It has a medieval fortress and a dragon, but Slovenia's capital is a safe, sophisticated place in which to relax. Compared with the other capitals of the 10 countries that acceded to the EU in May, Ljubljana seems oblivious and indifferent to its potential as a tourist destination. There are no boutique hotels as there are in Poland and the Baltic States and nothing to which the term 'design' might apply. But, nevertheless, Ljubljana is improbably pretty, with its candy-coloured baroque and dizzyingly ornate Secessionist architecture. There are decorative footbridges over the willow-shaded river, a romantic hilltop castle and cobbled piazzas filled with café tables. It is not unlike Prague, but its austere, northern geometry has been tempered by sunny, southern frivolity.

GRAND HOTEL UNION
Miklosiceva 1 (00 386 1 308 1270; fax: 308 1015; www.gh-union.si). In terms of location and architecture, this is the only place to stay. It is a magnificent Art Nouveau building dating back to 1905, about 50 metres from Presernov trg and the Triple Bridge. It has been substantially refurbished in the past decade, and although its interiors have an international business-hotel anonymity, the bedrooms are spacious, light and comfortable with slick granite bathrooms. Be sure to ask for a room in the 'executive' wing, not the 1960s annexe dubbed 'business'.

HOTEL LEV
Vosnjakova 1 (00 386 1 433 2155; fax: 434 3350; www.hotel-lev.si). A soulless tower built in 1964, it is the city's only five-star but suffers from being in the business district.

HOTEL SLON
Slovenska 34 (00 386 1 470 1100; fax: 251 7164; www.hotelslon.com). A Best Western franchise that claims to be the only hotel in Ljubljana in which all the rooms have wooden floors. It is also the city's oldest hotel, dating back to 1552, although it now occupies a drab modern building that crudely interrupts the vista that Plecnik contrived to run from the mansion of Tivolski Grad to the onion domes of the pink-and-white, baroque Franciscan Church on Presernov trg.

Slovenian food has had a bad press, but it is actually very good. Austro-Hungarian stodge (goulash, buckwheat, slabs of meat and cabbage) might once have been the norm, but Italian influences seem to prevail now.

JULIJA
Stari trg 9 (00 386 1 425 6463). Packed with modish young Slovenes, the interior of Julija is a stylish, modern take on baroque, with ornate, gilded mirrors and carved panelling, and the cooking is terrific. Starters may include an octopus-and-rocket salad and succulent beef carpaccio, followed by tagliatelle with a generous helping of shaved truffle and a glorious risotto full of fresh porcini. For dessert try the near-perfect pannacotta and compote of wild berries. Even with a bottle of the priciest wine on the list, a good peppery Merlot from Dolfo, the meal will be startingly cheap.

LJUBLJANSKI DVOR
Dvorni trg 1 (00 386 1 251 6555). This has an attractive riverside terrace and a menu that runs to 105 varieties of pizza (or pica, as you'll sometimes see it spelt): thin crisp bases with toppings that include marinated artichoke hearts and wild mushrooms, as well as the usual.

PRI SVETEM FLORJANU
Gornji trg 20 (00 386 1 251 2214). A sequence of attractive, vaulted rooms, but with a menu that is slightly too international, running to sushi and tandoori chicken as well as Mediterranean classics.

PRI VITEZU
Breg 20 (00 386 1 426 6058). A more formal alternative, has two dining rooms. One is like a drawing room, furnished with antiques and lit by a chandelier crowned with a Habsburg double-head eagle; the other is rustic and homely. There is a menu displayed outside, but it bears scant relation to what's on offer. The waiter will talk you through what they have. Starters may include an outstanding red-wine risotto and excellent beef or swordfish carpaccio. Then tagliata, strips of beef fillet served on a bed of rocket with fried potatoes, and fat John Dory, filleted at the table. There's no wine list, but the waiters will suggest something.

ROTOVZ
Mestni trg 3 (00 386 1 251 2839). Formal French dining in a rather overlit room.

SPAJZA
Gornji trg 28 (00 386 1 425 3094). Recommended by those in the know.

WHERE TO DRINK
There is no shortage of cafes and bars, and almost every one along the eastern bank of the river on Cankarjevo nabrezje is worth stopping at for coffee. It's mostly a question of where you can find a table, but Café Boheme and the studenty Zlata Ladjica (on the opposite bank, by the Shoemakers' Bridge) stood out. For prsut (prosciutto) sandwiches, ice cream, good coffee and a fabulous view of the Central Market and Triple Bridge, try Sladoledni Vrt Poet (Trzaska 2). Tea drinkers should head for Cajna Hisa (Stari trg 3), which serves more than 50 different kinds, including Indian, China, green, herbal, fruit and iced - in its cosy, vaulted, partially frescoed interior as well as at outdoor tables. There's also no shortage of voguish lounge bars. Try Minimal (Mestni trg 4), Fraga (Mestni trg 14) and Zvezda (Wolfova 14). Or take a taxi north-west from the centre to Casa del Papa (Celovska 54a), a bar-restaurant improbably contrived in honour of Ernest Hemingway, who was hospitalised near here in 1918, having been wounded near the Italian front. Each floor has a theme: one is Spanish (with bullfighting posters), another is Cuban and a third is called Key West.

