Železniška postaja Ljubljana. Location map. Station plan.
Ljubljana has one main central station which handles all mainline trains to & from Ljubljana. It's located in the city centre, just 650m 8-minute walk from Ljubljana's delightful old town. It's a through station, not a terminus, with a station building dating from 1848.
Ljubljana station, taken from the other side of the main road.
Above, Ljubljana station main entrance. Above right, inside the entrance hall looking back towards the street. The doors on the right lead into the ticket office, the doors on the left into MacDonald's. Photos courtesy of Adrián Torres.
Platform 1, showing the exit from the station hall onto the platform. You can see the rear of the station departure board behind the Ljubljana sign. The steps down to the underpass to platforms 2-12 is some 200m out of shot to the left. The left luggage room is on the far right of this photo. Photo courtesy of Bengt G T Hansves.
The pedestrian underpass linking all the platforms. You can see one of the stair-lifts for people with reduced mobility. Courtesy of Robert Bailey.
Which platform for your train?
Walk into the station through the main doors and walk straight ahead through two sets of automatic doors onto platform 1. You'll find the main departures board right in front of you. It will show which platform to go to for your train.
There are 12 platforms (tir, plural tiri), numbered from track 1 on the south side next to the station building to track 12 on the north side, see station plan.
To reach platforms 2-12, turn right and walk along platform 1, then go down the steps and turn left into a wide, well-lit pedestrian subway underneath all the tracks with flights of steps up to each platform. There are no escalators only steps, but if you have mobility problems one set of steps to each platform has a powered stair lift which can be operated by staff. The steps up to each platform also have automatic luggage conveyer belts to help you get bags up onto the platform.
The suffixes a & b indicate the east & west ends of the same platform, for example 1a & 1b are the east & west ends of platform 1.
Platforms 1 & 2 are dead-end platforms for trains heading east, 3-12 are through platforms.
In Slovenia, thankfully only one set of numbers is used to mean both track and adjacent platform, unlike Croatia & Serbia which confusingly use two sets of numbers, one for the platform and one for the track.
Above: On a summer evening on platform 7, the EuroNight sleeper to Zurich is expected... Photo courtesy of Chris Goldie.
Ticket office
Walk through the main doors into the station entrance hall and the ticket office is immediately to your left through the automatic doors.
Luggage lockers & ATMs
There are luggage lockers at the station in a small locker room opening off platform 1. For prices see the left luggage lockers page. The lockers are coin-operated. There are more modern lockers which take contactless cards across the road from the station near the bus office. Feedback appreciated!
There's an ATM in the ticket office and another somewhere along platform 1.
Cafe, restaurants, supermarket
The station has a small cafe-bar at the right-hand end of the station building as you look at the facade. Open early until late every day.
There's an inexpensive Asian restaurant on platform 1, Tasty Corner Slovenia.
There's a MacDonalds at the station, walk in through the main station entrance doors and MacD's is on your right.
For a more upmarket lunch or dinner try the JB restaurant across the road, see jb-slo.com, see walking map. Closed on Sundays.
To stock up for your journey, there's a Lidl supermarket across the road from the station, see walking map. Closed on Sundays.
If you've time to walk to or from the old town to eat, for example for dinner before the sleeper to Stuttgart or Zurich, I can recommend the traditional Slovenian food and beer in the Gostilna Sokol (www.gostilna-sokol.com), 13 minutes walk from the station, see walking map. It's one of Ljubljana's best-know eateries, just to the left of the town hall.
Local transport
Walking: Ljubljana is an entirely walkable city. It's an easy 650m 8-minute walk from the station to the old town and dragon bridge.
Buses: Ljubljana has no metro or trams, but there are buses. The public transport website is www.lpp.si.
Taxis: For a taxi fare calculator see www.taxifarefinder.com.
Recommended hotels
There are relatively few places near the station, so try somewhere towards (or in) Ljubljana's lovely old town.
I've stayed at the Best Western Premier Hotel Slon myself, it's 13 minutes walk from the station, see walking map. The City Hotel (is just 8 minutes walk, see walking map. Both are great choices.
The excellent Hotel Slamic is 11 minutes walk from the station with great reviews, but a little further from the old town than the other two, see walking map.
For something relatively inexpensive in the old town, try the Hotel Emonec, excellently located in the pedestrianised area, 13 minutes from the station, see walking map.
For something luxurious, the 5-star art nouveau-style Grand Hotel Union is in the old town and comes complete with swimming pool. It's 10 minutes walk from the station, see walking map.
Things to see in Ljubljana
Ljubljana is a wonderful city to visit for a few days, you can easily walk between the station and all the sights and places of interest. See the Dragon Bridge, the Franciscan church, the Triple Bridge, and of course take the funicular railway up to Ljubljana castle. Try traditional Slovenian dishes in the Sokol restaurant just to the left of the town hall and, one of Ljubljana's best-know eateries. Map of Ljubljana. For tourist information see www.visitljubljana.si.
