To read about the Croatian part of our adventure, click here.
Our next stop was the main reason for our whole trip: Lake Bled in Slovenia. Nestled in the Julian Alps in the northwest of the country, it’s the magical lake with a fairytale castle and a tiny island church that graces screensavers the world over. I am happy to report that it more than lived up to expectations! It was mind-bogglingly beautiful.
We stayed in the town of Bled, named after the lake beside it. To get there, we took a 3.5-hour train from Zagreb to Lesce-Bled, followed by a short bus journey to Bled itself. The train journey was a real highlight; cheap, booked on the day, on time and with plenty of free seats. Before reaching Bled, we got a real taste of the Slovenian countryside as we wound through carpets of trees along the crystal clear Sava River, before passing through Ljubljana. Here’s what we got up to once we reached our destination…
Zipline Dolinka — the longest zipline in Europe!
As a kid – and still now, let’s be honest – I was a big fan of the playground zipline, and I’ve always wanted to try the more grown-up version. So when I saw Zipline Dolinka advertised, I knew we had to give it a go! The experience includes 4km of ziplining split across seven lines, each measuring between 350 and 700m, with short hikes between each one.
There were 10 people in our group, plus two student instructors (who zip between trees as their summer job). After a short safety briefing, you zip one by one back and forth across the Dolinka River. You can build up some speed (up to 40km/h), and the adrenaline really kicks in initially. Once you get the hang of it, though, looking around and seeing the Julian Alps on the horizon, Bled Castle in the distance, and the pristine spring water below is incredible – I almost wanted to slow the zipping down to really take in the stunning scenery! It was such a fun morning activity, and I can safely say that one of us loved it.
Lake Bled
Once we’d zipped around the treeline of the area, it was time to see Lake Bled itself. You can walk the whole way around Lake Bled, and it is well worth doing. It’s a flat 6km loop that only takes a couple of hours, but you’ll want longer to stop and soak in the breathtaking views. You can also extend the walk by detouring off at the southwest corner of the lake and climbing up to three fabulous viewpoints. The extension adds 3km and almost 300m of ascent, but the higher you climb, the more people you leave behind and the more beautiful it gets, like a screensaver coming to life.
The best lake viewpoint of all is Mala Osojnica (756m), and getting there includes a steep climb and a steel staircase with 88 steps, before a clearing in the trees opens up to the most fantastic view. There are so many trees cloaking the hills and mountains of Slovenia that I now understand what people mean when they say that the British landscape is barren. Many Lake District hills have hardly a tree in sight.
Slovenia’s only island sits in the middle of Lake Bled. You can reach it by taking a traditional Pletna boat, which is a gondola-style wooden row boat. These boats have been in use since the 12th century, when poor farmers could avoid paying local taxes by ferrying pilgrims to the island. The journey to the island takes around 20-30 minutes, depending on your starting point, and costs 18€ in cash for the return trip (which includes 30-40 minutes on the island to explore).
There has been a church on the island since the 9th century, although the current church dates back to the 17th century and is reached via a 99-step baroque stairway. We didn’t go inside or visit the bell tower, but it’s traditional to make a wish while ringing the bell, so we heard plenty of ringing from the shore. It’s also a great place for views across to the castle, or for simply enjoying the turquoise water (complete with carp swimming around). I was in constant awe of how beautiful it all is.
The other must-do Lake Bled activity is swimming! There are three spots where you can swim, and one of them is paid. The paid bit was cheaper after 3pm and 100% worth it for the lack of crowds, plus sunbeds, lifeguards, and a chute. It felt surreal to swim in such a picturesque landscape, looking across to the island and up to the castle. There was also a cordoned-off swimming pool for lengths, but I loved the feeling of swimming free in the lake. Plus, when it’s 26°C outside, the water doesn’t even feel that cold.
As I floated around in the lake, I watched the Slovenian Olympic rowing team in training. They have exclusive lanes sectioned off down the middle of the lake, and, as you’d expect, row up and down at quite a speed. They have 7 Olympic medals so far, but it’s undoubtedly their stunning training ground that makes them the real winners.
Vintgar Gorge
Next up was another one of the main attractions of the area – Vintgar Gorge. The gorge is a 1600m-long, 250m-deep canyon that’s 4km from Bled. There’s a free shuttle bus from Bled bus station, and we used it successfully despite mass confusion as to whether it ran every 20 minutes, every 30 minutes or indeed every hour. Tickets for the gorge must be purchased online in advance, and entry cannot be scanned until your exact timeslot (ours was at 10:43 and not a minute sooner). After scanning in, we were given helmets, then we walked down a series of boardwalks, bridges, and pathways beside the gorge. It was one of my favourite experiences of the trip: the water crystal clear, the air cool and fresh, and the surroundings exquisite.
