New Year’s Eve in Ljubljana is among the most-awaited events of the year. Looking forward to the upcoming year by looking back into the previous one is quite an enjoyable time. New Year’s Eve in Ljubljana is one of the most memorable experiences, but only if you know where to go.
Slovenes love New Year’s Eve the most, and they show that by celebrating! Slovenes love to go to town when it comes to celebrations. These include going out in pubs, partying in clubs, and joining the crowd at the squares. You can also eat out, watch some performances, and enjoy the majestic fireworks from Castle Hill.
We’re sure you’ll have a blast running around the Old Town for New Year’s Eve. You don’t have to go far. Here are the best places to spend New Year’s Eve in Ljubljana.
Spending New Year’s Eve In Ljubljana
New Year’s Eve In Ljubljana is something that you would love. Slovenians love it because it’s one of the few holidays they had during the Yugoslavia days. Even with the advent of Christmas and other winter events in Slovenia, New Year’s Eve is still the best.
Ljubljana has some of the best new year parties in Slovenia, so getting a glitzy dress ready for the occasion is par for the course. People love to drink, eat grilled meats, and dance ‘til they drop to enjoy a crazy end of the year celebration.
For those who love spending it with their families, many different events are both fun and wholesome at the same time. The New Year Fireworks In Ljubljana is majestic wherever you are, but there are great destinations and rooftop restaurants within the city.
There are also a ton of exciting places in the Old Town you can visit. If you look hard enough, there’s an entire celebration lined up for enjoying the Year’s End.
1. JB Restaurant
If you fancy yourself as a gourmand, eating well to end the year is not a wrong way to spend the New Year. JB Restaurant is a great place to taste some of the most delicious dishes Ljubljana has to offer.
JB stands for ‘Janez Bratovž’, a world-famous chef and among Slovenia’s best. Bratovž is not only a master chef but among the best in the culinary world. He is a pioneering hand in pushing modern Slovenian cuisine to the limits while keeping traditional flavors.
JB Restaurant is famous for serving gastronomic delights, with an artistic flair in line with old masters. If you visit during the New Year, you’ll get to enjoy his artistry with his special nine-course New Year’s Eve menu. You will get to taste many of his most sought-after dishes, many of which you can enjoy in a romantic setting.
You’ll find yourself inside the elegant and homely creation of Jože Plečnik, tasting some signature dishes. You can enjoy fresh tuna with seaweed cream and even some tasty beef fillet cubes with caviar and mustard. You can even find their house specialty ravioli.
Their ravioli is one of a kind, filled with cottage cheese and nutty pistachio served in meat and cream sauce. To top it off, you can enjoy Bratovž’ signature New Year’s Eve cake, which he changes every year. It’s a great, flavorful way to end the year!
2. Ljubljana Grand Hotel Union
The legendary Art Nouveau Grand Hotel Union is among Ljubljana’s pride and joy. It is also a prime location when you’re preparing for a grand New Year’s Eve dinner. It’s not only a place to enjoy gastronomic delights but also get a view of the entire city.
You can enjoy their New Year’s Eve dinner, which starts with a large selection of cold starters and grilled meats. You’ll find a smorgasbord of Slovenian cold cuts of cured meats, including the famed Karst prosciutto. You can also enjoy fish and meat appetizers.
Once you have to whet your appetite, you can start unloading on some of the mains. You can enjoy some grilled lamb, turkey with glazed chestnuts, and even a juicy Beef Wellington. Of course, you can’t miss the delicious Prekmurje Gibanica layered cake that you can only find here.
Once you fill up, you’re now ready for a New Year’s Eve Party. There’s a thriving swing scene in Ljubljana that enjoys dancing around every New Year. You can also watch the fireworks from the hotel, so there’s no downtime for you in this fantastic celebration.
3. Centralna Postaja
For those who want to have a stiff drink for New Year’s Eve, a unique place to visit is the Centralna Postaja lounge. It’s a special place in central Ljubljana with a gorgeous interior design. It’s cool, dark, and superbly awesome, with a laid-back atmosphere going through the entire bar.
It’s mostly a pre-party place, which means people enjoy a lively talk and great drinks. It also turns into a club later into the night, which offers some of the most fabulous parties until 3 AM. During New Year’s Eve, you can binge on some of the most luscious cocktails and party up.
