36 Hours in Ljubljana, Slovenia

Dive right into Ljubljana’s local-first, gourmet attitude at the Open Kitchen, a street-food market wedged between the fruit and vegetable vendors of the outdoor Central Market, the Cathedral of St. Nicholas and the Triple Bridge, which anchors the city center. Locals and tourists gather around more than 50 stands for a wide variety of creations — from Asian delicacies to Slovenian fare like baked veal, sausages and pork ribs (dishes average €8) — each Friday from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. (10 p.m. in the summer). The tradition has come to symbolize the country’s emergence as one of Europe’s most innovative food locales.

Ljubljana Castle, a 15th-century fortification atop Castle Hill and reachable from the city center by a 10-minute trail walk or by funicular (€6 for a return ticket), has played a critical role in life here since the Bronze Age. Today, the castle (base entry, €12) has culinary attractions, events and an arsenal of activities including an exhibition on Slovenian history and an escape-room-inspired adventure game. After exploring, but still within the citadel, find your table at the Michelin-starred Restaurant Strelec, a cylindrical dining room inside the Archers’ Tower. Choose from five-, seven- or nine-course menus (€90, €110 or €130; wine pairings extra) that change weekly. Standout dishes include venison tartare; turbot filet served with Adriatic prawns; baked lamb with potatoes, red peppers and eggplant; and, for dessert, hazelnut mousse on a chocolate brownie with bergamot cream.

After dinner, stay on Castle Hill for a glass of vino at Grajska Vinoteka. For generations, grapes were grown around the fortress. After nearly a century-long hiatus, vines were replanted in 2016. Taste a castle-grown chardonnay variety called belpin (€5 per glass), or another of the some 200 other Slovenian wines served with an accompanying prosciutto and cheese plate (from €28). Back in the city center, stop at Dvorni Bar, where revelers sit on the outside steps or riverside tables. In its 20th year, Dvorni serves more than 100 wines by the glass, focusing on the country's nine wine-growing districts. Try the teran (€3.80), a dry red from the Karst region. Reservations are recommended.

Start the day at Bazilika, a bistro spilling onto French Revolution Square. Dishes here are made from family recipes that the owner, Darja Koncarevic (who teaches culinary workshops at Center Rog) has also assembled into cookbooks. Take a spot on the terrace, order the salmon-and-leek quiche (€7), a slice of cranberry-orange cake (€3.20) and a cappuccino (€2.20). Then walk 15 minutes along the river to Cukrarna Gallery (opens at 10 a.m., €8), which shows contemporary art in a former sugar refinery built in 1828. Opened in 2021, Cukrarna rotates exhibitions and events featuring edgy multi-media works that both question and honor the country’s cultural heritage.

Stay on the left bank of the Ljubljanica to enjoy the results of a reverse-immigrant tale: Greg Yurkovich, a Slovenian American, grew up in California and moved to Ljubljana to craft Neapolitan-style pizza made with organic ingredients. His Pop’s Pizza, which also serves wine, craft beers and cocktails, makes the Mr. Sinatra (€14.90) with Friulian pancetta, fior di latte mozzarella and sun-dried tomatoes. After, take a stroll along the river to Cacao, a cafe and dessert shop with an outdoor ice-cream stand, where locals line up for scoops (€2.60 for one) in flavors like Madagascar vanilla, Santo Domingo chocolate and salty caramel so delicious it ends conversations.

Drift into the evening with a 50-minute boat tour on the Ljubljanica River aboard the 33-foot, electric-powered wooden boat, Barka Ljubljanica. Passing beneath many of the spots where you’ve shopped, eaten and imbibed, the route goes upriver toward the Ljubljana Marshes — a World Heritage Site dating back millennia, where the remains of pile dwellings, or prehistoric houses built on stilts, and the world’s oldest wheel were found — before turning around. Back on land, duck into Makalonca, a bar on the left bank under Ribja Brv, or the Fish Bridge. Order a half-liter bottle of ice-cold Makalonca pale ale (€5.80) at a table on the terrace directly above the rushing water.

The Krizanke Summer Theater becomes the city’s center of attention during the Ljubljana Festival, running from June to September each year. The building began as a church and monastery for religious military orders like the Knights Templar and the Teutonic Knights, but in the 1950s, it became an open-air theater complex with an atrium, courtyard and arcade of arched windows. The festival annually stages musicals, ballet performances and dramas, as well as jazz, pop and symphonic concerts (tickets range from €29 and €79). After the show, walk three minutes to Kolibri, one of the city’s few bars dedicated to cocktails. In the swirl of maximalist aesthetics — floral wallpaper, a marble bar and gilded mirrors atop a weathered wooden-plank floor — try the Porn Star Martini (€11.50), with Ketel One vodka, Galliano vanilla, lemon juice, vanilla syrup and passion fruit puree.

Come full circle by returning to Center Rog and eating breakfast at Kavarna Rog, a cafe with a riverside terrace. Fuel up with poached eggs, foie gras, sautéed spinach, hollandaise and truffles (€17.40). Then walk 10 minutes to the Metelkova district, where former military barracks house some of the city’s most dynamic art and history exhibits. Get a sense of life centuries ago at the National Museum of Slovenia-Metelkova (entry, €8) with furniture, painting and ceramics from the 1300s on. At the Slovene Ethnographic Museum (€4.50), around 3,000 pieces fill permanent exhibits and explain folk music, religious customs and other Slovenian traditions. Fast forward to the modern era at the Museum of Contemporary Art Metelkova (€5), where provocative permanent and rotating installations from international artists fill three floors. On the first Sunday of the month, admission at many Ljubljana museums is free.