LJUBLJANA
Ljubljana
OTHER PLACES:
Basics - Getting There - Getting Around - Places To Stay -
Where
To Get Drunk - What To See And
Do
Imagine all the ingredients of the perfect, fairy-tale European capital city. Ljubljana, one of Europe's smallest capitals, has them all. Nestled up in the mountains? Check. A castle perched on top of a hill? Check. 2000 years of history, ranging from Roman remains to Art Nouveau architecture? Check. A picture-perfect Old Town, with winding streets and alleys and colourful houses. Check. Hundreds of bars that stay open 24 hours a day? Well......, so it's not perfect, but it's a city that doesn't yet the hordes of tourists who flock to Prague or Budapest, and which is well worth a visit.
Getting to Ljubljana from any other part of Slovenia is no problem at all. Remember that Slovenia is small (about the size of Wales, but without any Welsh people living there) and Ljubljana is more or less in the centre of the country, so wherever you want to go in Slovenia is not going to be more than 3 or 4 hours away.
The train station is to the north of the city centre, on Trg Osvobodilne Fronte, and is a pleasant, clean building with some useful facilities (including a bureau de change that won't rip you off) and some less useful (McDonalds). Buying a ticket won't be a problem; there were never any queues when we were here (there are different desks for domestic and international trains, but they are clearly marked), and the staff speak some English. Working out the time tables might be a bit tricky though; rather than list the trains by destination they have one big timetable that lists every train in order of the time it leaves. If you're going somewhere a bit out of the way you might have to spend a while hunting for a train that goes there.
As well as regular domestic trains to most towns in Slovenia there are some international services too. You can get trains at least once a day to Berlin, Munich, Salzburg, Venice, Trieste, Geneva, Budapest, and Zagreb. Most of these trains are long-distance services that merely stop off in Ljubljana rather than starting or terminating there (e.g. the Geneva to Zagreb Simplon Express) and so may stop off in Ljubljana at some ungodly hour. And international services are usually considerably more expensive than domestic ones.
We got the train to and from Koper on the Adriatic coast, and so I'm now going to waste your time enthusing about Slovenian trains. For a start, they're cheap. A single ticket for the 2 and a half hour journey from Koper, bought half an hour before the train set off cost all of £4.50. The trains are also damned reliable, leaving Koper and arriving at every stop en route bang on schedule. It was a great journey too, pulling out of Koper, heading up through the coastal mountains, across the Karst plateau, and then through even more forests, hills, and mountains to Ljubljana, with stunning scenery for the entire journey. The trains are pretty cool too, if not especially modern (although some of the trains we saw for shorter routes rather than the Inter City train we were on looked brand-new and pretty high-tech). The second class carriages we were in were set out like British Rail carriages used to be, divided up into compartments with 8 seats in each compartment.
On both journeys we made the trains were pretty quiet and so we got a compartment to ourselves. The compartments were clean, with really comfy seats and headrests, and were also air-conditioned (although simply opening the window was far more effective). There was a restaurant car further down the train, but we were happy to stick to our packed lunch of a bottle of Koper Refosk wine and shit-loads of bread, prsut ham, and cheese (and about a kilo of cherries I'd ordered by mistake). In short, Slovenian trains are great fun, and whoever is in charge of running the Slovenian railway system should be brought over to Britain to sort ours out.
The only problem with the Slovenian railways is that they don't go everywhere in Slovenia. There are some places where you'll have to take the coach instead. Happily this isn't too much of a problem as the Slovenian road network is well maintained, and there are no particularly long coach journeys within Slovenia in any case. Ljubljana's coach and bus station is right over the road from the train station (note to those running British public transport; this is called "integrated transport" and is a good idea. Having the train and coach stations on opposite sides of the town is, however, a bad idea). The station seems to have been recently renovated and has shops, a cash point and a bureau de change as well as information and ticket desks. The time tables are a little less confusing than those in the railway station too. As well as domestic coach services there are international links to (among others) Rovinj, Rijeka and Zagreb (all in Croatia), Trieste, Belgrade, Berlin, Munich and Stuttgart, Prague and Budapest. Note that few of the international services run daily, so make sure you check the timetables and it would probably be a good idea to buy your ticket in advance.
