Shopping – All our local tips

Sometimes you can get a feeling that Ljubljana dies during the weekends, especially on late November Sundays. When it gets really depressing, you just have to bump into the Flea Market, where you can say to yourself: “oh this is the place where all the folks went!”

Ljubljana is well known for its antique shops, but the very best is held every Sunday on Cankarjevo nabrezje. You can by different things, from really expensive old furniture to retro sunglasses and badges from the Tito era or just an old postcard. Even if you don’t have a plan buying any of those things, you have to visit it. It is Ljubljana’s “social life” centre on Sundays and you are able to just sit in a café and watch people go by.

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Antique Flea Market | Art & culture, Relaxing, Shopping |
Gallusovo nabrezje | Center
Sun 08:00 – 14:00

Animals and people sometimes get too loud, and plants seem the only suitable company. Quietly blooming and growing, proudly showing amazing diversity of mother nature. The botanical garden Volčji Potok, the only one of its kind in Slovenia, is perfect to rest your ears and feed all the other senses. Sweet scent of magnolias, lively colours of tulips, smooth structure of maple bark are things that make this place worth to visit. At least they impress me.

Arboretum can compliment itself with more than 2500 different tree species and no-one-knows-how-many flowers. The park itself is gorgeous too, so don’t hesitate choosing this place to stretch your legs. It also offers a big playground area, where you can leave children, who are usually interested in trees only around Christmas time.

Like one wise man once said: „Don’t hurry too much! Stop sometimes and smell a flower.”

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Arboretum Volčji Potok | Relaxing, Shopping | Entrance adults € 5.50
Volčji Potok 3 | Surroundings | +38618312345
08:00 – 20:00 daily

This tiny bookstore in the old town centre is run by the Scientific Research Centre of the Slovenian Academy of Sciences and Arts, so what you can mostly get there is academic literature.

The place was almost too small, so they moved it next door. That doesn’t compromise the atmosphere, which is truly cozy and besides coffee (which you can get free if the sellers are in a good mood), you can almost smell all the knowledge that the shelves store. There’s a really good English language selection on philosophy, apart from books on cultural studies and anthropology, arts, history, gender studies and even comic books.

Check out for books by Slavoj Žižek, the most prominent and notorious Slovenian philosopher of all times!

Azil is also a bookcrossing zone, so you might even find some free books or leave your own behind. In front, there’s a bench perfect for relaxing and watching the people pass by on their daily routes. Soon a café will be opened in the inner court.

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Azil | Art & culture, Shopping
Novi trg 2 | Center | +38614706475
Mon – Fri 10:00 – 20:00, Sat:10:00 – 14:00

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)

This out and in-door central market place is best address when it comes to food. Here you will find all and everything. Most of it is home made, from veggies to fish, flowers, meat, cheese, spices and so on. Mostly traditional Slovenian products, together with architecture of the place, give the market special charm in my opinion.

I love to eat breakfast here – a few different sheep and goat cheeses and still a bit warm home made bread are like a small private feast. Sitting on a stairs, eating and observing people moving around like little ants with flower bouquets, big bags of fruit and fresh fish is my favorite ‘city center’ sport.

If you don’t mind eating with plastic fork you can also enjoy nice lunch here – in the kiosk near Zmajski bridge they offer fresh grilled fishes and calamari for low prices.

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Centralna Trznica | Shopping, Snacks | 1 kg of apples € 1
Vodnikov trg, Pogacarjev trg | Center | +38613001230
Mon – Fri 06.00 – 18.00, Sat 06.00 – 16.00

Strolling the cobbled stone streets in the old part of Ljubljana always leaves me with a great time.

Visiting pleasant little restaurants and chick designers’ shops. Every time you can discover something new, a door leading to a gallery hidden between old walls of middle-aged house or new collection of… soaps.

At the beginning of the main pedestrian street of this part of the town, the City hall and the Robb’s fountain in front will welcome you. Continue along the way and at the end turn left. The path will lead you all the way to the castle, where you can enjoy in a great view over the city. Definitely a pleasant choice to spend an afternoon.

For a virtual tour see here.

