Image by Jost Derlink

France Preseren’s art and cultural center is one of the most important locations of Ljubljana alternative scene. It is located in Trnovo, near Plecnik museum and Trnovo church. In the building of this center you will find a gallery, a bar and a stage.

KUD also houses the studio of Radio Student. On the stage of the center there are a lot of different events going on throughout the whole year, for example improv theater, different concerts, workshops and movies.

Since the summer of 1992, KUD France Preseren hosts the international Trnfest festival on the courtyard of the center in August. It’s the main event in Ljubljana in that month. There, a lot of bands and theatre groups from Slovenia and abroad, are performing.

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KUD France Preseren | Art & culture, Bars, Music | Beer € 2.00
Karunova ulica 14 | Vic | +38612832288
Mon – Sat 10:00 – 01:00, Sun 14:00 – 01:00

Copyrights Spotted by Locals Ljubljana

Image by Jost Derlink

This little restaurant is located in Krakovo, the oldest Ljubljana suburb. It’s a bit quirky-it doesn’t have a menu and interior looks pretty much the same as a typical Slovene kindergarten, so if you have an opportunity, find a place outside.

Despite those two facts it’s still one of the best chances to eat in Ljubljana. It’s true, they don’t even have a menu, but they have the nicest staff and the waitress will tell you what can they offer you (sometimes it depends on the season), and sooner or later you will find out that they have EVERYTHING. They have all kinds of steaks, pastas, seafood, salads, desserts, soups and more.

Another advantage is that you won’t spend too much of your precious euros. An average meal costs about € 10.00.

The last but not least advantage: when you eat here, you eat almost in the centre, but you get the feeling that you are in a cosy little village with friendly locals.

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Pri Skofu | Restaurants (International) | Meal € 10.00
Recna ulica 8 | Vic | +38614264508
Mon – Fri 08:00 – 00:00, Sat – Sun 12:00 – 00:00

Copyrights Spotted by Locals Ljubljana

Image by Jost Derlink

Sax pub is located on Eipprova Street. It was the first pub in the street. After that, a lot of other cafes and restaurants opened their doors but despite others you can’t really miss Sax pub. It’s a small house covered with graffiti.

You could call it the second jazz club in Ljubljana as it has a stage smaller than a normal toilet. It’s well known for great atmosphere, especially during the summer, when they have concerts on a stage near Gradascica River, which was made by Slovenian architect Joze Plecnik.

The place is perfect for a break from the center if you don’t have enough time to go somewhere further away. You will find Eipprova Street south of the center in the city part called Trnovo. It is also possible to walk there from Preseren’s square, if you just walk along Ljubljanica River.

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Sax pub | Bars, Music, Snacks | Beer € 2.50
Eipprova ulica 7 | Vic
Mon 12:00 – 01:00, Tue – Sat 10:00 – 01:00, Sun 16:00 – 21:00

Copyrights Spotted by Locals Ljubljana

Image by Jost Derlink

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?

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 open 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

Copyrights Spotted by Locals Ljubljana

Image by Eva Taucar

All meat lovers unite! You will love this place. The only vegetable they serve in this restaurant is onion (and yet only for the sake of better meat digestion), so it is not really vegetarian friendly. Also don’t expect fancy wine card or French desserts – here the only drink is beer and as a desert you get strong traditionally cooked Turkish coffee together with ‘old school’ Drina cigarette, stuffed with nicotine, and ratluk (traditional candy). Healthy food is for pussies anyway.

The menu is simple: grilled meat (cevapcici and/or sudzukice – a kind of sausage), home made bread, also a bit grilled, onion and kajmak – a special sort of cream cheese that you melt over meat.

And that’s it – that’s the whole magic. If you will try & eat everything you will successfully passed the basic introduction course of traditional Balkan food. Congratulations!

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Harambasa | Snacks, Restaurants (Balkan) | Cevapcici (10 pieces & bread) € 6.50
Vrtna ulica 8 | Vic | +38641843106
Mon – Fri 10:00 – 22:00, Sat 12:00 – 22:00, Sun 12:00 – 18:00

Copyrights Spotted by Locals Ljubljana

Image by Tjasa Janovljak

Restaurant Mirje is one of those restaurants that are really busy during weekdays around lunch time. So don’t be surprised to see people waiting in front of this yellow house to get an empty seat.

It is quite common to join the table if there are any empty seats. Of course you should be polite and ask to do so, but don’t be shy we’re all doing it. So it’s almost certain you won’t be eating by yourself. Besides, this is great opportunity to get to know Slovenian students. On Saturdays it’s much more quiet.

They offer mainly Italian cuisine and serve daily menus, where you can always choose between three options, at least one is vegetarian. They also have really good pizza, properly made in a real pizza oven.

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Mirje | Restaurants (Italian) | Meal € 6.50
Trzaska cesta 5 | Vic | +38614266015
Mon – Fri 10:00 – 22:00, Sat 12:00 – 22:00

Copyrights Spotted by Locals Ljubljana

Image by Tjasa Janovljak

What used to be a Roman wall 2.4 meters wide and 6 to 8 meters high was renovated less than a century ago by the architect JozePlecnik, who knew how important nature is. He designed a park inside the wall and built a stone pyramid over the gate using old Roman stones from the neighborhood.

During the warm half of the year the wall is quite popular, mainly with high school students that come here to enjoy sun or maybe play guitar, rather than spend time in the classrooms, and students from the neighboring faculties.

Because of its stone structure free climbers spend hours here, hanging on the wall, trying to learn grips. On the top of the wall you can relax, have a beer or just watch shirtless climbers training their muscles. One gets an even better view from the pyramid so don’t hesitate to climb it. Just be careful not to fall!

You can also try to play didgeridoo under the arcades of the gate, it has good acoustics.

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The roman pyramid | Art & culture, Relaxing | Free
along the Mirje street | Vic
24 hours daily

Copyrights Spotted by Locals Ljubljana

Image by Jost Derlink

Located at the southern part of Roznik in the middle of the woods, Ljubljana zoo is perfect for a Sunday trip from the city center. You can walk there from Tivoli Park (check the Tivoli park article) or use the city bus that drives from the main train station to the zoo, but only from May to October. There is also a lot of parking space around the zoo, if you are using a car.

The zoo is separated into 2 parts: the lowlands and the highlands. In the lowlands you have all of those typical zoo animals like giraffes, zebras, kangaroos, chimpanzees and the elephant. Our elephant is the cutest old thing. Her name is Ganges and she is an Indian elephant. She’s one of the biggest attractions of the zoo.

And then we have the highlands. If you don’t like walking through the hills and if you are not a big fan of lynx, ibex, chamois etc you can just skip the second part, and stay longer in the first part watching lions or leopards.

There’s a new great wooden playground in the zoo, so you better find your inner child and try it out!

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Ljubljana zoo | Relaxing | Adult € 6.50
Vecna pot 70 | Vic | +38612442188
Nov – Feb 09:00 – 16:00 | Mar & Oct 09:00 – 17:00 | Apr & Sep 09:00 – 18:00 | May – Aug 09:00 – 19:00

Copyrights Spotted by Locals Ljubljana