Finally of course you could always fly to Ljubljana. The airport is about 15 miles to the north west of the city (there's a regular bus service to and from the airport). There are regular flights to and from (among others) Amsterdam, Brussels, Copenhagen, Frankfurt, London Heathrow (on Adria Airways) Munich, Paris, Vienna and Zurich. There are less regular flights to Dublin, Manchester (both weekly) and Prague, as well as direct flights to most other cities in the Balkans.
The cheapest direct flights from the UK are with EasyJet, although these have the disadvantage of flying from London (sic) Luton airport.
Ljubljana is so small that you'd have to be trying particularly hard to get lost anywhere near the town centre, especially when sober.
The Ljubljanica River flows through the city, starting off flowing north to south before it bends and starts running more or less due east.
On the south/east side of the river where this bend occurs is the tall, tree-covered Castle Hill, which is a landmark visible from most parts of the city. Between the Castle Hill and the river is the Old Town. The main road through the Old Town starts at Ciril-Metodov trg (where the Robbra Fountain appears to the main meeting point) and runs roughly parallel to the river. Most of this area is pedestrianised.
On the west/north side of the river the main meeting point is Presemov trg, which is alongside the Triple Bridge. The city's main commercial district is between the River and the North/South running Slovenska cesta. At the north end of Slovenska cesta you'll find the ring road that goes around the city centre. If you head east the ring road is called Masarykova cesta and will take you to the bus and railway stations. On the west side of the city the ring road is called Tivolska cesta. Tivoli Park is to the northwest of the city centre, as is the airport (about 15 miles away).
Because Ljubljana is so small, and most of the Old Town pedestrianised, the best way to get around is on foot. Most Hotels are in the city centre, and there's nothing in the suburbs (which don't stretch very far in any case) to tempt you there, so you shouldn't be walking very long distances in anyway. And of course if you do get tired (and climbing up the Castle Hill can be a bit knackering on a hot day) there are numerous bars where you may take refreshment and replenish your energy-stores.
If you do have to resort to public transport for whatever reason, you'll find it to be cheap and efficient. There's no underground or tram system but there is an extensive bus network (to illustrate just how compact Ljubljana is there's a map of the bus system on which every bus stop is marked and given its own name and the map still looks smaller than the London Underground map). The system is divided up into lines, each marked with a different colour on the map. The hours for each line vary, but none will run beyond midnight. When using the bus you can either pay the driver, or buy tokens in advance (from post-offices, the bus station, and most kiosks) or passes.
To get to the airport you'll need to take bus 28 from the central coach station (which isn't a local bus, so you'll need to pay more). If you're feeling really lazy there's a bus running from the stations to the Old Town (number 2), but you can walk it in about 10 minutes instead.
If for whatever reason you have to take a taxi there's a taxi rank outside the main station, or you can hail them down in the street (try to make sure it is a taxi though, and not a police car or something), and they're pretty cheap too.
Ljubljana doesn't have a wide selection of hotels. At the moment this isn't too much of a problem, but if and when tourism here really takes off, they'll really need to build a few more hotels or you could have difficulty getting a room.
We stayed in the Hotel Park at Tabor 9. It's a great big 11 storey or thereabouts high-rise, located in a residential area and surrounded by other tower blocks. Actually the location isn't too bad; it's only 10 minutes walk from the train and railway station (longer if you get off the train and decide to make your way there without consulting your map first), and only 5 minutes away from the Old Town and the Cathedral (much longer if you choose to stop off at some of the many bars along the way, obviously). There's a large Youth Hostel nearby, as well as a little park complete with fountain. There's also a big church that has bloody loud bells that they tend to ring at regular intervals throughout the morning; not ideal if you're suffering a little from the night before, but useful if you forget to set your alarm clock. The rooms are a bit dingy and shabby, but clean, and there aren't many facilities (no TV or minibar). The wiring looked a bit dodgy too, and they had had the unusual idea of using a shower curtain that was far too small to actually go around the shower (the bathroom floor seemed to drain fairly well though). Being as tall as it is there are two lifts, but one of them only stops at odd-numbered the floors, the other at the evens. Strange, and confusing if you've had a few. Apart from its location, and the ease of getting a room here, the Park's main advantage is its price. A twin room cost us less than £30 a night.
If you're after somewhere a bit more up-market try the Turist at Dalatinova 15, Slon Best Western at Slovenska cesta 34, or the Lev at Vosnjakova ulica 1. If you've just won the lottery go for the Grand Hotel Union at Miklosiceva cesta 1. If you haven't won the lottery you can use the toilets in this Art Nouveau masterpiece for free.
