Fairytale weekend in Lake Bled, Slovenia

A magical destination and a must-visit in Europe!

Its our very first time in Slovenia and we have been really pleased to visit this European country. The landscape, the people, the food and wine, the outdoor activities… WOW! We’ve travelled a lot to Spain, Italy, France, Portugal… and although we try to visit new areas each year we tend to always go back to these countries… One of our goals this year is to try to explore to new places and countries. So when we saw many amazing pictures of Lake Bled on Instagram it somewhat inspired our visit. We started doing some research on when to go, hotels, restaurants and what to do… Now we’ve been for a long weekend we want to offer some recommendations for your future trip.

Where is it?

Slovenia is a Central European country nestled between the northern tip of the Adriatic Sea and the eastern tip of the stunning Alps. It shares a border with Italy, Austria, Hungary, Croatia and the Adriatic Sea.

Previously one of Yugoslavia's six constituent republics, present-day Slovenia became independent in 1991. Historical ties to Western Europe, a strong economy, and a stable democracy have assisted in Slovenia's transformation to a modern state. Slovenia acceded to both NATO and the EU in 2004, and joined the eurozone and the Schengen Area in 2007, completing the final steps of accession to the European Union. Slovenia's main industries include car parts, pharmacy, electronics, electrical appliances, metal goods, textiles and furniture. It has a Mediterranean climate on the coast, continental climate with mild to hot summers, and cold winters in the plateaus and valleys to the east. (Source : wikitravel)

I think most of you must have seen a picture of lake Bled before, a serene lake with a cliff-hanging castle on its shore; a small island with a church; and snow-capped mountains in the background. Rings a bell? If not carry on reading…

Bled is a small town located roughly 500 m above sea level in the Julian Alps in the north-western part of Slovenia 🇸🇮 It’s undoubtedly the most visited place in Slovenia due to its fairytale beauty and it’s serene atmosphere… Every day, the town of Bled welcomes thousands of visitors who wish to see this picturesque lake surrounded by mountains.

The lake is only 35 km from Ljubljana International Airport and 55 km from the capital city, Ljubljana.

Window seat compulsory!! Awesome to see the Alps from above.

We flew from London Luton to Ljubljana. Get a window seat on the plane as if it’s a clear day you will get an amazing view of the mountains when flying over the Alps. We rented a car from Enterprise for quite cheap and with an excellent service. We can not offer recommendations on train or bus but that’s totally doable and even cheaper. The drive from the airport is really straightforward and scenic and therefore quite enjoyable!

You will be absolutely amazed by the surreal beauty of this place as soon as you get there.

Where to stay?

We generally prefer staying in small boutique hotel type - so we were delighted to come across Villa Adora (previously Villa Istra) during our research. The hotel is positioned right next to the lake (you just need to cross the road) and provides unique views of the lake, the island and the mountain. It’s walking distance from the town and we felt it was super nice to be slightly further away to completely enjoy the peacefulness of the lake. The town is small so it can quickly get overcrowded. There is a super restaurant called Sova literally 100m away from the Villa. We booked the luxury king room which is super spacious with a great setup and lovely interior design. The bathroom has a bath and a super shower. You get french bath products L’Occitane. We loved the balcony with sun loungers and a table/chairs. Perfect to chill outside after a day of adventures. The breakfast buffet was very good with all you expect and we enjoyed being able to have eggs too. There is a car park which is quite handy as it can get busy in town… The owners are very friendly, we really felt at home. We recommend staying there if you come to Lake Bled. It’s worth mentioning that the Villa is next to the main road that goes around the lake and that people drives quite fast there… Book here

Villa Adora from west side of the lake with view of the Castle behind.

When to go?

It obviously depends what type of activities you want to enjoy (winter skiing vs swimming). Generally it seems to be better to go end of May to beginning of June or September to October so you can enjoy most of the activities (ie: Vintgar Gorge closes in winter) and avoid the crowd. The high season starts mid-June with many tourists visiting the place. Note that the water in Spring might not be warm enough for long swim although I bet it depends on the weather each year… Check weather forecast here.