Ljubljana owes much of its beauty to the Slovenian architect Joe Plecnik (1872-1957), whose work defines the city just as Gaudí defines Barcelona and Haussman Paris, and whose genius lay in the way he replanned the city, opening up vistas and open spaces. A former colleague of arch-Secessionist Otto Wagner in Vienna, he worked in Prague remodelling its castle before returning to his native city in 1921. Here he began transforming the city, a backwater of the Austro-Hungarian empire for 400 years, into the Slovene capital it had become at the end of the World War I, when the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes (which later became Yugoslavia) was created. He built bridges (most strikingly the Tromostovje or Triple Bridge that has become a symbol of the city), churches, the superb university library and a cemetery, all in a distinctive and strikingly original, neoclassical-meets-Art Deco style.

CENTRAL MARKET
The other great Plecnik building is the colonnaded Central Market along Adamic-Lundrovo nabreje. Open weekdays 7am-4pm; Sat 7am-1pm. Much of it is devoted to fruit and vegetables. A lot is imported from Spain and the Netherlands, but there is local produce too. Some stalls sell nothing but salad leaves, great sacks of rocket, frisée, lamb's and oak-leaf lettuce. There are displays of honey and beeswax candles, dried mushrooms, hand-made farm implements, baskets, hand-knits and sheepskins. On Sundays, there's an eclectic flea market running south from the Triple Bridge along the Cankarjevo nabreje riverside walk, where there are usually café tables.

CENTROMERKUR
This is one shopping experience that you should not miss. Ljubljana's oldest department store occupies a magnificent Secessionist building dating from 1903 on Presernov trg, the city's central piazza. Its interiors, attitudes to service and, in some cases, stock don't appear to have changed since the 1950s. No newfangled ideas of helping yourself hold here (except, thankfully, in the food department); the unsmiling lady behind the counter will fetch what you want, always assuming, of course, that they stock it. (You'll spot discreet reminders of Communism all over the city if you look for them; there are hammers, sickles and red stars among the flower motifs on the Art Nouveau wall panels of the Krianke monastery church, now a cultural centre.

LJUBLJANSKI GRAD
(00 386 1 232 9994). Open daily from 9am to 10pm. The best way to get a sense of the town is to visit the castle, Ljubljanski Grad. After a steep hike through woodland carpeted in spring with wild orchids and violets. Climb the 150-step spiral staircase of the tower (open daily 9am-9pm) for a view stretching from the snow-capped peaks of the distant Julian Alps down to the terracotta roofs and lazy, green river directly below.

MODERNA GALERIJA
The Museum of Modern Art (Cankarjeva 15; open Tues-Sat 10am-6pm, Sun 10am-1pm) is where the International Biennial of Graphic Arts is held every other summer in odd-numbered years.

NARODNA GALERIJA
This is Slovenia's national gallery (Puharjeva 9; open Tues-Sat 10am-6pm, Sun 10am-1pm), a pair of 19th-century museums connected by a sleek new glass building. One houses a collection of Slovenian paintings, mostly unsophisticated portraits of 19th-century dignitaries sporting fancy earrings; but there are some impressive landscapes and intriguing genre paintings. The 'modern' section is a Slovenian homage to and poor imitation of - French Impressionism. The European collection in the other building is no more impressive, but it passes a wet afternoon: unexceptional Netherlandish scenes and still-lifes.

NEBOTICNIK
There ought to be a similarly good view towards the castle from the terrace café of the 12-storey, Art Deco Nebotinik, or skyscraper, on the opposite side of town (entrance on Stefanova, near the corner with Slovenska). But although you can wander into its lobby to admire its black-marble-and-chrome interior, the café seems to have closed down irrevocably, and there's a terse, handwritten note on the lift telling you, in effect, to go away.

THE ORTHODOX CHURCH OF ST CYRIL AND ST METHODIUS
This splendid church has a dark interior, heady with incense and decorated with icons.

TIVOLI PARK
Formerly the pleasure grounds of a 17th-century stately home, the Tivolski Grad - which is now the city's graphic-art museum, Tivoli park has a zoo as well as acres of formal landscaping, bisected by a grand Plecnik promenade. Better yet, there are paths that climb the densely wooded hills protecting the western edge of the city. The air here is fragrant with pine and it may only be 15 minutes' walk from the centre of a capital city, but it feels a world away.

VIRTUAL MUSEUM
A computer-generated video on the history of the city, which you watch though 3D 'polarising goggles' while listening to a commentary on a headset. It's a bit weird, but informative.

AIRPORT
Brnik airport is 23km north-west of Ljubljana.

AIRLINES FROM THE UK
Adria Airways (020 7437 0143; www.adria-airways.si) flies seven times a week from London Gatwick. EasyJet (0871 750 0100; www.easyjet.com) flies daily from London Stansted. A taxi from the airport at Brnik, 26km north-west of the city, costs very little, there are also private buses that will take you to the city centre.
You cannot buy Slovenian tolars in the UK, but there is a machine that changes sterling and euro notes in the arrivals lounge. The ATM is in departures.

Visit the riverside cafés and stroll among the wooded hills of the Slovenian capital in September, its least rainy month, when temperatures are still reliably warm.

The Slovenian Tourist Board (www.slovenia-tourism.si), publishes various information leaflets. For a guide to what's on, visit www.ljubljana-calling.com