Despite our experiences on our first night in Ljubljana, which I will mention later, you'll have no problems finding decent, cheap food in the city. Happily there are numerous bars too, with beer costing around 50-70p a pint for the local brew. Opening hours are not particularly enlightened however, and you will have difficulty finding bars that stay open after midnight. In other words, start drinking early and drink fast!
My favourite restaurant in Ljubljana is the Gostilna Sokol at Ciril Metodov Trg 18, a great location in the heart of the Old Town, just over the road from the Cathedral. You can't miss the place as it has a bronze statue of a spread eagle on the wall outside. Inside the decoration is a sort of mock old-fashioned/countryside, with wooden benches and seats, and tables made from glass covered wagon wheels (real ones, not the chocolate). Then again, as I didn't ask how old the place was it's possible that the décor could be genuine, rather than a reproduction. The building certainly looked old. Anyway, on to more important matters. The beer is cold and cheap, and the food excellent. The menu (English translation available) is long, with your usual pizzas and pastas, and lots of traditional Slovenian food, most of which seemed to involve dead deer in one form or another. My fat companion opted for the pork escalope with capers, mushrooms, pickle, polenta, and rice balls, which looked and smelled excellent. The fat bastard at the lot (although that's no endorsement of quality). I went for the "Countryside Treat" and was confronted with a plate the size of a toilet lid covered with black-pudding (whole, not sliced, complete with lumps of fat; excellent!), a sausage (a huge, thick, German-style one, which actually contained meat rather than saw-dust), a grilled pork steak, and a large bacon-rib. As well as this meat-feast the plate was piled high with buck wheat mush and cabbage. It all tasted superb but for one of the few times in my life I was unable to clear my plate. The total cost of this of this mountain of food, complete with a couple of beers (mine) a couple of soft-drinks (my limp-wristed friends') and a coffee was about £13. The service was friendly; the staff spoke good English and, most promisingly, the menu had a large section devoted exclusively to pies (next time....). I recommend this place very highly.
We ate there on our second day in Ljubljana; our first day in Ljubljana was a bit more disappointing. Having arrived in the city at about 5pm we found a hotel and then spent 4 or 5 hours getting a general feel for the city and drinking. When it came to finding somewhere to eat we encountered a few difficulties... We had no problem finding bars, and indeed went in several, but none of the bars we entered seemed to offer food as well. And of course, once we'd gone into a bar and discovered that it didn't do food, it would have been rude in the extreme to leave without having at least one drink in there, wouldn't it? So it was getting later and later, and we were wandering through the city trying to find a restaurant that was open (although a hot-dog stand did provide temporary nourishment). In retrospect I think that we probably staggered past several restaurants without realising that they were there, and we were probably in the wrong part of the city as well (some way north of the city would be my guess, but I'm not entirely sure...). Anyway, we did find somewhere in the end, Sole at Kolodvorska 18 (quite close to the railway station). Their selection wasn't the best, but the pizzas seemed OK and I went for the veal, which came in a tomato and mushroom sauce and which was very good. It wasn't expensive, the beer was good and cheap, as was the bottle of Slovenian Refosk that my fat friend had, and they had a nice outdoor seating area. It certainly wasn't somewhere that we'd go out of our way to go back to, but under the circumstances it was perfectly acceptable.
And yes, there are a couple of branches of McDonalds in Ljubljana, and no, I'm not going to tell you where they are. Eat burek instead (see below).
Moving on to bars, and as I said earlier what you gain in numbers you lose in opening hours. If the weather is good then there's no better place to drink than the numerous outdoor bars that line both banks of the Ljubljanica River (but a word of caution; one of the two bars look like bars, but aren't. They serve iced cream and soft drinks but no beer). I can't recommend any specific bar along here, but as they all serve the same beer and have the similar prices anyway you can't go wrong. Just sit out in the sun, watching the world pass you buy while you're downing 60p pints of Lasko pivo. Paradise.