We have been very lucky the weekend we went as it was mostly sunny except a bit of rain when we did rafting and on the Monday. I think we would not have enjoyed it so much without sun. That’s an important factor to take into account when booking your trip, the month matters since there is not much to do when it rains a lot unless you like hiking and rowing in the rain of course…

Now having said that we would love to come in winter and get to see the lake frozen and try the slope of Straža Bled ski area, which is only a few minutes’ walk from the centre of Bled.

What to do?

If you love nature and outdoor activities, you will really enjoy Lake Bled and its surroundings. We had not expected it to be such an active town and that was a brilliant surprise for us. We stayed for 3 nights (arrived on Friday late morning and left on Monday afternoon) and we managed to do quite a lot as well as enjoying a decent amount of relaxing time. The recommendations below are based on that duration, you can always fit more or less…

Walk around the lake - it’s approximately 6km and an absolutely stunning walk. You get to see the lake and it’s turquoise green colours from different angles, you can stop at a café on your route (there is one near the bottom of Bled Castle with a nice view and more quiet than in town). We enjoyed doing this as soon as we got there and got a good flavour of this idyllic place. The path is clearly signed and in places takes you over the water itself. The walk is super easy hugging the shore of the lake most of the time. You will spot the famous Pletna (traditional boats) and also loads of fish! One evening before heading to the restaurant for dinner we decided to do a run around the lake which was also super nice. You will actually see a lot of runners.

Hike to the scenic viewpoints - If you want some of the best views of the lake, you’ve got to climb up. Ojstrica and Osojnica are located at the west end of the lake off the paved path. We climbed Mala Osojnica first (and found Ojstrica on our way down). When you start from the lake you might feel like it’s quite high up, but it’s actually easily accessible and we didn’t feel the climb was particularly challenging (we are fit people) however if you are afraid of heights I would not recommend it. You get to walk a narrow dirt path through lots of bushes and trees, before heading onto a steep zig-zagged uphill climb, including ropes and a set of very steep stairs to the first lookout. Those stairs were a bit freaky! Once at the top of the stairs you are at the lower lookout point of Osojnica. From then on, you can continue following the painted tree markings to find the highest point of Osojnica trail. There is an annoying black metal wired fence which gets in the way of pictures but I guess it’s safer! Then we got a bit lost heading back to the lake… Luckily we met 2 nice ladies on our way who showed us the way to Ojstrica which is not as high but has no barriers or fence. I have to admit it is not very well signed throughout and we felt there might have been a recent storm that made the paths difficult to find (due to fallen trees). The hikes to these viewpoints are a must do on your trip to lake Bled. You can get perfect shots of the lake, the island, the castle and the mountains in the background, basically the view of lake Bled you see on most postcards.

Rafting down the crystal clear river Sava Dolinka with Funturist - we felt driving 2.5h to do rafting on the Soca river was a bit too much for us. So instead we decided to stay within Bled and enjoy rafting in the nearby river. We drove to Sobec camping our starting point and experienced a 2 hour rafting trip with some awesome guides who made the afternoon really fun. You get given wetsuit and life jacket and they drive you back to the starting point at the end of the rafting experience. On top of being a fun and exhilarating activity to do, you get to see some fantastic sceneries as well as swimming and body surf in crystal clear water (ok it was very cold 9° C but completely worth it). Don’t worry if you are travelling solo or in couple they will put you in groups of 4 or 6. Nice way to meet people too! You won’t be able to take a camera on board (you will probably lose it anyway!) but luckily the guides have cameras and will take some nice shots of you… Another tip for this activity is that if you wear an expensive ring and don’t want to remove it, make sure you keep the hand which has the ring on the inside of the boat to avoid potentially smacking it against a rock when paddling… or bring gloves!

Eat at the terrace of Bled Castle Restaurant - either a lunch or an early dinner. We have obviously put this into the « where to eat? » section but it was so good that we think it should also feature in « what to do? ». To reach the dramatic cliff-hanging castle along the shore (about 135 meters above the lake), we recommend you use your legs, climb the stairs up to the Castle rather than drive so you can get a feel how high it is but also because you have to deserve that food & wine 😝 The setting is spectacular and offers another beautiful view of Lake Bled and its island. If you are lucky enough with the weather, ask for a table right by the cliff. The food, wine and service were the best we experienced in Bled.

