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Ljubljana is the capital of Slovenia, one of the smallest and nicest capitals in Central Europe.

Ljubljana
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Country:
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Slovenia
Population: 292,988
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Contents

Hitchhiking out

Hitchiking out of Ljubljana is relatively easy in all directions, Standing on the highway (Slovenian: Avtocesta, abbr. AC on road signs) on-ramp.


Northeast towards Maribor, Graz, Vienna (Austria), Hungary E 57

From the main street, west of the train station (Slovenska cesta, Dunajska cesta), take buses 6 (direction Črnuče), 8 (dir. Brnčičeva) or 11 in direction north. Get off at the stop "Smelt", at the "World Trade Center" tower. Walk further on towards the motorway, then right after the fountain. You will see the road forking, the left lane going down to the motorway, the right lane going higher up. Stand with your sign in the middle between the two lanes, or on the pavement next to the parking place entrance. Even though the first option might look a bit strange, this is the most common spot and it's easy for drivers to see you and there's enough space for one car to safely stop there.

NOTE: december 2019. Easy, got a direct pick to Maribor in 15min, i'd suggest you to use that one

Alternatively opposite of the railway station take bus no 27 towards "Letaliska" and get out at "Jarse". Continue following "Smartinska cesta" about 400 meters and turn to right from the traffic lights. There is a bus stop right after. Most of the cars passing now are going towards the highway. You can also take bus no 2 to "Nove Jarse" from Southern part of Slovenska cesta. The last stop is the mentioned hitchhiking spot.


Northwest towards Kranj, Bled, Villach, Salzburg (Austria), Munich (Germany) E 61

 
Hitchhiking spot for direction: Kranj

Direction north-west there is the motorway E61/A2 towards Kranj through the Karawanken Tunnel (Slovenian: Predor Karavanke) or over the pass over the border to Villach (slov.: Beljak) in Austria and further on on the Tauern-motorway to Salzburg and over to Germany. It is the way that is used by most of those numerous Germans that go to the Croatian coast for hollidays.

This motorway E61/A2 starts from the Ljubljana bypass. The best way to join this motorway is from the street Celovška cesta, at the bus stop Šentvid (stand in the corner before the bus stop!!). Get there by bus number 1 (direction Vižmarje), 25 (dir. Medvode), or 8 (dir. Gameljne) from the city centre. If people who pick you up don't go as far as you like, you can get a lift as far as the first "Petrol" gas station on the highway (17km away) or the former toll station Torovo and keep hitchhiking there. There is also a petrol station at the Radovljica-exit (right before Bled) which is useful for getting into Austria.

NOTE: May 2017. Good spot, got a ride to the first gas station on the motorway in 3 minutes with a sign for Kranj (KR). From there another ride all the way to Salzburg.


South or west towards Koper, Nova Gorica, Rijeka, Pula (Croatia), (Italy) E 61

Ramp on entry to highway

 
Hitchhiking spot Dolgi most

From the city center (Dunajska cesta, Slovenska cesta) take the bus number 6 (direction Dolgi most - last stop), 1D (same) or 6B (dir. Notranje gorice), to Dolgi most which is a large parking place just before the bridge above the road. Go back to the crossroads and you will see the entry lane into the motorway. There will also be an entry to a parking of a small house, stand on the side there with your sign (you will see where everybody else stands...). Slovenians use this way to go to the seaside so it is a good hitchhiking spot especially during summer.

If your destination is Venice or further, the easiest way is via Nova Gorica (town on the walkable distance from Gorizia): use sign GO and ask to be dropped at the service area on the border. For Trieste it doesn't work well with TS sign - best option might be to use KP sign and then ask the driver to drop you off at Kozina exit (go right in the crossroads after toll booths). It's only 3 km from the border and on the main Rijeka-Trieste road. Sežana is a town close to Trieste as well.

If your destination is Rijeka, take also rides going to Postojna or further west. Get out at Postojna exit and from there walk across the highway (use the bridge). There is a good spot to hitchhike southwards just few hundred meters after the bridge.

Fuel station and very big truck parking on the highway

Catch bus 9 from the centre to the last stop, Pot na Rakovo jelšo. Head away from the overpass and the highway; just after the small gas station on your left is the street Cesta dveh cesarev. Turn left and follow this residential street until you see the parking lot with all the trucks. There is a path at the beginning of the field, near the trees. Don't waste time trying to thumb a ride, you will have to speak to people directly. Many of the truckers are heading towards Trieste or into Germany/Austria.

There is a shower in the gas station for €3.

Fuel station on the road to highway

Near the crossing of streets: "Pot na Rakovo jelšo" and "Barjanska cesta" there is a fuel station with a lot of cars heading towards Koper. I just asked Croatians on Pula plates if they are heading home, and I got a ride to Koper. My destination was Trieste, so I walked to the border and than took a bus. I was leaving Ljubljana around 5pm, there was a traffic jam on Pot na Rakovo jelšo, with the cars heading to highway. Most of them had Koper plates, so it can also try asking people stuck in the traffic.