If you're in the mood for a real pub-crawl, the Old Town is the place to go. Starting off in Ciril Metodov trg you can keep heading south down Stari trg; the road is pedestrianised and seemingly every second or third building is a bar, all of which have outdoor seating in the roads outside. Again, I can't recommend a specific one as they're all pretty similar (apart from the one just South of the town hall which doubles as an art gallery, come to think of it I think it was called Gallerija or something, which has the most ornate and pretentious toilets of any bar I've ever been in. Can toilets be pretentious?!? I don't see why not). Also keep an eye out for the bar that has "absinthe brandy" on the menu. I've no idea what it was; it was certainly absinthe nor brandy, probably some kind of varnish-stripper. Don't drink the stuff! The bars along Stari trg are popular at night, so if you've spent the afternoon lounging around in the bars along the river, this is where I'd recommend you spend your evenings. And if you fancy a post-midnight pint, this is where the bars seem to stay open late. Exact details are a bit hazy but when we left at 2am there were still one or two bars along here that were still open.
Trubjareva cesta, along the north bank of the Ljubljanica, also has a fair range of bars, most of which have outdoor seating and which capture the sun beautifully during the late afternoon. If you're in search of a quick stomach-lining snack there's a burek stall along here (burek, if you don't know, is greasy pastry stuffed with meat, cheese, or apple. Yummy!)
One pub I can recommend in Mr Pub at Trubarjeva 7 (it's actually in a courtyard off the main road with 2 other bars so you might have to search for it). This place had a friendly atmosphere and staff, played decent music, and had a reasonable selection of Slovenian and imported beers and spirits. It's slightly hard to find location is the only reason I can think of why it was practically deserted when we were in there (actually, the fact that we were in there would be another possible reason...) If you go here keep an eye out for the informative graffiti carved into the toilet wall above the urinal...
For those wishing to party all night there are, apparently, nightclubs in Ljubljana but I'm buggered if we could find them. One club recommended in the Lonely Planet guide, Klub Manhattan at Celovska cesta 25 in Tivoli Park, is now a lap-dancing bar.
Personally, I'd start a tour of Ljubljana with the Castle (Ljubljanski Grad). It's quite a steep hike up the castle hill so it's probably best to get it out of the way while you're fresh, sober, and not absolutely stuffed with black pudding from the Gostilina Sokol (and in summer you should definitely try and get up there before it really starts to hot up). To get up to the Castle you need to find Studentovska ulica, a little street that starts just south of the market and just east of the cathedral and Ciril-Metodov trg. Studentovska ulica starts off like any normal back street but quickly becomes a steep, narrow path running up through the trees of Castle Hill. It took us about 10 minutes to hike up it, although the views along the way made it well worth it.
Eventually you'll reach the top and the Castle.
Although there has been a castle of some kind on top of this hill for at least 1000 years what's up there now dates mostly from the early 16th century. It's free to get into the castle and wonder round, you just cross over what was the moat on a modern bridge. The walls still stand, as do a couple of 16th century towers and one modern (mid 19th century) clock tower.
The Castle has gradually been undergoing renovation for at least 30 years, and parts of it hace had to be rebuilt (although where rebuilding has taken place it's been done in modern brick, so you can easily distinguish which bits are authentic). The tower that you enter through has a posh shop and restaurant in it, and there's also a small underground museum that details the human occupation of Ljubljana over the last few thousand years, including photos of archaeological excavations of bronze-age villages in the area. The reason most people come up to the castle is for the views, and for the best views you're going have to climb up the modern-ish clock tower. You enter the clock tower through the Chapel of Saint George, and need to pay at the kiosk outside to get in. In your hurry to get up the tower itself don't neglect the 15th century chapel, covered with frescoes, coats of arms, and a painting of a goat. The clock tower looks pretty small from the outside but inside it's like some kind of tardis, the climb up the spiral staircase seems to take for ever. When you reach the top the views are certainly worth it though, Ljubljana spread out around you, the building of the Old Town looking like toys, and mountains on all sides further in the distance. There are benches so you can sit back and take in the view, but the wall that runs around the top of the tower is not very high and there's no fencing or anything either; those who are not too keen on heights may not find it the most secure place on earth. On hot days you should also beware of the clouds of midges that hand around up here.
When you've finished in the castle head back down to the Old Town, which is a much more pleasurable walk than getting up there in the first place.
A good place to start a tour of the Old Town is the Dragon Bridge over the Ljubljanica, so called because of the statues of dragons on it (local legend says that whenever a virgin crosses the bridge the dragons swish their tails. I watched the bridge for a while the dragons didn't move a muscle, not even when a nun crossed over, which was a bit worrying). Along the bank of the river is the 20th century Plecnik Collonade, a long marble construction containing shops, fountains and archways allowing views of the river. It was designed by and named after the Slovenian architect Joze Plecnik, something of a local hero, responsible for many impressive buildings in Ljubljana (and further afield; he was responsible for modern renovations to Prague Castle); he even features on a bank note.