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Cobbled stone streets | Art & culture, Bars, Coffee & tea, Relaxing, Shopping, Restaurants (Mediterranean)
Mestni trg | Center
24 hours daily

This newly renovated and polished deli in -1 floor of Maximarket shop is now quite a sight; I was positively surprised when I set foot inside for the first time after the reincarnation from just an ordinary food market, crowded in the weekends with youngsters buying alcohol for parties, to definitely the no.1 gourmet place in Ljubljana.

They have a huge range of Slovenian wines, oils and meat products proudly promote our culinary culture. Yeah, we surely know how to eat good; it is not just Italians and French who kick ass. What you definitely won’t find in these two countries is great pumpkin oil, that comes from our North East flat region.

An almost black thick liquid, known just in some parts of Austria and Hungary, is tradition in our little country; a bowl of salad can hardly manage without it. Small „fancy desert” recipe, hard to believe or with other words „don’t judge just try”, is to sprinkle few drops of oil on vanilla ice cream – it tastes fantastic!

When it comes to top five things to bring home, you have to include this oil, Karst prosciutto, Karst sheep cheese, Teran liqueur and few bottles of Slovenian wines.

When hunger unexpectedly strikes and you are looking for something fast and cheap, it is also worth to stop here. Fresh pizza slices, sandwiches, pastries, cakes and fruits can manage you to survive on a very low budget.

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Delikatesa Maximarket | Shopping, Snacks | Slice of pizza € 1.00
Trg republike 1 | Center | +386614766800
Mon – Fri 09:00 – 21:00, Sat 08:00 – 17:00

If you would take a part of Amsterdam and transform it into Habsburg city mixing Mediterranean atmosphere, you would get Gallus bank. It has narrow houses like Amsterdam, Baroque architecture like Vienna and a part of feeling you get in Italian cities with the outside cafés.

The bank is located in the centre of Ljubljana, southern of the Cobblers Bridge. Here you can relax, buy some gifts for you and your friends in great shops with old vinyl, CDs with ethno, funk, jazzy music, wooden toys etc. There are also some nice places where you can eat, from pancakes to steaks, sit down and order a cappuccino or just buy a beer and go down the stairs to Ljubljanica river.

The whole area is reserved for the pedestrians, except for the most southern part of the bank which is a parking space of the residents. You don’t have to worry to be hit by a car; just be careful if there are any cyclists near you.

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Gallusovo nabrezje | Art & culture, Bars, Shopping
Gallusovo nabrezje | Center
24 hours daily

Knjigarna Konzorcij contains a few billion letters that create a millions of words which are used in thousands of books. It is the biggest and best stocked bookstore in Ljubljana and it basically covers every possible subject.

I usually keep left where the cooking book section is, which I never can resist from peeking into. My favourite, the architectural and design department is located here too. I love to sit on an old school chair with good book and dive into different world for an hour or so, with new ideas bouncing in my head, when I dream about things which are waiting to be created. It is my favourite city hobby when it is rainy and foggy and cold and absolutely horrible to stay outside more than you have to.

Anyway, if you are in search for something particular, this is the best chance to find it. If you just like to mingle among the books, this is the best place to do so.

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Knjigarna Konzorcij | Shopping | Book € 30.00
Slovenska cesta 29 | Center | +386612410650
Mon – Fri 09:00 – 19:30, Sat 09:00 – 13:00

I know the word bookery doesn’t exist, but I simply have to make it up, because it so perfectly describes this bookstore. Like a bakery, which in the morning invites you with the warm smell of pastry, this one welcomes you with a warm interior.

It offers you words, sentences and books that answer the questions in your head or reveal the secrets you are wondering about. It always has something new for me, that I can’t resist…and why should I? I love sitting there and leafing through the content of the books.

Because of its size you won’t find everything there, but you will find enough, to keep you half an hour deciding what to take home for personal library. You will also love the atmosphere in there and it is a very simple reason why: it is a place made by book lovers for book lovers.

