Ljubljana

Ljubljana is proof that a capital can be taken whole in a weekend and still feel generous: a green city folded around a river, with a castle on its one hill and dragons on its prettiest bridge — the city's symbol, guarding the crossing with theatrical menace. Much of the center is the work of one man, Jože Plečnik, who treated his hometown as a lifelong drawing and gave it colonnades, lamps and riverbanks scaled to the human stride.

The sensible traveller rides the funicular up to the castle for the red roofs and, on clear days, the Alps lining the horizon like an audience; walks the Triple Bridge to Prešeren Square, where the national poet gazes permanently at the window of his muse; browses the riverside market on Saturday; and takes the evening slowly along the embankments, where café tables replace traffic — the center is car-free, and conversation is the local infrastructure.

The Guide's honesty: Ljubljana is small and proud of it — resist the urge to 'finish' her in three hours; the pleasure is the pace —; Metelkova's graffiti barracks are best at night and honest about being scruffy; and the city is Europe's best base camp: lake Bled, the Škocjan caves and the Adriatic all sit within ninety minutes, which is why the wise give Slovenia the week her capital's size never demands.