Despite celebrating its 2,000th birthday in 2014, Ljubljana has only been the capital of an independent nation since 1991. It's this curious mix of two milennia of evolution combined with an understandable youthful enthusiasm that's created the city we know and love today. The history of the nation is a history of a proud struggle against larger and stronger neighbours, be they Germanic to the north, Italian to the west, Hungarian to the east or Serbian and Croatian to the south. As such, Slovenia has seemingly taken the best of all these 'influences', added them to a strong inherent culture to create a cultural stew (bograč maybe) that we’re thrilled to be in the centre of.
At just 280,000, it might not be the largest city in the world, but Ljubljana uses this to its advantage and has a genuine cosmopolitan feel with all the comfort and friendliness of the smallest village.
A free PDF download of our latest guide to Ljubljana can be found here, and with over 400 distribution points in the city (and surrounding area) you’re never far from a print copy.
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City Essentials