Ljubljana August - September 2014
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Maps Events Restaurants Cafés Nightlife Sightseeing Shopping Hotels Ljubljana August - September 2014 Emona Ljubljana’s 2000th birthday promises to be quite the celebration Ptuj Find out more about the oldest town in all of inyourpocket.com Slovenia Issue Nº37 FREE COPY city of opp ortunities In the last twenty years BtC CIty trademark has found Its plaCe under the slovene marketIng sky. today BtC CIty Is not only the BIggest shoppIng Centre, as It has also BeCome an Important BusIness Centre and a CIty wIth sports and Cultural events as well as a plaCe where CreatIve and BusIness Ideas Come to lIfe. therefore the BtC CIty trademark wIll also In the future foCus on CreatIng opportunItIes for a qualIty way of lIfe, InnovatIve Ideas and new vIsIons. www.btc-city.com BTC 2014 Oglas Corpo 143x210+5 In Your Pocket.indd 1 7/22/14 11:19 AM Argentino / Šmartinska 152 (BTC) / 1000 Ljubljana / Slovenija Typical style of an Argentinian hacienda. Always fresh meat, best quality beef from Argentina. Indulge yourself with our grilled specialities. Old Argentinian recipes, on typical grills imported from Argentina. Wine Cellar with over 130 Argentinian Wines www.argentino.si / mobile: +386 31 600 900 InYourPocket 143x210 0313.indd 1 20.3.13 9:31 Contents ESSENTIAL CIT Y GUIDES Arrival & Transport 8 Planes, trains, buses, taxis and transfers Emona 13 Happy 2000th birthday Ljubljana! Culture & Events 15 Festivals, exhibitions, music and much more Restaurants 25 Everything from A to V(egetarian) Cafés 42 Enjoy one of Ljubljana’s favourite pastimes Nightlife 46 Dance and drink the night away Sightseeing 50 Bridges, museums, the castle and more Kids 61 Keep the little ones happy this summer The view from the bottom of Nebotičnik (skyscraper) Shopping 62 Embassies & Expats 75 Where to go and what to buy A special feature for foreign residents Where to Stay 68 Around Ljubljana - Kamnik 78 Business suites to hostel bunks The jewel of Slovenia’s heart Bled 81 More than just a lake Škofja Loka 82 A medieval town 20km from Ljubljana Maribor 85 Slovenia’s second city Ptuj 88 The oldest city in the entire country Postojna 92 Home of the world famous cave Slovenian Spas 95 The ultimate relaxation Directory 99 Maps & Index 100 The Ljubljanica - gorgeous whatever the time of day facebook.com/ljubljana.inyourpocket August - September 2014 5 Foreword The FIFA World Cup may be over, but the party hasn’t stopped. It isn’t often than a city turns 2000 years old, but that is exactly what Ljubljana is doing this month. Well, not exactly Ljubljana per se, but the 2000th anniversary of the Roman settlement of Emona, on which modern-day Lju- Publisher bljana was founded, is celebrated this August. As is to be ESSENTIAL Ljubljana In Your PocketCIT Y GUIDES expected, the revelries will take centre stage all month, Drenikova 33, 1000 Ljubljana, Slovenia with a variety of exhibitions, events and tours available to Tel. +386 30 316 602 all and sundry. Roman soldiers will roam the streets, as we’ll [email protected], www.inyourpocket.com rub our eyes, confused as to what century it actually is. It Director Niko Slavnic M.Sc., [email protected] promises to be quite the party. ISSN 1855-3486 This 37th edition of Ljubljana In Your Pocket has plenty ©IQBATOR d.o.o. more to it than this grandiose occasion however. Up-to- Printed Evrografis d.o.o. date information will keep even the most Ljubljana-savvy Published Published six times per year of visitors on their toes, as we continue to explore every Editorial nook and every cranny that this gorgeous city has hidden Editor John Bills within. We even have a special section for those in town Writer John Bills, Will Dunn, Craig Turp, Richard Schofield, James Cosier, Yuri Barron with little ones as well, including a family centre that really Design Radomir Lazović is everything any child has ever dreamt of. Consulting Craig Turp What else? Well, our desire to introduce our readers to eve- Photography Ljubljana Tourism, Branka Jovanović, Dunja ry part of Slovenia takes us first to Kamnik and its gorgeous Wedam, Tadej Mulej, Urša Culiberg, Shutterstock Cover photo Dunja Wedam, courtesy of Tourism Ljubljana. mountain ranges, followed by the north-eastern town of Ptuj, so head to page 88 to learn how to pronounce that Sales & Circulation seemingly unpronounceable word, as well as to find out Sales & Operations Management Irena Jamnikar, Karmen Hribar, Stanka Parkelj Rozina, Leon what delights wait for you there. We also take another look Šlajpah at Maribor, Bled, Škofja Loka and Postojna. The festival that you voted Best Summer Festival is upon Copyright notice Text and photos copyright IQBATOR