Bridges and Dragons self guided tour of Ljubljana

Ljubljana is a city you can walk across in fifteen minutes. But the river that runs through its heart has pulled bakers off bridges, carried a heartbroken mayor to his death, and inspired Slovenia's greatest poem. This self guided audio tour tells you why. Twenty stops through the historic centre, from Prešeren Square to the Dragon Bridge. Meet the poet who immortalised two women who rejected him. Watch Plečnik, the architect who quietly remade an entire city, leave his fingerprints on everything from the bridges to the library to the open air theatre. Visit the fountain that bankrupted the sculptor who built it, the square where Napoleon's legacy shaped modern Slovenian identity, and the street with seven hundred bronze faces in the stone. The tour runs two to three hours, works in nine languages on your phone, and starts whenever you're ready. Over 20,000 travelers have used our self guided tours. The tour comes with a full refund guarantee.

1. 1

   Preseren Square

   5 min

   Meet Slovenia's greatest poet and the woman who rejected him, immortalised in stone across the square.

2. 2

   Stop 2

   5 min

   Step into a salmon coloured Baroque church where the bones of a French bishop rest in a glass coffin.

3. 3

   Congress Square (Kongresni trg)

   5 min

   Learn how Ljubljana hosted Europe's most powerful kings for five months of post Napoleonic politics.

4. 4

   Stop 4

   5 min

   Stand below the balcony where Tito delivered a speech that reshaped Yugoslavia.

5. 5

   Slovenian Philharmonic Hall (Slovenska Filharmonija)

   5 min

   Discover the small city orchestra that received fan mail from Beethoven, Haydn, Paganini, and Brahms.

6. 6

   National and University Library

   5 min

   Admire Plečnik's masterpiece, built with Roman wall fragments set into its red brick façade.

7. 7

   French Revolution Square (Trg Francoske Revolucije)

   5 min

   Find out why a Slovene city raised a column to honour Napoleon Bonaparte.

8. 8

   Krizanke Church

   5 min

   Wander through a crusader monastery turned open air theatre by Slovenia's most beloved architect.

9. 9

   Stop 9

   5 min

   Hear how a Protestant general saved Catholic Europe from the Ottomans at the Battle of Sisak.

10. 10

    Old Square (Stari trg)

    5 min

    Visit the spot where, according to legend, a young woman was danced into the river by the Water Man.

11. 11

    Stop 11

    5 min

    Learn how cheating bakers were dunked into the river, and why a heartbroken mayor drowned here.

12. 12

    Stop 12

    5 min

    Find seven hundred bronze faces embedded in stone, inspired by a poem of Rainer Maria Rilke.

13. 13

    Stop 13

    5 min

    See the marble masterpiece that bankrupted its Venetian sculptor.

14. 14

    Cathedral of St. Nicholas

    5 min

    Examine the bronze doors that retell twelve hundred years of Slovenian Christianity. Look up at a dome that, for over a century, was nothing but a painted illusion.

15. 15

    Triple Bridge (Tromostovje)

    5 min

    Cross Plečnik's UNESCO listed solution to a traffic problem, three bridges where one once stood.

16. 16

    Stop 16

    5 min

    Find Adam, Eve, and a disembowelled Prometheus in bronze, beside a parapet of love padlocks.

17. 17

    Stop 17

    5 min

    Taste Carniolan sausage, štruklji dumplings, and milk from a vending machine that runs day and night.

18. 18

    Dragon Bridge (Zmajski Most)

    5 min

    Meet the four bronze dragons that, locals say, wag their tails when a virgin walks past.

19. 19

    Ljubljana Castle

    5 min

    End with a view up to a hilltop fortress that has guarded the city for nearly three thousand years.

• Service animals allowed
• Public transportation options are available nearby
• Suitable for all physical fitness levels

For a full refund, cancel at least 24 hours before the scheduled departure time.