Vintgar Gorge - impossible to come to Bled and not walk through the Vintgar Gorge… It’s a magical experience!!! Carved by the Radovna River, it’s 1.5 kilometers long. It was discovered in 1891 by Mr. Jakob Žumer, mayor of Gorje, and Mr. Benedikt Lergetporer, a cartographer and photographer from Bled. In 1893 the gorge was equipped with wooden observation walkways and bridges (with great effort!!) and was opened to the public on August 26, 1893. It’s among the most important tourist sights in Slovenia 🇸🇮 and we understand why! You will be impressed by the beauty and mysterious character of this natural attraction 😍Some of the most impressive crystalline turquoise waters we’ve ever seen. The stream has created many erosive features such as pools and rapids which bring a variety of atmosphere and sounds during the walk. Towards the end of the gorge there is the 13 meter Šum waterfall which means noisy. There is obviously many photo opportunities. Note that the gorge is closed through winter and only opens mid-May. The parking is 5 Euros and the entrance 10 Euros per person. We don’t mind paying for visiting places knowing it will help restore the wooden walkways and preserve the place. We got there early morning around 9ish (it opens at 8am) and we really recommend arriving early before the crowds! If you go early morning, bring a jacket as it’s a bit more chilly in the Gorge. Since we were driving we went down the trail and walked back the same way to the car park however if you are walking to the Gorge from Bled (quite a long walk as it’s a 15min drive) you don’t have to walk back through the gorge again… I didn’t mind the walk back, an opportunity for more photos 😆 For all the geeks out there, drones are not allowed in the Vintgar Gorge - first time we saw that sign!

The 13m waterfall Šum at the end of the trail.

Vintgar Gorge, not to be missed in Bled.

Climb up Straža - for another view of the lake, you should take the fitness trail up to Straža. To get there from the lake, you need to head towards town and take a sharp turn to the car park of the hotel with the green ivy on the facade (I think it is called Jadran Hotel). There will be a sign on a post with « fitness trail ». A few meters away take another sharp right turn and you will be on the trail (you will know you missed the turn if you end up near Penzion Berc). Along the way you will find various exercise stations like monkey bars, balance beam, rope… Since we are into Spartan races, we really liked this trail to get some training in. Straža is where the ski activities happen in winter so you will find a chair lift and various ski slope markers on the side of the wide path. During the summer months, there is an awesome activities park Pustolovski in the wood a bit similar to Go Ape in the U.K - it was not opened when we went. Finally if you like a bit of speed and thrill there is a “toboganing” course (sledge) that looked quite good fun. There are plenty activities in this area which could be very good for a family with kids.
Don’t miss the panoramic picture frame on top of the chair lift!

View of Straža from the other side of the lake. You can see the sledge course and the ski chair lift. On the left hand side is the famous Grand Hotel Toplice.

Try the famous Bled cream cake 🍰 « Kremšnita » which is characterised by a delicate puff pastry atop layers of light vanilla cream and custard - it’s quite filling so best to have it during an afternoon coffee rather than as a dessert after a meal. Almost every café on its shores serves a slice of Kremšnita. But everyone will recommend you to sample it from the original source itself —the Park Hotel. They have been serving up Bled cream cake since 1953, shortly after the arrival of the renowned pastry chef Ištvan Lukačević following the Second World War. Read more about the cake here

Hire a wooden boat or a SUP - paddle in the middle of the lake, take a break (if you are on a SUP why not jumping in the water), enjoy the views, take some nice shots and relax. This is a brilliant and different way to explore the lake. Contrarily to some recommendations to visit the island on lake Bled, we felt it looked very touristy with loads of Pletna boats taking people there so we decided to miss it! It’s a matter of preference after all. From afar you can see the 90 stairs that leads to the church of the Assumption.

Where to eat?

