Tivoli Park, the woodland that reaches into central Ljubljana

Half an afternoon in Tivoli and Rožnik

For me, Tivoli is the breather between museums and the old town. I would do the National Gallery in the morning, grab lunch and walk up through the woods towards Rožnik in the afternoon, taking my time. With children, or if you only have an hour, the stroll to the mansion and its dog stairway is enough. If you have two days, I have slotted it into Ljubljana in two days.

How do I get to Tivoli Park from the centre?

On foot from the centre. The park begins next to the National Gallery of Slovenia and the Museum of Modern Art, which sits right by Tivoli. If you are driving, the National Gallery names the public car park in Tivoli as the closest; the other options are in parking in Ljubljana.

459 hectares of woodland inside the city

According to the city, the area was protected in 1984, when Tivoli, Rožnik and Šiška hill were declared a natural landmark, and since late 2016 it has been run by the municipal company Voka Snaga. It covers the city park, the woods of Rožnik, Šišenski hrib and other summits as far as the Koseze woodland, and on its western side it is ringed by the Path of Remembrance and Comradeship, the city’s green belt, which LPP describes as its longest tree-lined path, with more than 7,000 trees.

For walking there are more than 15 km of forest paths. The Jesenko trail introduces 30 species of trees and shrubs, and the paths lead to Drenikov vrh, Šišenski hrib, Rožnik, Mostec and Koseze pond. The city asks for the usual courtesies. Do not feed the wildlife, keep dogs under control and take your litter home.

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Tivoli Mansion and its tongueless dogs

The mansion gave the park its name. The Jesuits built it at the start of the 17th century on the site of a 15th-century fortified house, says the Ministry of Culture. After the order was dissolved it became the bishop’s summer residence, and in 1835 a society opened a pleasure garden there with a café, which is when it took the name Tivoli. In 1852 Emperor Franz Joseph bought it and granted it for life to Field Marshal Radetzky, who gave it its present look. The city bought it in 1865, adding a pool with a fountain and a stairway lined with tongueless dogs by the sculptor Anton D. Fernkorn, around 1870.

Today it houses the International Centre of Graphic Arts and is the main venue of the Biennial of Graphic Arts, founded in 1955, with a café and terrace. Nearby, in Cekin Mansion, the National Museum of Contemporary History has been based since 1952, covering Slovenian history in the 20th century. Both are covered with the rest in Ljubljana museums.

If you are staying the night, see the best hotel deals in Liubliana for your dates: the well-placed rooms go fast.