You can enjoy delicious finger food for a reasonable price. The place is starting to get more popular with locals and tourists to meet and greet people from different walks of life.
For smokers, Centralna Postaja has a wide-open indoor smoking space that is perfect for having a smoke and a pint while listening to superb music, all without having to go out.
4. Ljubljana Public Squares
For those who are planning to be with the crowd on New Year’s Eve, you can join in a wonderful tradition. Slovenes go out to streets, squares, parks, and other public places so they can celebrate with their families and friends.
Many of the main squares and streets will be full of stalls where people will hawk food and drinks. There will be an overflowing amount of beer, wine, and delicious schnapps. People can then listen to street performances and concerts available at every square.
Once the clock strikes midnight, friends and family alike can see the sky light up. Beautiful fireworks will start flying everywhere in Ljubljana, and the sky will light up like the morning.
The after-midnight celebrations will continue depending on where you are. You can go to clubs, continue drinking and eating out, or dance the night away. You can enjoy different Ljubljana public squares, which usually includes:
- Kongresni trg
- Trg Francoske Revolucije
- Mestni trg
- Pogačarjev trg
- Prešernov trg
The squares host some of the most famous pop music, with concerts starting right after Christmas. Everything still looks majestic, and famous bands and artists ignite the nights with excellent party music.
Apart from the squares, there are events in several parks like Zvezda Park, usually for the entire family. All this happens under a 10C night, so everyone is ready to enjoy themselves to ward off the cold.
Each year, Ljubljana sets up at least four to five stages throughout these squares with a different live music type every time. The primary stage usually goes up at Kongresni trg, with some of the most popular local and foreign acts headlining.
Prešernov trg, on the other hand, usually hosts Slovenian folk music artists. Other squares host different musical genres, from metal to techno. There will be many up-and-coming artists and even local acts able to show off their mettle for New Year’s Eve.
5. Castle Hill
The largest event for New Year’s Eve is celebrated in Ljubljana. The biggest of these events is the gigantic fireworks display on Castle Hill, a beautiful event of a lifetime.
At midnight, the skies above Ljubljana set ablaze with fireworks everywhere. The biggest of these fireworks come from Castle Hill, which is smack at the center of the city.
Ljubljana Castle creates a beautiful backdrop that you can watch from anywhere in Ljubljana. Whether you’re atop a tall building or partying at the squares, it will be beautiful. The colorful fireworks announce the beginning of a New Year for everyone, hoping for a better year every time.
Depending on what type of celebration you want, you can enjoy the fireworks display with the public or private.
In private, you can visit some of the more isolated parks or along the Ljubljanica River and sit down with someone worth sharing the day with. In public, you can go to big rooftop parties in different hotels. If you live along the outskirts of Ljubljana, you’ll see these fireworks farther and more expansive.
6. Ljubljanica Beach and Špica
There’s nothing nicer on a celebratory evening like New Year in Ljubljana than heading to the beach. This sounds weird, but if you’re the type who want solemn celebrations visiting Ljubljanica Beach is a great way to spend New Year.
Ljubljanica Beach is not a “beach” per se, but rather a no-swimming area along the banks of the Ljubljanica. You can expect most people to go to the squares or their favorite bars, so the beach will have a sparse number of people. It works to a certain degree to enjoy here.
Bring some friends or your loved one and watch the fireworks in secret. The skies will be clear of buildings, so it will be lovely once you see it. Bring with you a drink or two in hand, and some food, and you should be good to go.
The original Ljubljana beach is a series of steps you’ll find along the river bank. They stretch from Eipprova ulica below Trnovski pristan, which are creations by the beloved Jože Plečnik. He built most of the city and lived in the area, so it’s only a short stroll here.
You can go to several areas of the Ljubljanica River and see the unique angles of the town. A short stroll will bring you to the castle side of the river in Prule. There’s also Špica, located near the Botanical Gardens.
Over the past few years, Špica has become a popular hang-out spot for the locals. It’s a secret among the residents of Ljubljana, and now the city is building it further.
Špica got its own New Year’s outdoor celebrations, with many indie performance artists as its central theme. You’ll find performers like jugglers, mimes, clowns, street singers, or acrobats here.
