreinformation.Auniquefeatureofthemuseum
is that you're invited to touch replicas of important historic items (in many cases, the ori-
ginals are in other Ljubljana museums). Don't miss the top floor of the exhibit (go up the
glassed-in staircase), which is the most interesting—covering the tumultuous 20th century.
You'll learn about topics ranging from the battlefields of World War I, to the creation of the
first Yugoslavia, to the fascist occupation and harrowing Italian-run concentration camps of
World War II, to the cult of personality around Partisan war hero-turned-Yugoslav president
Tito, to Slovenia's bid for independence.