d.o.o. Maps copyright us as well, as SchengenFest aims to achieve its aim of cartographer. All rights reserved. No part of this publication getting sexier every year. We’ve also had some internal may be reproduced in any form, except brief extracts for In Your Pocket changes, with our hirsute American editor the purpose of review, without written permission from the making way for a slightly less hirsute, overly polite Welsh- publisher and copyright owner. The brand name In Your Pocket is used under license from UAB In Your Pocket (Bernardinų 9-4, men. The pleasure is ours. As always, any and all feedback Vilnius, Lithuania, tel. (+370) 5 212 29 76). is appreciated, whether it is on Facebook, Twitter, Insta- gram, email or carrier pigeon, although we suspect the Maps Monolit d.o.o. latter to be fairly unlikely. ABOUT IYP We have come a long way in the 22 years since we published the first In ESTONIA Your Pocket guide - to Vilnius in Li- LATVIA RUSSIA thuania - so much so that we are to- NORTHERN LITHUANIA day the largest publisher of locally- IRELAND IRELAND BELARUS -produced city guides in the world. NETHERLANDS POLAND The recent publication of a guide to GERMANY UKRAINE the islands of the Dutch Caribbean BELGIUM CZECH REPUBLIC - our first in the Western Hemisphere AUSTRIA HUNGARY - has taken the number of guides pu- SWITZERLAND ROMANIA GEORGIA SLOVENIACROATIA blished each year by In Your Pocket to ITALY BOSNIA SERBIA BULGARIA well over five million, spread across MONTENEGRO FYR MACEDONIA more than 100 cities on three con- ALBANIA tinents. And there is more to come: GREECE make sure you keep up with all that’s new at In Your Pocket by liking us on DUTCH CARIBBEAN Facebook (facebook.com/inyourpoc- SOUTH AFRICA ket) or following us on Twitter (twi- tter.com/inyourpocket). 6 Ljubljana In Your Pocket ljubljana.inyourpocket.com BEST HOTELS AND ACCOMMODATION IN LJUBLJANA 2014 Kollman What’s the best BOUTIQUE HOTEL in Ljubljana? Adora Hotel 26.51% Lesar Angel 17.32% Vander Urbani Resort 14.96% Cubo 13.65% Nox 9.45% Pri Cesarju What’s the best BUSINESS HOTEL in Ljubljana? What’s the best GUESTHOUSE in Ljubljana? Austria Trend 26.61% AloRooms Vrbinc B&B 24.35% Plaza 23.66% Pri Žabarju 20.00% Birokrat 17.74% Aparthotel Vila Minka 9.57% Grand Hotel Union 9.41% Stari Tišler 9.57% Sheraton Four Points Mons 8.33% Portal 8.70% What’s the best APARTMENTS/ROOMS What’s the best MID-RANGE HOTEL in Ljubljana? in Ljubljana? Meksiko 27.75% Kollmann 29.22% Ljubljana Resort 20.57% Tour AS 28.55% Bit Centar 15.79% Meščanka 15.69% Park 13.88% Emona Luxury Rooms 8.35% Ahotel 5.26% Kavarna Maček Rooms 5.84% What’s the best HOSTEL in Ljubljana? What’s the best HOTEL AROUND LJUBLJANA? Celica 36.64% Pri Cesarju 34.44% AdHoc 25.91% Dvor Jezeršek 27.15% Vila Veselova 11.54% Ambient 10.60% Aladin 6.28% Kongo Hotel and Casino 5.30% Print 5.67% Dvor Tacan 4.64% Celica Alorooms Adora Hotel Arriving & Getting Around town depends as always on where you’re planning to stay A WORD FROM OUR MayOR and how fit you are. Many central hotels are within rea- sonable walking distance. Alternatively, find taxis outside, For me, Ljubljana is the most and make sure the meter is running before you depart. beautiful city in the the world Arriving by bus – unique for its special posi- All national and international buses arrive at the central bus tion in the heart of Slovenia. station which is located directly in front of the main train sta- As a city with rich history and tion. The ‘temporary’ prefabricated station building features lit- cultural heritage, it attracts tle in the way of facilities for recent arrivals, making a trip to the ever more visitors every year train station almost compulsory. Perhaps the only one of its from near and far. The most kind in the world, the bus station does however contain a Sixt important ambassadors for car rental kiosk, with the only other useful facility being a small Ljubljana are undoubtedly internet café for which tickets can be acquired from ticket win- our residents, who live the in- dow Nº1. Getting to town is the same as described above. tercultural dialogue and with their openness, kindness, and Arriving by car hospitality always ensure a touch of comfort and warmth. Driving to Ljubljana is a joy due to the good roads and Welcome to Ljubljana! Zoran Janković excellent signposting. The city is circled by a ring road Mayor from where it’s easy to get to the centre. Simply follow the parking signs for convenient places to leave your car near the city centre. Once in the city, it’s best to walk the Officially part of the Schengen zone since late 2007 and short distances rather than drive through the heavy traffic nearly completely surrounded by other Schengen-agree- and narrow street.