On the south side of the river to the Dragon Bridge you'll find Ljubljana's large outdoor central market, mainly selling fruit and vegetables (when were there were about 50 stalls selling nothing other than cherries; very strange).
Southwest of the market is Ljubljana's Cathedral (Stolnica Sveti Nikolaja), to St Nicholas. The current building, white with a terracotta roof and twin towers was started at the beginning of the 18th century. The inside is richly decorated with lots of marble and frescoes but perhaps the most impressive features are the modern bronze doors, added to commemorate the visit of the Pope in 1996.
From the Cathedral head east to Mestni trg, which marks the start of the Old Town proper. Among the highlights of this cobbled square are the 18th century Robbra Fountain (Robbov Vodnjak),
and the Town Hall (Magistrat), rebuilt in the 18th century and worth entering for some of the murals in the courtyard, and the original 17th century Hercules Fountain, a copy of which now stands in Levstikov trg.
Just west of Mestni trg (down a narrow passageway) is a much smaller square Ribji trg which contains another fountain (there are hundreds of them in Ljubljana; they are handy for washing off pigeon shit that you may accidentally get on your hands when leaning on railings, as happened to me, but I'm not sure if the water is drinkable. Well, of course you can drink it, but I don't know if it will have any other side-effects), this a gold one of a girl pouring water, and what is reputed to be the oldest house in Ljubljana.
From Mestni Trg head south down Stari trg (which is misleadingly named, as it isn't a trg (Square) at all but a narrow, cobbled street lined with bars, shops, and wonderful old buildings. Keep an eye out for some the dark old passageways that run from here down to the river. They may look picturesque now but in medieval times they were the cities sewerage system, bring waste water and its salubrious contents from higher up castle hill down into the river. Thus the higher up castle hill you were, the less people you had flushing their shit past your front door.
Keep going South down Stari trg (and if I were you I'd take this opportunity to sample a few of the many bars en route, a fine place to dally when the weather is hot and the beer is so cold). You'll reach another fountain, the Hercules Fountain (see above).
From here you can head south east up Gornji trg which will take you to the attractive 17th Century Church of St Florian, from where you can take a path up Castle Hill. If you carry on going along Gornji trg instead you'll come to the Castle Tunnel, a road tunnel that runs under Castle Hill. Head back towards the river along the busy Carlovska Cesta and you'll find the strange looking Balkan Gate, once a gate in the now demolished city walls which now stands alone and has traffic running through its arch.
Further west along Carlovska cesta (or further south from the Hercules Fountain if you continue along Stari trg) you'll find another impressive church, the huge yellow Church of St James. Outside this is the Column of St Mary erected to commemorate Christendom's victory over the heathen Turk at the Battle of Monoster in 1644. It has nothing on Nelson's Column.
You can cross over the river here and have a look along the west bank. Or, if you carry on going west along Zoisova cesta and the head south down Barjanska cesta you'll come across a stretch of Roman Wall. If you want more Roman ruins head north up Slovenska cesta and the West along Erjavceva cesta for the remains of a few Roman houses. From Zoisova cesta if you go north up Emonska cesta (Emona being what the Romans called Ljubljana) you'll come to Trg Francoske Revolucije where stands the Illirija Column honouring Napoleon (still a bit of a hero in these parts; he made Ljubljana the capitol of his Illyrian provinces, and allowed the Slovene language to be taught in schools). Also this are you'll find the City Museum, which has a nice collection of Roman artefacts, on Gosposka ulica.
From the museum you can head east back to the river. Although not particularly big, and with strangely green water, the Ljubljanica is pretty picturesque, with willow trees dipping down into the water, and lined by attractive buildings. Not so picturesque is the graffiti that adorns many of the buildings along the river and indeed through Ljubljana. It seems to be some kind of national past time, and some of it is particularly stupid. "All I Want Is Anarchy"?. Well, go and live in Somalia for a couple of months then and see how much anarchy you can take before running back to mummy! Arseholes! Keep heading north up the river bank and you'll pass Shoemaker Bridge, so called surprisingly enough because shoe-makers used to work on it. Well, they'd hardly be butchers with a name like that....