7. Ljubljana Ice Skating Rinks
For the longest time, Ljubljana locals clamored to get their own ice-skating rink, and they got their wishes. One of the best ways to spend your New Year’s Eve is to go to the nearby ice-skating rink and play around. This is a great family activity that you can do while enjoying New Year’s Eve.
Ljubljana gets its seasonal skating rink in different locals. Throughout the Christmas holiday season, there are usually at least three skating rinks in Ljubljana. These prop up in Kongresni trg, Tivoli Park, and around the Ljubljana Central Station.
Many of the rinks around Ljubljana comprise as much as 21500 sq ft (2000 sq m) of ice skating surfaces. You’ll find a couple of large rinks, together with long ice-skating pathways across different locales.
You’ll find an indoor ice-skating rink in Tivoli Park with as much as 45,000 sq m of skating area. During the winter, an outdoor skating rink becomes viable, and the public can enjoy them. The same happens near the Ljubljana train station, and the entire rink stays until the end of Wintertime.
If you want to stay active during New Year’s Eve, this is the place to visit. It can be a romantic escape within the city, so you can bring someone you love here.
8. Top Six Club
Another place to club around, Top Six Club is as good as it gets. Located on the sixth floor with an incredible vista of the city, Top Six is one of Ljubljana’s best pubs during New Year’s Eve.
The entire club is smack at the center of town, right at the heart of Ljubljana’s burgeoning nightlife. It’s attracting a younger audience too, which makes it great for tourists who are looking for a fun time around Old Town. It has the most diverse crowd, which lets you meet both foreigners and locals alike.
It’s one of the fancier clubs in the area, but it’s also among the more accessible. It has a VIP area that is for people who want a more exclusive experience. People can enjoy drinking, dancing, and connecting with people from all over the world.
On most days, you’ll find mainstream electronic dance music. There are also some funky beats and many DJs on special occasions. The club loves hosting different artists here, so there will always be a ton of live music when you visit.
New Year’s Eve will have Top Six packed, and if you love these party crowds, this is the place to go.
9. Jazz Club Galo
Jazz clubs are not at the top for people who are looking for a happy New Year. Even then, jazz heads who find themselves in Ljubljana would likely want to visit Jazz Club Gajo for its New Year’s Eve events. It’s the only one of its kind in Ljubljana and a pioneer for the jazz movement in the locale.
Jazz Club Gajo is the premier source for jazz in Slovenia. Before this little jazz club opened, the genre was non-existent in the entire country. Now, Gajo works as the best source for traditional and classic jazz, led by Slovenian jazz legend Drago Gajo.
Jazz Club Gajo is serene, solemn, and enjoyable. Whether it’s open mic night or listening to a new jazz combo, you can expect beautiful music and culture resonating. During New Year’s Eve, the club parties like any other, enjoying some food and wine.
Food and drinks will be overflowing, but there will also be jazz. There will be a lot of jazz acts that will test their mettle with a live audience. Celebrated Slovenian jazz musician Drago Gajo also hosts international jazz acts every New Year.
Jazz jam sessions, wine, and delicious haute cuisine for people who love culture. It’s a perfect night for people who love good beats and good food with the perfect company.
10. Pub Plecnik
For those looking for a party venue with one of the youngest crowd in Slovenia’s nightlife, Pub Plečnik is the perfect draw. Previously known as the famous Emonska Klet, it still carries its former rep as one of Ljubljana’s hotspots.
Every New Year’s Eve, it’s the perfect venture to party from dawn to dusk. You can enjoy dancing and imbibing until the start of the upcoming year.
They have different themes every year for the big night of the 31st. You can task a wide range of snacks and dishes from various parts of Europe. Enjoy everything from homemade pretzels to savory meat dishes.
Their drinks bar is one of the most impressive in the country. They have most types of spirits, wines, cocktails, beers, and everything in between. It’s an excellent time to enjoy, so meeting the New Year at Pub Plečnik will give you a banging time.
Conclusion
There are so many places to spend New Year’s Eve in Ljubljana. Whether you decide to crawl the pubs and drink the night away or spend it nibbling on grilled meat and drinking wine from stalls, it’s going to be a grand time. New Year is every Slovene’s favorite holiday, and you’ll find out why!
Are you spending your New Year’s Eve in Ljubljana? The Old Town has a lot more secrets at every turn. Discover them all and find out how you can spend your New Year in them. Ljubljana has so much to offer, so come and check us out now.
