Slovenians are proud of the fact that their country name is the only one in the world to include the word LOVE.  This post features our favorites from a month in this beautiful country: Ljubijana, Bled, Zajamniki, Predjama Castle, Vintgar Gorge, and Slovenian sweets.

Ljubijana, the capital and largest city in Slovenia, was our first stop. And its picturesque bridges over the Ljubijanica River in the historical center are hard to miss. The Triple Bridge started as a single stone bridge for pedestrians, carts, and motorized vehicles entering and leaving the old city. The two side lanes, designed by Joze Plecnik and added in the 1930s, helped ease congestion. 

The 2010 Butcher’s Bridge leading to the daily outdoor market now displays many lovers’ padlocks hung by locals and visitors. 

The original Shoemaker’s Bridge included cobbler workshops along both sides. This 1930s version was also designed by Joze Plecnik, a Slovenian architect whose work is also well known in Vienna, Belgrade, and Prague.

The Dragon Bridge features the city’s famous symbol, which represents power, courage, and greatness. The dragon is also included in the Ljubljana coat of arms. 

A few more dragons in city center:

The Ljubljana Castle can easily seen from most places in city center and is depicted on the city’s coat of arms with a green dragon perched on top of the castle towers. The 900+ year-old restored building began as a fort and over time was used as a governor’s home and office, then a barracks, next a prison, and currently a historical site.

The Church of St. Nicholas, the city’s cathedral built in the early 1700s, is named for the patron saint of sailors and fishermen. 

From Ljubljana we travelled by train and bus to the popular lakeside town of Bled, surrounded by alpine peaks of the Karavanke and Julian Alps mountain ranges. The most photographed building in the area is the 17th century Church of the Assumption of Mary on the small island in the almost 30 meter-deep lake. The beautiful church tower stands 52 meters high and a Baroque stone stairway with 99 steps leads up to the front door. It is a popular pilgrimage destination and wedding site. No weddings occurred there during our visit. So we didn’t get to see the good luck tradition for a groom to carry his bride up the stone steps before ringing the bell and making a wish inside the church. 

We climbed up to Bled Castle, the oldest (and very well maintained) castle in the country and one of the most visited Slovenian tourist attractions. 

We researched how to get to the small, but very picturesque, village of Zajamniki in Triglav National Park:  one hour bus ride from Bled to Rudno Polje, followed by a six kilometer and somewhat marked walk through pastures plus along a hillside to the Pokljuka Plateau. The panoramic view of the long row of wooden shepherd huts and the Julian Alps was magnificent! 

Predjama Castle, the largest cave castle in the world, stands 123 meters tall in front of and inside a cave. We toured the 13th century castle’s chapel, living quarters, prison cell, torture chamber, and weapons display. Most of the actual cave is closed to visitors. 

After a 10 minute bus ride from Bled, we explored the Vintgar Gorge portion of Triglav National Park. We walked beside and above the stream and waterfalls as we navigated the 1600 meter trail that winds through the tall and steep canyon walls. 

We expended extra effort to find and eat three traditional Slovenian sweets. We enjoyed a yummy dark chocolate candy bar that is very similar to Fige Presernove (Preseren fig pralines,) named after the great Slovenian poet France Preseren of the early 19th century. Prekmurska gibanica (Prekmurian Layer Cake) is an interesting combination of savory and sweet layers of poppy seeds, cottage cheese, walnuts and apples. Kavarna Park Cafe, on the shore of Lake Bled, boasts that their cream cake is the original and best Bled cream cake.  So of course with such a great photo and eating opportunity, we had to try this cake with layers of cream between sheets of puff pastry. Tasty! And it is very similar to kremnista, a delicious and popular Croation vanilla custard cake we ate in Samobor, just outside of Zagreb.