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Knjigarna Vale Novak | Shopping | Book € 30.00
Wolfova 8 | Center | +38614223410
Mon – Fri 10:00 – 22:00, Sat 10:00 – 17:00

On Gallus bank, we got a new CD shop in the beginning of 2008. It is not comparable with the majority of the CD shops, because in Koromandija there are no such things as Pop, Hip Hop, Rock or Metal…

Koromandija is one of those shops with world music. It has a huge variety of Afro rhythms, Bossa Nova, Balkan music, Reggae and other styles that include traditional music. You will also find a shelf with Slovenian alternative music.

The owner of the store is really kind, and if you like one band that you found on any compilation, he can make some phone calls and get the whole CD of the group.

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Koromandija | Shopping | CDs from € 10.00
Gallusovo nabrezje 19 | Center | +38640556017
Mon – Fri 11:00 – 20:00, Sat – Sun 10:00 – 14:00

One of those shops that I can’t really believe still exists is situated on the main pedestrian street, Čopova ulica, named after the  important Slovenian linguist Čop. It has confronted all the system changes and is a monument of the fraternal country we used to have.

If you share the adoration for chocolate with me, you should visit this shop in between haunting for the main tourist attractions in the city centre. Try “bajadera” or “ledene kocke” (directly translated as ice cubes) to gain some strength. Both have been well known sweets around here for a long time.

The shop that we refer to with the French word bonbonnière has goodies from KRAS, a Croatian company that’s been in my life since childhood. Their main chocolate brand is called Dorina, and comes in a variety of flavours. They also have a Toblerone-kind-of chocolate called Kolumbo.

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KRAS shop | Shopping, Snacks | Free
Copova ulica 3 | Center | +38614262205
Mon – Fri 08:00 – 19:30, Sat 08:00 – 13:00

Slovenia was always a kind of a boutique country with nothing too large within its borders and our geographic diversity makes this even more true and unique. All parts of Slovenia have a thing or two to offer, from wooden to clay or even stone artifacts, depending on the area they come from, and also many food products to try.

That is the story of newly opened shop in the centre of Ljubljana with a simple but meaningful name, called Made in Slovenia.

Besides that, here you can also get tourist souvenirs such as postcards, magnets, T-shirts, homemade food goodies, natural cosmetics and a selection of handmade and unique jewellery from Slovene designers. Sometimes they organize handcraft performance in front of the shop.

The shop is next to Park Zvezda (Park Star) and next door to the Church of the Holy Trinity (Uršulinska cerkev), so you will surely pass by it during exploring the city.

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MadeinSlovenija.net Shop | Shopping
Slovenska cesta 23 | Center | +38640453221
Mon – Fri 10:00 – 19:00, Sat 10:00 – 15:00

This is one of the most useful spots in Ljubljana. We all heard stories about Ljubljana, how idyllic city it is, how cute, romantic etc. But how will this romance help you, when you will need to buy milk and box of cereals at 22:00 or even worse, on Sunday at 16:00 pm?

The truth is, that there are not a lot of places that are opened till midnight or on Sunday (not counting gas stations with ridiculous prices).

Mercator is the most common grocery store in Slovenia and this one on Tržaška cesta 37B is opened every day from 06.00 till midnight (including weekends and holidays!).

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Mercator Tržaška cesta 37b | Shopping
Tržaška cesta 37B | Vic | +38612414054
06:00 – 00:00 daily

Obsession is the oldest and the best known skate shop, actually the “God-father” of this kind of culture in Ljubljana.

For more than 10 years it has been organizing events and sponsoring youth in skateboarding. The last 2 years their entrance hallway also serves as street art and photography exhibition space – to support and introduce young local artists. Located in an old house cellar, it is an interesting example of unique space and atmosphere; that’s why it is also main “check point” of all skate population, although there are 3 more of their shops in the city.

50 meters from old Obsession they opened an outlet shop called “Na pou zastojn” which means “Half Free”, where you will find same brands from previous season’s half price. Interesting thing here is that all the furniture is made out of cardboard.

In Old Ljubljana they have another shop called Tranca, located in an area that was used as a prison in the old days (tranca means prison). This shop is oriented in more fancy and specially designed skate and street wear stuff, and is worth to see because of the hand made adhesive tape graphics on the walls.

