I first heard about free walking tours from the Edinburgh Free Walking Tour! And then I heard about the Nice one (which I have not yet finished), so when I knew I had about two half-days in Ljubljana, I immediately went to check if there was a free walking tour… and there was!

There are three free walking tours for Ljubljana – the classic tour, the communist tour, and the old town and castle tour. The classic tour is available every day, but the communist tour and the old town castle tours are seasonal. Due to time constraints, I only managed to go for the classic tour.

The nice thing about these tours is that none of them require you to book a spot. But this also means that many people may be joining the tour – on the Sunday that I went for the tour, the group was so big that we had to be split into three smaller (but still sizeable) groups! Also, the current COVID-19 safety measures mean that even though the tour is taking place outdoors, you still need to show proof of vaccination before you can join the tour, so that’s something to take note of.

My guide was Nastia (Nastia2, if you’re looking at TripAdvisor) and she was fantastic! She started her tour thousands of years in the past, with a tale of the “pile dwellers” who used to live in the area, followed by the Romans and then many years of foreign rule. After giving us a condensed history of Slovenia and Ljubljana, she showed us around Preseren Square, three bridges, and a few other places in the pedestrian area of Ljubljana. I took a lot of notes but in the interest of not making this post a mini-history report, I’ll just share some of the more interesting facts:

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• There are lots of architectural styles in the buildings in Ljubljana because there were of a lot of natural catastrophes
• The oldest axel wheel was found in Slovenia
• Jože Plečnik is a very important architect who designed many buildings in Slovenia. He also loved pillars so when you look at the market, a few bridges, and the pillars that just stand around town, you know you are looking at one of his works. He also built the library, which has a beautiful reading room with uncomfortable chairs so that students cannot forget how hard it is to study. 
• Butcher’s Bridge (also a love lock bridge) is as wide as the river itself because it’s meant to function as a public square – which is also why it has a lot of interesting art pieces so that people will stop and talk about the art.
• If you’re at Ljubljana Cathedral (aka Church of St Nicholas), look out for the Slovenian doors which made in 1996 to commemorate Pope John Paul’s visit. These doors have the history of Slovenia carved onto them. 
• At the market, Nastia gave us a list of foods to try, including something called “Donat water”. Apparently, this is a water high in minerals and is said to be helpful for digestion issues.

If you’re visiting Ljubljana, I would make this the first thing you do because at the end of the tour, the tour guides have several coupons that they can give out. When I went, they had coupons for – a discount at a certain souvenir shop, a free drink if you take a riverboat, discounts to the museum of illusions, and a coupon related to wine tasting (can’t remember if this was a discount but I think so?). So this is a good way to find things to do as well.

Overall, I found this to be a fascinating and enjoyable tour. I went with three of my classmates and we were all very impressed and entertained so I’d definitely recommend this.