A Bicycle Tour of Slovenia | EPISODE 3: LJUBLJANA

We begin our day in the lovely medieval village of Skofja Loka, exploring the town and enjoying coffee in an outdoor cafe. then it’s a short ride to Ljubljana, the capital of Slovenia. The city is vibrant and hectic, but we discover an absolutely huge city park where we enjoy the calm. Then the next morning we find an awesome outdoor market, and a city center that is far more lovely than we expected. Ljubljana turns out to be a delightful city, well worth a stop.
Music:
Meghmalai - Maree Docia
Epidemic Sound
Crazy Like That - Lofive
Epidemic Sound
Materializing - Of Water
Epidemic Sound

[@dondonner1095]

Amazingly beautiful place. Great video once again and once again thanks for taking us along.

[@TheBicycleTourists]

I appreciate you, Don. Always our pleasure!

[@kennethhusted4850]

Nice! I enjoyed that very much. A dad and 2 daughters is a very nice grouping to travel with!

[@TheBicycleTourists]

Thank you! I feel so lucky to have kids who are willing to go out and adventure with me.

[@boyan64]

My Ljubljana.❤❤❤. Very good pronunciation of Škofja loka, Ljubljana..

[@TheBicycleTourists]

Thank you!

[@tonyorme6446]

Another great video…thanks for bringing the world into my living room!

[@TheBicycleTourists]

Thank you for watching! And it is, of course, our pleasure!

[@TerrapinCyclist]

A Roland post! Woohoo!

[@TheBicycleTourists]

:-)

[@lindahowes5949]

Beautiful architecture! I was surprised to see some signs in English. Thanks for sharing your travels with us. Love the bug buffs too! 💜

[@claudemarie9136]

For what it’s worth, young Slovenians score above the EU average *and* above OECD average in PISA. Next year, finally (!), PISA will measure foreign languages literacy skills. 2025 PISA ranking gonna be “interesting”.

[@TheBicycleTourists]

English is widely used in Slovenia. I believe German is as well.

[@dennispiciullo8060]

Absolutely a beautiful city, I spent 5 months in Sicily, love to go back and check out other parts of Europe. Awesome video, Roland.

[@TheBicycleTourists]

I hope you can get out there. Europe is so diverse, it seems like you could never run out of new places and cultures to experience.

[@johngorentz6409]

You were there the day after we visited. I didn't bring my bicycle for the day in Ljubljana, though. I think we did get some sprinkles up around Kranj that day, but no real rainfall.

[@TheBicycleTourists]

Its a small world. Did you enjoy the city?

[@johngorentz6409]

@@TheBicycleTourists Yes, but my favorite days were the days on my bicycle. My wife and I are not well-traveled outside the U.S. but I decided long ago that I wasn't all that interested in visiting big cities. I can see them on other people's videos. I like the rural countryside. The smaller cities provide everything we want in the way of urban amenities. Strasbourg, France, where he had spent the week prior, is about the maximum for us as far as size goes, and is a good base for bicycle rides, long or short. If my wife and sister had wanted to skip Ljubljana it would have been fine with me. We had a good day there, but I don't think it was the highlight of Slovenia for any of us. We'd very much like to go back to Slovenia, but I'm agnostic about whether we need to visit Ljubljana again. There is plenty in the city to make another visit worthwhile, but it's not what makes Slovenia special. There are other parts of the country I'd like to visit, including the part of the country you rode through after leaving Lake Bled. Other people probably have different tastes.

[@TheBicycleTourists]

Totally understand. When we crossed the US we spent nearly the entire time in the rural areas of the country, although when we did go through cities, we found the infrastructure to be generally really great, and we found them to be nice breaks, nice variations. But always glad to get back into the peace and quiet.

[@boyan64]

6:38. Šmarna gora...hill front in scenery....very popular hiking hill for us.

[@TheBicycleTourists]

I love how recreationally minded Slovenians are. Hikers and cyclists everywhere. A lot like our home, Colorado.

[@michelesauret7779]

40 years after Ljubljana must be more beautiful 🤩

[@TheBicycleTourists]

Yes, it has come a long way!

[@claudemarie9136]

Salut Roland & Julianna, Indeed, a long way, EU and NATO member, Schengen, Eurozone country and this year from Associated Member in the European Space Agency ( ESA), Slovenia will be admitted as a full member, in its own right. No back seat anymore but a seat at the table where decisions are made. Welcome Slovenia !

[@TheBicycleTourists]

For all the complaints about bureaucracy, the EU and the associated agencies have proven the power of connection and cooperation. Let's hope nobody follows the UK out the door and the bond continues to stregthen.

[@claudemarie9136]

The bond will strengthen out of necessity, we all face the same problems, aging population and declining birth rate. Us oldies, whose life expectancy keeps progressing, will become an unsustainable burden for the young generation. Governments will all have to make cuts in many budgets, federalization as in pooling our ressources, that’ll save taxpayers hard earned €, will be inevitable. Ah, that old chestnut about bureaucracy .... factually the EU has eliminated bureaucracy and red tape. The 1 July 1968 Customs Union, created before the UK joined in 1975, is a case in point, since business A in 🇫🇷 simply sold goods to business B in Italy ( just like a business in Texas sells goods to a business in California) that wasn’t “exports” anymore, goods could move freely within a single european customs territory just like the US are one single customs territory. The US are in many aspects a template for the EU. Since they’ve left the EU and the Customs Union 🇬🇧 is learning the hard way what real exports with all the associated red tape and bureaucracy are. Oh Well, we told them so.... By the way, speaking of 🇺🇸🇪🇺similarities, our Federal (but in name) Agencies replicate 🇺🇸 Federal Agencies (EMA+ EFSA = FDA, ECDC = CDC, EU-OSHA ...etc) the EASA is the equivalent of the 🇺🇸FAA as a drone pilot I’d suggest you checked their website (if you haven’t already).

[@boyan64]

5:20...you was 2km from where I live now.

[@TheBicycleTourists]

Nice! Thanks for sharing these!

ok, what exactly has changed in Ljubljana since 84? Ecept city centre is designed for tourists now and then it was for locals (you know ppl who actually live in Ljubljana)?

[@TheBicycleTourists]

Hard to say, it's been some 40 years, when I was there it seemed gray and lifeless, now it seems vibrant. Impressions only. Not a scientific analysis. No, I don't know people who live there.

[@GaiusPrimusMatius]

Nice video😊....FYI Slovenia is the richest and most prosperous slavic country, for istance HDI(human development index which measurre education, health,income) Slovenia is ahead of countries like France,Italy and Austria... 7:37 in life quality index 17.in the worl...in 2017 was sharing with Norway the first place in the world for best country where to raise children..... and u have earned a new subscriber 😊❤❤

[@boridboridov3873]

By being designed for tourists do you mean that they made the old town pedestrian only so you cannot drive there with your precious car anymore? The city centre is objectively a much better place to be now, as is most of the city.

[@TheBicycleTourists]

No I wasn't referring to anything specifically. The city just seems to be much more visitor-friendly than what I recall under the old Yugoslavian regime.

[@GaiusPrimusMatius]

According to u nothing.but on the other hand Slovenia has one of the best living standards in the world and Ljubljana is not for nothing the Greenest Capita of Europe.... Salaries in Ljubljana are comparable with those in France and outside London....the average Slovenian family is Richer and wealthier as an average British family, source World finance 2023...