Ljubljana – Day Trip Ideas For Culture Lovers

In a compact country like Slovenia, taking a day trip is practical even on a short break to the capital Ljubljana. Let’s take a look at a couple of the popular contenders, thinking about the practicalities of getting there and learning about their historic and cultural importance.

Exploring Slovenia

My last two posts have focused on Ljubljana. Firstly there was a long weekend guide to the Slovenian capital. And then an in-depth look at the City Museum (Mestni Muzej). Today we are going to go a bit further afield. Slovenia is a relatively compact country. You could drive to most places from Ljubljana in an hour or two. And with the capital fairly central and a hub for main roads, all roads lead to (or from) Ljubljana.

But the brilliance of this small European country is how much it packs into a small area. There are mountains, a stretch of Adriatic coastline, vineyards, natural wonders, and man-made sights. You may be wondering where to start! That’s where this guide comes in. On our trip to Slovenia we went to three of the most frequently-visited tourist spots in Slovenia. You can read about them in depth, and then make your own mind up. Bear in mind our choices were influenced by the time of year we visited: late winter. If we had gone in the summer, we definitely would have made for the coast or spent some time trying out Slovenian wines. Follow the imbedded links to get a taste for those two options.

And finally before we begin our Slovenian roadtrip, a word on practicalities. Slovenia, as I noted, is compact and has a good road network. It doesn’t have much rail infrastructure at all, however. So your choices for getting around are renting a car, taking the bus, or selecting a tour. We opted for the latter, and went with todoinslovenia.com. We didn’t book ahead of time, we went old school and booked via the Tourist Information Centre. The company were professional to deal with, friendly and flexible, with small group sizes.

And finally… we did all three of the daytrip ideas below in one day! It was a long day, but not excessive. You don’t have to do this if you have more time, or are not interested in doing all three. But Postojna Cave and Predjama Castle are really close to each other so you will see a lot of tour options combining both.

Day Trip Ideas From Ljubljana: Postojna Jama (Postojna Cave)

Postojna Cave, around an hour’s drive from Ljubljana, has been a tourist destination for centuries. And no wonder: at 24,120 metres, this is an absolutely immense cave system. The caves were first properly described in the 17th Century by an early expert on karst landscapes (basically where bedrock has dissolved to create sinkholes). The phenomena is so common in Slovenia that karst is actually a Slovenian word. But visitors came here long before there was a word for it. The earliest dated graffiti comes from 1213. And people must have explored as far as they could for many centuries before that.

Postojna Cave is very interesting for its pioneering status as a tourist site. Important visitors have appeared regularly; initially their visits were by lamplight. This was also an early mass tourism destination, however, especially when a railway was added in 1872. Employees initially pushed the trains, before a gas locomotive took over in the early 20th Century. Postojna Cave even had electricity before Ljubljana did, in 1884.

So it’s fascinating to visit today and think about this long lineage of tourists before you, enjoying Postojna’s wonders. And wonders there certainly are. The caves are absolutely immense, and filled with all kinds of natural phenomena built up over long millennia. There are your standard stalagmites and stalactites. There are thin tubes dangling from the ceiling of some caves, looking like spaghetti. Then there are others that look like translucent, draped fabric. As a visitor you take the train through various open spaces, twists and turns. There is then a section that you traverse on foot, either with an audioguide or a real life guide, before visiting the gift shop (of course), world’s only underground post office, and then taking the train back again.

I wasn’t sure what to expect at Postojna Cave but I thoroughly enjoyed it. It even had my rather cynical partner saying “Wow!”. A ringing endorsement!

Day Trip Ideas From Ljubljana: Predjama Castle

The next suggestion for an excursion from Ljubljana, and one which combines very well with Postojna Cave, is Predjama Castle. You can even buy a combined ticket for both attractions. Transport between the two is very limited outside the height of the tourist season, however, so it’s worth planning ahead.

‘Predjama’ means ‘in front of the cave’ in Slovenian. And this is a castle built rather ingeniously into a cave system, with a nice castle front at one side, and a small passage through to the other side of the mountain at the back. Well, let me qualify that statement. It’s ingenious if you are looking to defend your position. As a place to live it would have been absolutely miserable. We visited in the winter and it was bad enough in 2022, let alone the Middle Ages.

Anyway, there are records of the castle going back to the 13th Century. It’s 15th Century knight Erasmus of Lueg who is the most famous inhabitant, however. He didn’t get on with the Habsburgs, leading to them besieging the castle. Erasmus held out for a long time (thanks to the secret passage out the back), but was betrayed and died on the toilet, the weakest part of the castle’s defences. Or so the story goes.

Today you can visit the castle with an audioguide. Many rooms have figurines showing what it was like long ago – Slovenia seems big on mannequins overall and you will see more at the next castle too. When we visit nice, heated, waterproofed castles today we often don’t think about the experience of living in them. More than any other castle I’ve visited, Predjama brought home what it would be like to spend a bitter winter essentially in a cave, huddled by the fire if you were lucky.

For all this empathising with medieval castle-dwellers, Predjama is an impressive sight and worth a visit. The restaurant closest to the castle, with a nice terrace overlooking the valley, is apparently very good.

Day Trip Ideas From Ljubljana: Lake Bled

The final stop on our one day tour of Slovenia, and another day trip recommendation, is Lake Bled. Lake Bled is north of Ljubljana, whereas the other two sights are south, so we actually returned to the capital in between to drop off some fellow travellers. Like Postojna Cave and Predjama Castle, Lake Bled is around an hour from Ljubljana.

If you have seen any guidebooks or websites about Slovenia, you’ve likely seen an image of Lake Bled. In the middle of the lake there is a picturesque island with a church. You can take a gondola-like boat out there, or row yourself in a hire boat. Up on the hill is a Bled Castle. Most tours will give you an either/or option as to what you want to do. Because of the way the timing worked out on our trip, it was too late for boats and so we opted for the castle, followed by a late lunch at a pub close to the river in the town.

Bled Castle shares many features with other castles we’ve seen in Slovenia. It looks just like a castle ought to look, with a central courtyard you can imagine bustling with people and livestock. There is a small museum which is entertaining for its mannequins but probably not worth visiting in its own right. There is a restaurant. An excellent added feature at Bled Castle is that your ticket ‘buys’ you a small voucher to spend onsite in different ways. We opted to use it for a wine tasting in the castle’s wine shop.

Although it was a bit of a shame not to get out to the island on Lake Bled, our time there was well spent between the castle and the restaurant. There are spectacular views from the castle hill, and we watched dusk turn into night by the lake just before heading back to our van for the return trip to Ljubljana.

You could choose one of these options, or many other day trips from Ljubljana. In a country which is this varied and congenial, I doubt there are many bad options!