Ljubljana for all: travel by the capital of Slovenia in a wheelchair

A total of 163  square kilometers - the small size of the capital of Slovenia is rather its advantage that the tourists use to get here for the holidays. For a couple of days in Ljubljana, you can walk enough along its quiet green streets, admire the old houses in the Old Town, cross the Ljubljanica River along the Triple Bridge, relax on the lawn in Tivoli Park, find and take a selfie with all the dragons that guard this fabulous European city. Moreover, having had a bite for the honey gingerbread, climb the Ljubljana Castle to look at Ljubljana from a bird's eye view.

Recently, Ljubljana received an award from the European Commission for the development of sustainable tourism, presenting its achievements in the field of sustainable development, accessibility, digitalization, cultural heritage and creativity to the jury. From a practical point of view of a low-mobility tourist, this means that the capital of Slovenia is adapted for comfortable rest.

In terms of accessibility, Ljubljana received a high award for “facilitating the mobility of blind and partially sighted people as well as people with other disabilities and special needs including an adaptation of public urban traffic, route designation, multisensory museum guided tours and the Oviratlon triathlon organised to increase public awareness”. In addition, in the summer of 2018, a special mobile application was launched for wheelchair users - Ljubljana by Wheelchair. 

The author of the application, Aljoša Škaper, is actively traveling around his beloved city in a wheelchair, so Ljubljana by Wheelchair is user friendly for people with limited mobility. Using the application, you can get up-to-date information on the accessibility of popular tourist attractions. The user can select places by category: sleep, drink, eat, see, do, shop and toilet. In each category, the author has posted a list of facilities equipped for visitors in a wheelchair. 

“Now you can finally use your time to explore the city, not waste hours and hours just for planning. Wheelchair users can be active tourists as well and that is why we want to show you all current and interesting events in Ljubljana, that are friendly to wheelchair users” – says the official website of the Ljubljana by Wheelchair. 

And at the end of January 2019, the Ljubljana Tourism reported on a new useful service for disabled guests of the capital - travelers with wheelchairs can rent free of charge an electric gadget that turns the wheelchair into an electric scooter. 

“At Ljubljana Tourism we are presenting our city as a destination accessible to the disabled, which is also one of our strategic objectives. Our goal is to bring the tourist services of Ljubljana even closer to the disabled by offering free rental of two electric attachments for wheelchairs at the Slovenian Tourist Information Centre (STIC) located at Krekov Trg 10. This is an innovative service since STIC is the first tourist information centre in Europe providing this option”

The SPEED3X attachment enables people on wheelchairs easier and faster movement and overcoming longer distances. It simply attaches to the wheelchair and the linking element can be adjusted in height and width, making it compatible for practically any wheelchair without any specific adaptation. A full battery has a reach of 40 km, which means a person on a wheelchair can join their friends and family on bicycles or on foot while exploring the city. The user must present their personal document and a deposit, which is returned to them after they bring back the attachment in one piece and without any damage.

The electric wheelchair trailer is available for rent at the Slovenian Tourist Information Centre (STIC) at Krekov trg 10 during working hours:
1 October–31 May: from Monday to Friday from 8.00am to 7.00pm: Saturdays, Sundays and holidays from 9.00am to 5.00pm
1 June–30 September: every day from 8.00am to 9.00pm.