At the end of the gorge, you can pick one of two trails back to the start point. We chose the King of Triglav trail, but, instead of heading back to the shuttle stop, we took the quiet road all the way back to Bled from a dinky little white church. This worked out well as we passed a restaurant, Kurej Gostilna, that was much cheaper than the ones in Bled, as well as a sunflower field and dreamy Slovenian countryside.
Bled Castle
We’d enjoyed such great views of Bled Castle from the lake that I was initially sceptical as to whether it would be worth the 18€ entrance fee. However, the castle, perched atop a cliff with pepperpot turrets, is straight from a fairytale, and the views were FANTASTIC.
We visited late afternoon, when the crowds were gone, and with no queue at the cafe, we decided it was time to try the famous Blejska kremšnita, or Bled cream cake. The layers of pastry, custard and whipped cream really are delicious, and having sampled both the cake at the castle and the ‘official’ cake by the lake, I think that the castle one is better! It had a great wobble to it, and the mesmerising view from the cafe made it even more scrumptious.
The castle was worth it for the views alone, but with multiple museums and viewpoints too, it’s definitely bang for your buck. It was cool to look down on the swimming pool, across to the island and viewpoints and back to our ziplining location. We were also lucky to visit during a wedding, and, although I loved Grasmere for ours, this has to top the dream wedding location list. What a fairytale!
Lake Bohinj & Vogel Viewpoint
We ended our stay in Bled by visiting Bohinj, Slovenia’s largest lake. It’s a 30-minute bus ride from Bled, and the buses seemed to run fairly often. (Note that Slovenian buses run to their own schedule that match neither Google nor the printed bus timetables.) We took our host’s excellent advice and continued on the bus to Vogel at the far side of the lake. From the stop there, it’s a short walk up to the ski resort, where a cable car transports you to the most spectacular view.
The cable car was possibly more adrenaline-inducing than the zip line, rocking back and forth as it went almost vertically up the mountain. However, if you can hold your nerve long enough to make the short journey, the views from the top are spectacular!
You could see Triglav, Slovenia’s highest mountain, in the distance, with its rocky top almost looking snowy. I would have been more than happy with the first view alone, but we used the chairlift to get even higher (which was included in the cable car ticket price). I’ve never been on a chairlift before, and it was incredible! The scenery was ridiculous! I’ve pretty much run out of superlatives at this point, but it was simply one of the most beautiful places I’ve ever seen.
After heading down and thinking that the day couldn’t possibly get any better, we started our walk around the far side of the lake back to the bus stop. Partway round, I stopped for a swim in a sunny, secluded bay, and it was warm and lovely and absolutely sublime – the best wild swim I’ve ever done.
That concludes our stay in Bled, which really was as magical as all good fairytale locations should be. I mean it when I say that it was one of the most beautiful places I’ve ever seen. Slovenia’s nature is unparalleled, and maybe even more beautiful than places like New Zealand because of all the trees (and, as you know, I am a big fan of trees).
The first half of September was an ideal time to go. Slovenian schools had gone back, high season had ended, but it was still 26 degrees, and everything was still open. I’m glad we stayed in Bled though because as beautiful as Bohinj was (and it was ridiculously beautiful) Bled is unlike anything I’ve ever seen before. The castle and the island with the church just seem unreal.
I’d highly recommend Guesthouse Vive as a great place to stay in Bled. It was a 5-minute walk from the lake, quiet and clean, away from the busy centre, and in an excellent location for the bus station (which also served as a meeting point for many touristy activities). In fact, it was much closer to the bus station than many of the hotels in the touristy centre. The apartment itself was basic, but it had everything you needed, and the hosts were lovely.
We met people who felt that Bled was over-commercialised and over-touristy, but I didn’t feel that way at all. It is touristy, there’s no doubt of that, and a few hotels look modern, but the surroundings are so beautiful that it doesn’t matter. It retains its charm even with the touristy buzz, much like Ambleside in the English Lake District, which is bustling but beautiful. The Slovenians we met there seemed very happy with their lot. Our host said they were very satisfied there, the rowing team were satisfied with their training ground, and a tour guide said that people were satisfied. They seemed to have a genuine pride in their country.
I’ve got a feeling that I’ll be back one day, but for now I’ve captured a snapshot of this magical place to keep in my heart.
Stay tuned for the final part of our adventure!
Laura writes... 
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