Trieste or Ljubljana?
Almost everyone visiting Green Slovenia for the first time will probably end up in Ljubljana at some time, but there is another very beautiful, similar sized city, that used to be in Slovenia and is now in Italy that should also be battling for your attention.. Trieste!
Ljubljana is just a little over half hour from the Lodge, but Trieste on the Adriatic coast is actually a bit closer, so our guests might sit over breakfast pondering the question of the day.. Trieste or Ljubljana?
Well, we didn't actually have space in our title box for the FULL question, which is below..
Trieste or Ljubljana, Both or Neither!
Having lived here in Green paradise for well over a decade now, if you only knew what we have found to see & do in & around Green Slovenia and you gave us 3 weeks to "do" Slovenia, we might not even have time for either city!!
We love them both of course and there is absolutely nothing wrong with each mini metropolis, we are not suggesting this at all!
But if you had a bit of a look at our Secret Green Places to Visit section to see just how many Green treasures are in easy range of the Lodge, then by taking a day out to visit a city, you might be missing out on seeing an amazing Wine Region or Gorge or Mountain or a whole host of other Green Secrets and maybe now your simple pre holiday list of Bled, Ljubljana, Piran and the Postojna Cave might look in serious danger!
And isn't that a wonderful thing! Cos for a dinky little country, Slovenia sure is absolutely packed with Disappearing Lakes, Castles, Caves, Fortress Churches and Secret Partisan WW2 Hospitals and NONE of them are in the bigger towns or cities!!
But we do totally get it, that a day out in a new mysterious city can also be fun, so now we will help you choose between Ljubljana or Trieste.. or Both!!
Two very Similar Cities which are Completely Different!
We always get excited about visiting either city, which are of similar size to each other and will probably feel quite small to you.. Both have traffic free, flat centres, (Ljubljana more so), therefore easy to get around on foot, if you have reasonable fitness.
Both have Roman and Austro Hungarian pasts and of course Slovenian heritage, so there are lots of grand old buildings to admire and big museums around every corner.
You can drive into either city and park up if you want.. But you can also directly access Trieste using a stunning antique tram service that trundles down the cliff from Opcine or jump on the train at Postojna to land in Ljubljana car free!
Trieste has a Grand Canal running from the sea into the city centre and the easiest way to navigate around central Ljubljana is to wander along the river.
Both these waterfronts are packed with restaurants, cafes and shops, so they are the places to be at some time in the day for eating, shopping and sipping cappucinos.
Both cities have great views from their respective castles to enjoy, but both castles are a bit disappointing, with not a lotta juicy history or battles or much stuff at all to excite you except the views!
There are dozens of much, much better Slovenian castles to go see.. So much so, we did a whole article about it and Trieste also has two fantastic, completely different little castles, just outside the city to go visit in Duino and Miramare..
Go up the Nebotićnik tower in Ljubljana for a coffee and fantastic view of the city, the Alps and the castle opposite! And you will get great views of Trieste from the tram and cliff top locations above!
So we would say the overwhelming reasons to go to either city will be their cute small size, beauty, ease to get around and air of intrigue!
Both are easy to explore and it is not a problem to get a little lost too, when wandering around, so now is the time to make your decision between the two..
The KEY Decision Making Differences..
Depending on your family or friend grouping and personal preferences, some of these factors may help your decision..
Of course the main, most obvious differences between the two cities are that Trieste is in Italy nowadays and nestled into the high cliffs by the Mediterannean sea and Ljubljana is in Slovenia, inland in central Europe, with snow topped mountains and green hills on the horizon.
In Ljubljana you can do a boat trip on the river, in Trieste you can do a boat trip on the sea along the coast to Muggia!
Ljubljana is a capital city, so every type of national building, embassy and museum will also be here to find if you fancy and closer together than you might think..
Whereas Trieste is more a regional capital, but was the main port in the Austro Hungarian empire and is still a major centre for receiving Europe's coffee supplies from around the world.
Like we said, both cities have strong Roman and Austro Hungarian connections, but Trieste offers an alternative mix of ancient Venetian combined with modern post war Italian influences and a small, but cute Roman ampitheatre too, just off the city centre..
Ljubljana was an important Roman city too, guarding the edge of the empire and was also highly valued by Napoleon in his short reign, with a little French quarter that can still be found today.
Most recently destroyed by an earthquake in 1895, Ljubljana was redesigned by the Slovenian architect Plecnik, who also worked his magic on Prague, so you will definitely get a mini Prague feel AND a "Gaudi Barcelona like" vibe if you want to go on a hunt to find his most special buildings!
The best one is probably the "Three bridges" over the Ljubljanica river right in the centre of town and easy to find, just lovely!
Unlike Trieste, the recent post war influence in Ljubljana was communist Yugoslavian and spawned extremely bland socialist tower blocks and personally, we really hope just a few of these are kept, so this part of the city's history is not erased for ever..
Trieste definetely has that tutti frutti, moped fuelled craziness that will tingle your senses and attack your ear drums, whereas the biggest danger in the much quieter, sleepier Ljubljana will come from the bikes and E scooters whizzing past in front of your nose!
You can still relax with a cappucino on any street corner in Trieste, but Ljubljana exudes a calmness and relaxed atmosphere that very few European cities can claim and indeed this might be your very favourite feature..
Or maybe it will be the numerous dragons in all shapes and sizes to go find all over Ljubljana.
You can see the 4 biggest dragons on the beautiful Dragon bridge and there are lots of great bridges in the centre for crossing the river and taking piccies.
It might even feel a little crowded some nights in Ljubljana in the summer by the river, but just go one or two streets off the pedestrianised centre and you will be looking around in shock, wondering where everybody has gone and seriously doubting whether this really is a European capital city!
Probably the last little consideration to make is if you have little legs, older legs or teenagers in your team, then Ljubljana is far more condensed into the small car free city centre next to the river, so probably easier to walk around and still get a feel of it all.
Trieste does have a compact first impression, but lots of wide boulevards in the centre, so maybe a little more walking required..
Whichever city you choose to go see, remember it is also perfectly possible to get a feel for either one in a good half a day, but we hope you have scheduled enough time in your Slovenian hollibubble schedule to see both AND to still not miss any amazing waterfalls or lakes too!
French Connection en Slovenie
