How long in Ljubijana
 

How long should one spend in Ljubijana? I'm considering one of the following three options, coming from London:

1) an early flight Friday - late flight Sunday
2) an early flight Saturday - late flight Sunday
3) An early flight Friday - late flight Sunday from Graz (i.e. spend Sunday on Graz before flight, or vice-versa). However, Graz is more than 3 hours away.

In short, how much time is needed in Ljubijana? I like wine, art (espeically impressionism), castles and palaces.

Thanks!

I would say a full day would suffice, two days tops. It's a nice town, just not very big to warrant longer.

thanks; any other comments?

ttt

You only need one day in Ljubljana. There is a castle at the top of the hill which is nice. Two wine bars, Movia and the Art Bar, both have a good selection of Slovene wines. LJ is a small town. On your second day, you may want to go to Lake Bled. It is absolutely beautiful.
Cheers,
Jan

Thanks for the advice. What about a 2 days in Ljubiana with 1 in Zagreb, or vice-versa? What do people think of Zagreb?

topping

I took a day trip to Zagreb from Ljubljana. I enjoyed the city and thought it was perfect as a daytrip.

Like, Jan, I also highly recommend Bled, just an hour by bus from Ljubljana.

Thanks for the tips. Forgive me for being stupid, but what is there to see in Bled besides the lake and the castle? Is it easy to get around? I guess I much prefer cities with art museums, palaces, castles, etc ... and maybe I could get that in Bled, but maybe not. It would be a nice break, though.

The lake with the church is pretty much it, but the view is fantastic--serene, idyllic, perfect. You can walk around the lake, gaze on the scene before you, relax, take one of the quaint little boats over to the church, ring the bell and be back on your way.

I'd suggest flying into Zagreb early on Friday, spending the day and the night there (we had from about 5 p.m. one day to 8 a.m. the next and felt like we saw quite a bit, but it has a nice cafe life which would encourage lingering), moving on through Ljubljana to Lake Bled on Saturday and returning to Ljubljana to spend the night, then flying out of Ljubljana on Sunday night. If you really don't think you'd enjoy the quiet of Bled, just fly into Zagreb early Friday and out of Ljubljana late Sunday, spend a night in each and let your interest in Zagreb decide how soon on Saturday you want to leave for Ljublana.

I agree w/ everyone - Lake Bled is peaceful and lovely. I enjoyed the walks/hikes, good food, massages (nice spa in the Hotel Golf) and green atmospehere. But, it is not the city atmosphere that you may want. That's why my husband and I love it so much (we live in metro NYC so we get plenty of city stuff). Ljubljana is quaint, but small, and IMO warrants a day, two tops (just as someone said). Zagreb reminded me of a worn Vienna. It has its charms, but warrants a day or so, no more.

Safe travels!

Thanks for the tip; Bled does look nice, the more I think about it. How close is it to the airport; would it be possible to go directly from the airport to Bled or from Bled back to the airport, or are they kind of far apart?

I don't think it would be too far at all to go from the airport to Bled. I'll defer to SloJan, but my guess is that Bled is 30-45 minutes from LJU airport.

SloJan, do you think they'll be a big influx of tourists after Slovenia joins the eurozone on Jan. 1?
Also, what's Lake Bled like in winter? I think I'll go to Slovenia next Feb/March before or after my convention in Vienna--combine it with another visit to Graz.