We share 60 family friendly places in Ljubljana, from the zoo to pizza, swimming pools and museums. The only thing missing might be time you’ll need to do it all. But give it a try.
The Food
1.For pizza (almost every kid’s favorite) try the pizzeria Verace (a true Neapolitan style pizza) or Azur (they also have delicious pasta).
2. Open Kitchen downtown Ljubljana turns into a busy market filled with stalls of delicious food from all corners of the world. Fridays from April to October.
3. Gostilna Čad – grill dishes, worth paying a visit during the Summer because they have a lovely garden in the shade of the giant chestnut trees. In the middle of the garden they have a small playground.
4. Our favorite Chinese restaurant, Kitajski vrt, they also have a lovely patio in the Summer.
5. For the pancakes take the kids to Cafe Romeo located on the Ljubljanica river.
6. Burgers and great beer for you with a lovely view of the Ljubljanica river is on Petkovskovo nabrezje – Fany & Mary.
Best street for food in Ljubljana is definitely Trubarjeva street: it is home to many restaurants.
Coffee, please
8. Ice cream for kids and coffee for you? Head to Cacao. Can’t miss it as it’s right behind the Presern statue on the Presern square in the city center.
9. Coffee and a playroom for kids? Top floor of the department store Nama in the center of Ljubljana.
10. Coffee and sandwiches? Paninoteka on the lovely Jurčičev square.
11. Tea instead? Čajna hiša in the old part of town.
12. Coffee, playground and Ljubljana’s pond? A nice place called Kačji Pastir – translation dragonfly.
museums
13. Slovene Ethnographic Museum – one of our favorite museums in Ljubljana, with many interesting exhibitions and very kid friendly -as in you can touch and feel.
14. Slovenian Museum of Natural History – a chance to stare at the almost complete mammoth’s skeleton.
15. National Museum of Slovenia – see the earliest musical instrument in the world, a 60,000-year-old Neanderthal flute and an Egyptian mummy.
16. Two Open-air archaeological parks: Emonan House and Early Christian Centre.
17. City Museum – learn about Ljubljana through the ages.
18. Get back to school with a visit to Slovenian school museum.
19. Railway Museum will get kids excited about trains.
20. House of experiments – because science can be so much fun and here are so many great experiments to prove it.
21. Museum of Illusions – trick your confidence in senses.
galleries
22. National Gallery of Slovenia – a great way to learn more about Slovenia through its many talented artists. Recently renovated and with lots of great activities for the kids it should definitely be on your itinerary.
23. Museum of Modern Art – right next to the National Gallery of Slovenia, for a more unique and unusual look at art as well as some great coffee.
It’s worth remembering that a lot of the museums and galleries have free admission on every first Sunday of the month.
zoo
24. Ljubljana zoo – offers a really nice walk mostly in the shade, so it’s perfect even in Summer, cute animals, a petting zoo. It also has a few nice playgrounds with lots of options to play with water. Plan to spend half a day here, so you don’t have to rush the kids.
botanical gardens
25. Botanical gardens – take a walk along the right bank of the river Ljubljanica, you have a beautiful path all the way from Preseren square to the Botanic Garden, at Spica cross the footbridge and you can’t miss the entrance. Perfect time for a visit is definitely Spring, though you can best enjoy the tropical glasshouse in the Winter and imagine you are some place else.
parks
26. Park Tivoli – it’s the biggest and in our opinion prettiest of parks in Ljubljana. The highlight is definitely the very big playground. Right next to it you have a great coffee place, Čolnarna with an indoor playground. From Tivoli you can walk to the top of the hill, Rožnik. There is a lovely church as well as another playground and a really delicious treat – flancat, a type of fried pastry.
If you want to park close to the city center but not pay an arm and a leg for it, I recommend parking in Tivoli. Saturdays and Sundays are free.
playgrounds & PLAYROOMS
27. In Tivoli a fun filled Lumpi park: in the Winter you can ice skate there in the Summer is full of inflatable bouncers and other great
28. Minicity Ljubljana – creative city for kids, when kids can pretend to fly a plane, to work in a store or be an awesome TV presenter…
29. Family center Mala ulica – located in the city center and designed to feature the most prominent buildings and streets of Ljubljana, with an excellent view of the castle and within walking distance to all the major sites – it’s a perfect hideaway for a few hours.
You can find great playrooms in all of the shopping malls in Ljubljana: Mercator Center, City Park, Supernova…
swimming pools
30. Atlantis water park you have so many different choices of pools, saunas, slides and massages.
31. Swimming pools at Tivoli.
33. In the Summer – Laguna, city beach.
34. Kolezija swimming pools – operates in the Summer.
35. Ilirija swimming pool – only in Summer.
36. ŠUS Eurofitness Ilirija indoor swimming pool.
escape rooms
We never visited an escape room, since our kids are too young at the moment, but if you have older kids this sounds like a lot of fun.
37. Enigmarium – the first escape room in Ljubljana.
38. The Key – they also claim to be the first child escape room in Slovenia.
39. Mind Maze.
40. The Dragon Temple.
41. Way-Out Escape Room.
BICYCLE park
42. On Celovška street, next to the entrance into Tivoli park, right by the sports bar Lepa zoga young kids can enjoy a fun bike park.
castle
43. Kids love castles. Of any kind. And the fact that Ljubljana has one is pretty self-evident, since you can spot it from a far, overlooking the whole city. We love visiting this great place.
tours
44. Boat tours: give you 45 minutes or more (depends on which tour you chose) of respite, while you are still exploring. And your kids are bound to love it, especially because they can observe the ducks, try to catch a glimpse of the fish, just don’t let them watch too closely, go under the many bridges and wave to all the people on other boats or standing on the shore.
45. Food walk: go with the incredible Ljubljananjam tour. Iva, the guide knows her way around Ljubljana’s best food places.
46. There is more: free tours, segway tours, bicycle tours…
sights
47. Presern square – meet Slovenia’s most famous poet and the author of our country’s national anthem.
48. Triple bridge – have the pleasure of picking which bridge you want to cross or don’t pick at all and do all.
49. Dragon bridge – count the many dragons.
50. Cathedral in the center, to learn more about the baroque.
51. Old part of Ljubljana – cobbled narrow street lined with different small shops where you can buy souvenirs or grab a delicious bite to eat.
52. Walk by the waterfront – river Ljubljanica slowly meanders through the city.
53. Hostel Celica – take your kids to prison and show them what a real time out looks like. A former prison is now turned into a stylish hostel. They also offer tours of the place.
54. Metelkova area – let the kids get inspired with art in this interesting, located on the site of former military barracks.
55. Central market – visit on a Saturday morning to meet the locals who love to spend their time between the market and their favorite coffee spots.
56. Kongresni trg square and take a photo at the giant anchor.
57. Town hall – check on the mayor.
58. National library – the building will inspire kids to learn.
cinema
59. Kolosej – in the shopping area BTC, muliplex cinema with a great playground.
60. Kino Dvor – great movies for kids and adults. They offer babysitting and workshops for kids while you go watch a movie.
In Slovenia the movies are subtitled.
So many different swimming pool options – thanks for pulling together this list.