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Obsession shop | Shopping | T-shirt € 30
Trubarjeva 34 | Center | +38614305860
Mon – Fri 09:30 – 19:30, Sat 09:00 – 13:00

This little shop of Pekarna Pečjak offers you to try out our way of making French pastries.

Everybody know „čokoladni navihanček”, unprofessionally translated by me into „kinky chocolate pocket”, their most famous product, which you can also buy in frozen version and bake it yourself at home. I bet every Slovenian housewife did it at least once and introduced it to her husband as her own masterpiece. Pretty smart, in my opinion.

They are also creating some „healthy” versions such as whole-wheat croissant with diet marmalade, which is very good for those, who prefer „not so sweet” sweets…or not so caloric ones – as you like to interpret it. But it tastes good, so don’t worry – you wont get “tastes like wood, looks like plastic” snack. Their latest product is crispy strudel filled with tarragon and mmmmmmmmmm that is yummy!

I recommend it for breakfast or daily snack, but don’t be too late, because all the good things will be sold out. Since it is located on Ljubljana’s main street, you really don’t have any excuse, to peek in and be tempted by something. Warning: watch out for chocolate spiral – it is very hard to resist her!

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Pekarna Pečjak | Shopping, Snacks | Chocolate pocket € 0.70
Čopova ulica 5 | Center | +38612515337
Mon – Fri 07:00 – 19:00, Sat 07:00 – 13:00

When you enter this place, close your eyes and breathe in once or twice. What you will smell is the smell of heaven. Pure chocolate – everywhere and in everything. The chocolate oriented sweetshop Rustika is the best when it comes to this brown gold. Cakes, pralines and ice creams – what a joy!

A word of advice: when you will start brainstorming what to bring home from holidays, don’t bother with kitschy T-shirt nobody wants to wear, but choose some dark chocolate truffles that are first: eatable, and second: not just eatable but damn good. You will definitely gain your popularity among your friends and family!

It is true what they say: chocolate makes you happy…and brown around your mouth.

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Rustika | Shopping, Snacks | Chocolate cake € 2.30
Trubarjeva cesta 44 | Center | +38659935730
Mon – Fri 08:00 – 21:00, Sat 09:00 – 14:00

Another remnant of the past is a small shop near the main fruit and vegetable market.  It is marked with a sign that says: Grajske pekarne. You will find it situated at the back of the statue of Valentin Vodnik on the opposite side of the street.

At first look this is small and crowded shop but at another glimpse you realize that it offers you a great deal if you are a chocolate addict, chocolate lover or you just like to sweeten your tongue every once in a while. You can get a kilo of chocolate for as low as € 4.00!

Mainly all the products are from the Slovenian Company Zito. You can check also other Slovenian products, such as bread (generally we have really tasty bread in Slovenia), snacks, candies, different flakes and similar. The most recognized brand is definitely Gorenjka, Slovenian chocolate pride.

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Zito | Shopping, Snacks
Vodnikov trg 5 | Center | +38615876100
Mon – Fri 06:00 – 18:00, Sat 06:00 – 13:00

This is a quite new sensation in Ljubljana with fresh vibes. With colorful showcase full of animals (who would have thought…), Andy Warhol t-shirts, colorful sunglasses and my favorite:  Startas shoes. Those are also the reason for me to write an article about the store, so I will tell you some facts about Startas shoes.

As you all know, Slovenia was once a part of Yugoslavia. In those days things from the West were either hard to get or outrageously expensive! Because of that young folks didn’t drink Coca-Cola but Cockta (which you should try because it’s greatJ) and they also didn’t have (well….at least the majority didn’t have) All Star sneakers. But they had Startas shoes, made in Croatia. They were really popular in the 80’s but people forgot about them in the 90’s when Yugoslavia felt apart.

Thanks to designer Mauro Massarotto the brand got a new and fresh design in 2006. I’m a kid of new post-communist Slovenia so before the renaissance I had no idea about Startas and now that I know for those shoes and owe a pair I would just like to say: thank you Croatia!

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ZOOO | Shopping
Cankarjeva Cesta 4 | Center
Mon – Fri 09:30 – 20:00, Sat 09:00 – 15:00