I recently visited a wonderful fall market in Ljubljana, Slovenia. It was a pleasant Saturday morning and we'd been told that this was a market not to be missed, and not to wait until the afternoon and especially not until Sunday because the market dwindles at those times. Like all good markets, it's a place where the community gathers and enjoys itself, and we were told it would be "busy" (it was).
We left our comfortable rented apartment and walked to the market, about five minutes away. Ljubljana has a beautiful historic core and it's a lovely place to explore on foot. Much of the historic region is a pedestrian only zone, so it's safe and easy to get around. There are a number of interesting bridges that cross the Ljubljana River and today's walk took us across Dragon Bridge -- more on that soon.
The market is quite large, spreading over two squares (Vodnikov trg and Pogačarnev trg) and extending into several of the adjoining streets and shops, including a dedicated 2 storey covered market building designed by beloved native Slovenian architect, Jože Plečnika. As it was a nice day and most of the activity was in the open air market, this is where we focused our visit. I could certainly see that in the winter the covered market would be of greater importance because of the cold snowy weather the city experiences.
There was a large variety of fresh fruits and vegetables -- mostly locally grown but also some imported food -- which you can see in the accompanying photos. Everything looked terrific and the prices were low by European (and Canadian) standards. It would be a market I'd regularly visit if I lived in Ljubljana, and clearly most of those here were Slovenians going about their usual shopping.
The market also has a variety of flowers, crafts and specialty items available, which we'll share in a separate post in a few days.
If You Visit:
Visiting the market is free. I'd encourage you to buy some of the produce and enjoy it, as we did.
Open-air section:
Weekdays 6:00-18:00, Saturday 6:00-16:00 during summer, 6:00-16:00 in winter. Sundays and holidays closed. As with all markets, best to go early. Many of the vendors leave in the afternoon, especially if they're "sold out".
Covered sections:
Weekdays 7:00-16:00, Saturday 7:00-14:00.
Finally, a few more images form this market:
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