Cinemas & movie theaters – All our local tips

Are you up for some fun? Gather your gang of friends and head to the biggest fun center in Ljubljana.

You can get action in a cellar with the Terminator laser games or simply enjoy the funky decorated bowling in the main area. On the upper floor you can take one of the 31 billiard tables, but remember it’s good to make a reservation before, because the place is always full!

If none of these works for you, you can simply escape the reality in the XpanD 3D cinema, even though in my opinion the cost of ticket doesn’t equal the enjoyment. But you never know, maybe you’ll be treated with one of their specials: turning the lights on in the middle of the movie or a broken projector… Like one of Slovene’s self-proclaimed stars said: “The show must go!” …I don’t know, what happened with the “ON”!

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Arena Vodafone Live | Cinemas, Coffee & tea, Relaxing, Restaurants (Italian food)
Smartinska 152 | Moste | +38615205626
Mon – Thu & Sun 10:00 – 00:00, Fri – Sat 10:00 – 01:00

Supposedly one of the biggest commerce centers in Europe, it’s located in the northeast part of Ljubljana. The easiest way there is to take local bus (LPP) nb. 27. Alternatives which will also bring you close are number 2, 7 and 12. You can also take a train from the main station, but I’ve never done that. Once you’re there, you can go around on foot or jump on a free shuttle.

This place used to be a big storage space, but today numerous halls offer a great variety of merchandise products: from fancy dressings to simple gifts and food.

The second reason for visiting the place would be entertainment options: sport events, cinema, cultural shows, etc. The slogan of the place is “This is my city!” and they definitely do a good job making the visitors happy and create possibilities to find everything in one place.

Simply said: a city inside of the city.

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BTC | Bars, Cinemas, Coffee & tea, Shopping, Snacks
Šmartinska 152 | Moste | +38615851100
Mon – Sat 09:00 – 20:00 (shopping)

My last time in Cankarjev dom, I was going to an international movie workshop… but it’s in general the ultimate culturale house in Ljubljana. Located straight in the centre, in front of parliament actually, it gives you the elegant way of escaping from politics or shopping in the city centre stores.

It’s a perfect getaway on a rainy day too. There’s always something happening: exhibitions, workshops, music and dance performers, theatre,…

The only thing that might be worth to add is that the place is still kind of holding to that classy style it established in the socialistic times, so it might best fit to those who are a bit pickier than average or who long for some true classical cultural experience. Also in a sense of dressing up nicely and bringing a wallet. Yes, yes, this is the right address for you.

For a virtual tour go here.

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Cankarjev dom | Art & culture, Cinemas, Music, Theaters, Festivals & events
Presernova cesta 10 | Center | +38612417100
Opening times vary depending on show

Šiška is becoming a better and better place to live and CUK (center urbane kulture/ center for urban culture) Kino Šiška earns much of the credits for this. It opened last fall, but already has a huge impact on the Ljubljana scene. In the last few months it hosted a lot of important musicians from Slovenia and abroad (Josipa Lisac, Lollobrigida, Isis, Pan Sonic, Juno Reactor…). They have mostly music events, but also photo exhibitions, theater and dance events, some workshops…

In the past Kino Šiška was a cinema (kino in Slovene) and was build as a part of Šiška municipality center.  When Ljubljana got a new cinema complex in 2001, the majority of smaller cinemas closed their doors. They wanted to renovate Kino Šiška into a multipurpose hall for different kinds of contemporary events and almost a decade later we finally got it!

My favorite events in Kino Šiška are YU GO! Nights. Each of them presents 3 or 4 bands from ex-Yu area and can also be tagged as nu yu scene. YU GO! is on every third Thursday in month.

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Kino Šiška | Art & culture, Bars, Cinemas, Music, Theaters, Festivals & events
Trg prekomorskih brigad 3 | Siska | +38630310110
Depends

My friend from Australia stayed at my place for a week and when I was telling her what to do in Ljubljana, I mentioned 2 art cinemas. She was really surprised that a small city like Ljubljana has 2 of them and Melbourne has none. I guess that we are lucky and I’m really glad, that I can spend some nice evenings in nice old cinemas with interior from the 30’s.

So those 2 cinemas are Kinoteka and Kinodvor, both in the center and really close to each other. I will present you the first one. I won’t say that it’s better but it sure has more movies on the program and it’s a bit cheaper

Kinoteka is located on the Miklosiceva Street, somewhere in the middle between the train station and Preseren square. They show movies from Europe mostly, but also from other parts of the world, like Japan or, of course, America, but never too commercial. You can find different genres, from dramas to black comedies and thrillers. At the moment, they are showing a lot of films from the 90’s and also a lot of SF. Usually they show 2 films per day and I think you can see only one film at the time, so be careful that you don’t miss your favorite movie on the big screen!

Cinema also has a nice café with some nice coffees and in the same building you will also find a French restaurant if you’ll get hungry during the movie.

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Kinoteka | Art & culture, Cinemas | Student fee € 1.50
Miklošiceva cesta 28 | Center | +38615471580
Check the program