Ljubljana, Slovenia--cobblestone walking streets and river bridges abound--August 23-28, 2026

Ljubljana Town Square

After a five-hour drive from the Nepliget Bus Station in Budapest, Hungary, the Flexibus dropped us off at the Ljubljana Bus Station construction zone. A half-hour walk led us to the Most Hostel by the Ljubljanaica River.

The Most Hostel entrance is the white door on the left side.

Late in the day, I dined at a restaurant along the river by the hostel. I had sausages with bean soup and lemonade.

The downtown area had many cobblestone walking streets.

In the morning, I joined a walking tour starting at the pink cathedral in Town Square.

Our knowledgeable guide, Dom, pointed out various architectural styles, from Gothic to Baroque and minimalist.

We began at the pink Baroque Franciscan Church of the Annunciation, where Dom pointed out the three bridges designed by the famous Slovenian architect Joze Plecnik. Plecnik also designed several other buildings.

Dom shared the story of the bronze statue of Slovenia’s national poet, France Preseren, and his muse, Julia Primic, who was only 14 when they met. She is also featured as a bas relief on a nearby building who is posed looking at his sculpture. Trees near the Franciscan Church were planted to prevent patrons from seeing the muse’s bare breasts.

We continued to the Town Hall and its nearby sculpture depicting the three rivers that came to Ljubljana.

Further down the street, we reached the Cathedral of Saint Nicholas, known for its beautiful entrance doors that chronicle Ljubljana’s history. The Baroque interior was stunning, with ceiling frescoes.

We passed through a public market filled with high-priced fruits and vegetables, similar to Pike Place Market in Seattle.

We also saw the city logo with giant WOW sign in front of the tourist office.

He took us to Congress Square, pointing out the balcony where Madonna performed.

He named some bridges, including the cobbler bridge, where cobbler’s set up stalls, 

and the butchers bridge, now filled with love locks.

He pointed out The Dragon bridge near my hostel,

and the triple bridges.

I enjoy free walking tours provided by locals. Our guide, Dom, was an architecture student who spent a lot of time describing the buildings.

I tip them about €10. Dom receives no salary from the tour company and has to pay a commission per tourist.

Dom handed out coupons for a free drink on a beautiful wooden boat powered by electricity. The tour price was €15, the same as all tour boats.

During the boat ride, there were only seven passengers, compared to crowded boats in the past. Later, I saw our wooden boat filled to the gills with tourists.

We headed up river to where it became a swamp and then returned, passing under the many bridges we had seen. 

We reached the control dam, which maintains the river elevation throughout the city.

The boat passed by the hostel where I stayed, and had dinner at the restaurant with the checkered tablecloths.

Wooden electric-driven tour boat filled to the gills.

The next day, I visited The Ljubljana Castle. Initially, I thought the funicular ride and castle tour would cost around €23, but our guide suggested walking up to avoid the fee.

The hike was beautiful, with a paved and wooded path.

Ljubljana Castle Layout

Inside the castle, I explored the watchtower, prison, chapel, and enjoyed the city views.

On my last night, I had a delicious bass dinner, though I usually don’t eat the skin.  

I had some eggs Benedict at the Capri Cafe before heading to the Bus Station.

It was a rainy morning, as I passed by the Dragon Bridge for the last time, I walked to the bus station, which had moved about a quarter mile east on Monday. 

The international buses were at platforms 26 through 29, mostly Flexibuses. I was glad to get notices from Flexibus about delays. There were so many Flexibuses that I had to check their destinations to see if any were my bus.

The five-hour ride had a couple of stops for snacks and bathroom breaks, even though there was an on-board toilet. I think the stops were more for the driver than passengers.

From the Nepliget bus and Metro station, I took a quick metro ride to my Wombat Hostel, where I spent my last two nights in Budapest. 

Notice that they have some very long escalators down to some of the Metro stops.  Again, my rides were free since I am over 65 years old.

Since I arrived late, I didn’t get a bottom bunk, but the Dutch fellow in my room switched with me, so I enjoyed all my stays on the bottom bunk.

I revisited some favorite places like the St. Stephen's Cathedral area, had more Hungarian goulash, and enjoyed a decorative rose-designed ice cream cone with raspberry sherbet and chocolate.

My last tourist visit was to the Dohany Street Synagogue, built in 1854. Much of the Synagogue was devoted to describing the Holocaust activities that resulted in 400,000 murders of Hungarian Jews by Nazis and the Hungarian Arrow Cross Party.

This is the largest Synagogue in Europe and 2nd largest in the World. 

Rarely are there cemeteries in Synagogues, but this one contains about 2,000 Hungarian Jews who died in the Pest Ghetto and were buried there during World War II.  Over 70,000 Budapest Jews were deported to death camps and other camps the Nazis controled.

This silver colored weeping willow is called "Holocaust Tree of Life Memorial" designed by Imre Varga.  Each leaf contains a name and their tattooed number.

There is also the "Raoul Wallenberg Holocaust Memorial Park" section.  He was a Swedish Special Envoy--also was an  OSS agent (Office of Strategic Services--now CIA)--who issued over 4,500 protective paperwork documents that saved those Jews.

In the morning I was leaving Budapest, I stopped across the street for a full breakfast at the Rumpus Tiki Bar & Kitchen.  I ordered eggs Benedict, and was surpised to see that it came complete with a table top volcano.  It was a pretty dramatic way to leave Budapest.

From the restaurant, I walked a few hundred yards to catch the 100 E bus to the airport, which took about an hour to get to the Budapest Airport.

I experience problems when trying to check-in for my boarding pass. The Condor app on my iPhone instructed me to check in online, but the text message was that I had to do it in-person. The first check-in representative refused to accept paper flight documents, unless I paid for an extra service.

I explained the problems I had was with the Condor app, and her supervisor, Judy, intervened. She first tried to use the Condor app on my iPhone with the same problem I had. She then manually overrode the system and gave me my boarding passes.

The plane was comfortable, but two toilets were blocked due to clogged sinks, causing long lines.

The meals were disappointing: dinner was a gummy vegetable pasta with red sauce, and breakfast was a dried-out Pizza roll.

Once we got to the SEA airport, it was a very long distance to walk to Passport Control.  I was surprised to see when using the Global Entry line, that instead of using the kiosk to scan my passport, an overhead camera had captured my image, and an Immigration agent motioned me and others to continue walking--facial recognition saves time here.

The Seattle light rail to downtown Seattle was delayed for over half an hour due to an accident, and one section of the route was one-way around the Columbia City stop.

The weather was good on my return home.