Tivoli Park Ljubljana

We are dedicated to the mobile photography and are showing you photo spots which don’t demand the use of a special gear. We have begun to use a Huawei P20 Pro just recently so only a few of the following photos are made with it. All of them have a special tag to see the difference.

With the words of Visit Ljubljana: Tivoli Park is Ljubljana’s largest and most beautiful park, stretching right into the city centre. It was designed in 1813 by the French engineer Jean Blanchard and created by joining together the parks which had surrounded Podturn and Cekin Mansions. The park, covering an area of approximately five square kilometres, is crossed by three grand horse chestnut tree-lined walks and landscaped with ornamental flower beds, interesting trees and numerous statues and fountains. The park area blends into the slopes of the Rožnik hill, to which it is connected by several walking paths and a trim trail with several exercise stations along its length.

The park is really only a 5 minutes walk from the Slovenska street, it provides a lot of shade for a hot days and it is used for jogging, dog walking, hiking, just resting – you name it! More importantly, it is a photographer’s paradise: it is beautifully lighted in the mornings opposing the rising sun and provides numerous motifs in all seasons: from animals and other nature, statues, action shots. Besides it is never too crowded since it is really huge. We live 5 minutes from the park and we have a dog, so we know it really well and have an enormous stock of photos which me made in the last few years:).  Let us show you some basic spots.

Most visitors reach the park from the city centre using the pedestrian underpass at the Museum of Modern Art and this is the first view of the Jakopič Promenade one gets just after the underpass. Well, this in fact is the view from the railway tracks just above the exit – it is a few steps climb which is not recommended when slippery.

The scenic Jakopič Promenade (Jakopičevo sprehajališče) was designed by the architect Jože Plečnik in the central part of Tivoli Park. It  ends at the bottom of the stairway leading to Tivoli Mansion. The promenade is named after the Slovenian Impressionist painter Rihard Jakopič and has become a well known outdoor venue for exhibitions of large-format photographs, open throughout the year.

In the Tivoli Mansion which changed a lot of hands in its history is today International Centre of Graphic Arts with a cute coffee bar with a view.

Ornamental flower beds are all over the park combined with many other interesting details.

According to the story the artist committed suicide when he realised that the dogs are missing their tongues.

Have we mentioned the views in the morning light?

This statue is definitely our favourite.

Not that it is the only one. Boy with the flute (1946) is in Slovenia also widely known as the trademark of the national TV broadcaster TV Slovenija. However, it is much more difficult to make a good photo of it since it has a chestnut tree lined path behind its back.

Entering the park south of the main entrance just before the small railway station near Tobačna one finds a completely different story: an always occupied bench.

Edvard Kocbek was a great poet and played a big but controversial political role during and after World War II. He spent his whole life contemplating about it and so he will spend the eternity. He has a company, a mini-he on his left. We hope that he is helping and not tormenting himself.

Be that as it may, the bench is truly photogenic in the mornings.

Just a few steps behind the poet’s back is located a fish pond with another small sculpture and lots of different bird species.

A small building along the pond is called the Boat House (Čolnarna) and hosts a lovely coffee house.

The pond is also a nice spot to capture sunrise over Ljubljana.

Next to the pond there is a small botanical garden with a glasshouse, whose management was entrusted to the Ljubljana Botanic Garden on its 200th anniversary in 2010. The glasshouse houses a permanent exhibition of tropical and carnivorous plants.

This is definitely the most colourful part of the park!

It can beat also the many moody mornings in Ljubljana.

Tivoli Park is beautiful also in the rain and snow …

…using all kinds of benches to capture the autumn…

… and winter.

Did we mentioned that people just rest under the trees?

Let’s look closer with the help of the fantastic zoom of Huawei P20 Pro. So close to the city.

Northern part of the park is less picturesque but reveals a geometry of the park and with some proper gear provides nice views of the Ljubljana Castle.

The castle can be also taken from the renowned Švicarija Creative Centre.

Wish you a lot of fun exploring the park!

Text and photo: Zoran Leban Trojar.