=== Southeast towards Novo mesto, Zagreb (Croatia) The A1 in Algeria, also known as l'autoroute est ouest (East West highway), is the only highway in Algeria. With a length of 1216 kilometers, it connects Morocco with Tunisia from the extreme east of Algeria to the extreme west.

Hitching the A1

Legend:   (very good) |   (good) |   (average) |   (bad) |   (senseless)

<map lat="49.851332186892" lng="2.8695913553043" zoom="9" float="right" width="500" height="1200" />===

Fuel station and very big truck parking on highway

Catch bus 9 to bus stop Pot na Rakovo jelso and go straight to direction where bus went follow Cesta dveh cesarev street (dont turn the left side where bus went after 100 metres). Asphalt road will bring you to place where you can see fuel station search tiny tail to it!

Another way to get to the same gas station is to take bus n° 1 or 1b and stop at Tbilisijska. Keep walking straight on the direction the bus is going and soon turn left at the first street, Cesta dveh cesarev. After about 300 meter by feet you'll start to see the gas station some 50 meters away on the right side, with some gardens in between. You can either pass trough one of the gardens and climb the fence, or walk few hundred meters longer to find a convenient passage through the fence.

There is shower in fuel station price 3 eur and places for wild camping around...

Fuel station to Zagreb is on another side of highroad!

'** July2017 I followed the instructions and just lost time crossing the highway to go to the other side of the road, it's a bit dangerous . So take all your time guys! Stayed 30 to 50 minutes then picked a ride direct to zagreb in a truck .

Same fuel station as above

 
Hitchhiking spot for direction: Zagreb (option 2)

Sservice area "Barje", in direction of Zagreb. This service area is on the Ring around Ljubljana and is very well-served by a lot of long-distance drivers. To get there take bus number 1 or 1B in direction Mestni Log from the center. Go off one stop before last, called "Koprska". Continue straight (the bus takes a turn just before the stop "Koprska" - don't follow it, go straight on!) on the street Cesta v Mestni log, after 2 minutes you will cross a bridge over a small river. Continue straight and cross the motorway over the bridge, and on the left side the service area is about 500 m away. There is a golf course between you and the service area, which you can cross by climbing its fences (not too high) if the personal allows you, which hasn't always been the case. If they don't, you should take an immediate left directly after crossing the highway (you're still on the bridge at that point), descending to the guardrail. You are now between the golf course's fence and the highway, which is quite a narrow path at some points. After a few hundred metres, you'll get to the resting area. Hitchhiker Looking for Stu discovered that bus 1 will drop you by the side of the golf course at what appeared to be the last stop before returning to town. No problem hopping the fences and crossing the course away from the busy motorway edge.

November 2017 - Easy to get to the spot via golf course (metal gate slides open), also jumping the fence no problem. There were two of us and it was impossible to get a ride, slow traffic coming through. We asked all truck drivers but they were concerned with the border crossing. This was a Monday morning 9am we waited until 2pm. There one person that suggested we should HH from Vic being a popular spot for HHers. We couldn't really find the spot on the map, so gave it a miss. I think if you are one person this spot is okay.

On-ramp of the motorway at the edge of the city

Not many cars go in this direction, and the ones that do usually do not enter the motorway here - this on-ramp mostly serves inter-urban traffic, so you might have to wait a lot of time. From the city centre (Slovenska cesta, bus stop "Pošta") take bus line 3 in direction of "Rudnik" (south), and get off at the final stop. In front of you there will be the motorway entrance, which will be a turn left. Cross the street and on the side of the on-ramp road, on your left, you will see a small asphalt surface where all the cars pass, and there you can stand and hitchhike easily.

Notice - If you are hitchhiking towards Novo mesto, pay attention that you are hitchhiking on the high-way entrance (the turn left) and not on the old road, which is continuing straight ahead. If you are hitchhiking to Zagreb, pay attention to the "Crossing borders" section in the Slovenia page.

October 2017: itsagerston tried this spot on a Sunday morning. Traffic was quite thin but after about 20 minutes of thumbing at this place, we got a direct ride to Zagreb. It should be noted that we first also tried going a bit past this point to hitch to Rijeka; one driver stopped and told us it would be a very long day taking that route, with drivers only going village to village all along the way and strongly suggested we take the longer route through Zagreb. From what I've seen, I think he was right.


Trains out of Ljubljana

If you really cannot get a lift out, check out the train timetables on this link. Tickets are not too expensive. https://www.slo-zeleznice.si/en/passenger-transport/travelling-abroad

Busses out

Try Flixbus or this link https://www.ap-ljubljana.si/en/

Resources

Check Nomadwiki for info on accommodation, showers etc. or Trashwiki for dumpsters...and share your wisdom :)

  Wikipedia has additional encyclopedic information on Ljubljana