Keep going to the next bridge north of Shoemaker Bridge and then turn left to get to Kongresni trg (Congress Square, created and named after "Quadruple Alliance" of Austria, Naples, Prussia and Russia that convened here in 1821). There are some important buildings surrounding the park in the middle of the square, including the administrative building of Ljubljana University and the Slovene Philharmonic hall, home to the Slovene Philharmonic Orchestra, one of the oldest in the world and of which the composer Gustav Mahler was (briefly) the conductor.
If you take the pedestrian subway on the west side of the square you'll emerge next to the 18th century Ursuline Church of the Holy Trinity (Ursulinska Cerkev) notable for its graceful late-Baroque façade and its altar by the sculptor Robba (in common with most of the other Churches in Ljubljana!). Outside this church is the Holy Trinity Column, erected in 1693 to give thanks to God for sparing Ljubljana from the worst excesses of the Black Death. Actually, this columns not even the original; the original was made out of wood (if the citizens of Ljubljana were that thankful they should have made it out of gold), which was subsequently changed to stone, and then finally moved to the City Museum and a replica put in its place. So if there's a sudden outbreak of the plague in Ljubljana, you'll know why.
I f you head away from Kongresni trg west along Subiceva ulica you'll come to Ljubljana's museum district. Slovenia's National Museum is on Muzejska ulica, facing the Parliament building, an ugly relic of Communist-era architecture. Founded in 1821 (although the building it now stands in, the Rudlofinium, was build in 1885) its collection includes coins, Roman, Celtic and Slavic artifacts. There aren't any captions in English and it's closed on Mondays. Immediately to the north-west is the Museum of Modern Art (Moderna Galerija) containing stuff by 20th century Slovenian artists that few outside Slovenia will ever have herd of. North-east of the National Museum is Ljubljana's late 19th century Opera House. If you head north up Presemova cesta you'll soon come to Slovenia's National Gallery, with pre-20th century landscapes and portraits by Slovenian painters, and a wing of other European stuff, nothing really famous though.
To your west the huge patch of green is Tivoli Park, where you'll find a sports centre (with indoor and outdoor pools, a sauna, bowling alley, and tennis courts), some hotels, miles of footpaths, Ljubljana Zoo, the Museum of Modern History (covering the 20th century, closed Mondays), Tivoli Mansion (Tivolski grad, a 17th century palace which has been, among other things, a Jesuit Monastery, a Bishop's Palace, home to an Austro-Hungarian General, and is now home to the International Centre of Graphic Arts). Tivoli Park is where most residents of Ljubljana seem to hang out of an evening or weekend.
To get back to the city centre from the park's main entrance (Jakopicevo sprehajalisce) head back east down Cankarjeva cesta and Copova ulica which will take you to Presemov ulica, possibly the heart and certainly the main meeting-point of the city. This square is named after, and contains a statue of, France Preseren, Slovenia's most famous poet and author of the words of the National Anthem (of Slovenia, obviously). There some nice turn of the century (19th/20th, that is) Art Nouveau buildings here, but easily the most imposing and distinctive building is the huge, pink façade of the Franciscan Church of the Annunciation. The inside of this 17th century church is even more impressive, with another alter by Robba (he's got them in the Cathedral and St James too), lots of paintings, lots of fancy marble columns and an impressive organ. There's also what's supposed to be the preserved remains of a saint on display in a glass-fronted coffin, but unless I was looking at the wrong coffin it seemed more like a wax dummy to me. There are other touches I like about this church, such as the list of confessional boxes detailing which languages the priest in it spoke; they must get a lot of guilty tourists coming in here!
On the opposite side of Presemov trg is possibly Ljubljana's most celebrated structure,the Triple Bridge, the main entrance into the old town . This was just a common or garden mid-19th century bridge across the Ljubljanica until that man Plecnik (see above) had the idea of adding a pedestrian bridge on each side of it. This description doesn't really do it justice, but take my word for it, it's very picturesque, especially when lit up at night.
Also in Presemov trg you'll find a really cool 3d bronze map of the city, which seems to attract the towns' winos for some reason. They're a pretty friendly bunch though.
Head north up Miklosiceva cesta for some more fine Art Nouveau buildings, all built after the last big earthquake here in 1895. Although you probably can't afford to stay at the Grand Union Hotel it's free to look at, and impressive it is too. Opposite it is the Cooperative Bank building, covered with multi-coloured geometric designs.
On your left-hand side as you walk away from Presemov trg is Miklosicev Park, with the turn of the century Palace of Justice.