We had pre-booked a few restaurants prior to our stay and we were not disappointed with our choices. We loved every meal we had and the most pleasant surprise for us was the Slovenian wines. We tried both white and red and wow they were pretty incredible. I guess they share a border with Italy so it should not come as a surprise… It’s a shame we don’t get more Slovenian wines here in London. We were told the production is too small for export and the bigger producers export more to the US and Asia.

The portions are quite big in Slovenia so bear this in mind when you order!

Panorama restaurant - despite some terrible reviews on TripAdvisor (which we had not checked prior going) we had lunch there on our first lunch. We sat by the nice terrace and we felt the service and food were good. We shared a local meat and cheese platter then both had a salad and an ice cream for dessert. We are picky and can’t say we were disappointed. In fact we truly enjoyed the simple food, the sunny terrace and the view of the lake… We had not booked, we just walked in but i can imagine it gets busy in the summer.

Penzion Berc also known as Finefood Berc - Our next favourite after Bled Castle restaurant. This restaurant is towards the top of town if you walk from the lake as if you were going towards the fitness trail. It has a chalet look with a lovely garden. We sat inside and it felt cosy and homely with a rustic interior decor. There was a pianist at the beginning of the evening which added a nice touch to the atmosphere. We went for the tasting menu. They select local ingredients that are typical of the season and the menu was made of local dishes only. It was extremely tasty from start to finish. The food was fine and nicely prepared with good attention to details. The wine list was also extensive with a great choice of Slovenian wines. We went for a wine called Epoca 2015 (cabernet sauvignon / merlot blend) which reminded us of Médoc wines. The service was excellent and we felt it was good value for money - Booking essential!

Sova - We loved it and went twice for dinner. It’s very close to the hotel we stayed at. We liked the cosy atmosphere at this restaurant. We were seated upstairs the first time in a lovely covered terrace with lake views and sunset behind the hills. The second times, we sat downstairs and it was ok but I felt it had a different vibe maybe because we were close to the kitchen and the bar. My recommendation would be to go upstairs. The food is really tasty there. Good varied choice on the menu. We tried lamb and fish and enjoyed both. The dessert are excellent with a new cake every day. The food is well presented however it’s worth mentioning we didn’t think it was at the same level as Penzion Berc or Bled Castle Restaurant in terms of finesse of the food and service. We enjoyed it nonetheless and we truly recommend you go on your trip to Lake Bled - Booking essential!

Bled castle restaurant - as mentioned in the “what to do?” section this is a must-visit restaurant. It was in fact our favourite in Lake Bled. We had a truly unique experience with a fantastic table on the terrace overlooking the lake, a superb cuisine (we both had tournedos rossini) and the wine recommendations were excellent. We loved the wine selection by the glass. There was some great options. Trust the waiters there they know their wines and are passionate about telling you more about Slovenian wines. We enjoyed chatting with our waiter. After our meal as they didn’t need the table straightaway, we stayed at our sunny table overlooking the lake and read. See typical menu here - Booking essential!

Public bar & vegan kitchen - Amazing vegan burgers. Super tasty for a meatless patty (and that’s from someone who loves her meat!). They also do amazing juices. This cheap eat works well for a quick lunch but we would not recommend for dinner. It lacks of charm and is located in a shopping centre that looks a bit dated.

Interesting facts:

The boat taking visitors to the island is called a Pletna. The Pletna boat is operated by the Pletna oarsman. This profession is very respected and cannot be performed just by anyone. The title of the Pletna oarsman was handed down from generation to generation.
The island in Lake Bled is the only natural island in Slovenia.
There is a belief that the church bell on the island grants a wish to whoever rings it.
The 99 stairs leading to the church on the island are often climbed by newlyweds as it is considered good luck for the groom to carry his bride up the stairs on their wedding day.
Bled Castle is known as the oldest castle in Slovenia. Its first written mention dates to 22nd May 1011, when Henry II, King of Germany, granted the land to Bishop Adelberon of Brixen.
Among the first visitors of Bled were probably the pilgrims, who came from various parts of Slovenia and were visiting the church on Bled island. Arnold Rikli was among the first people who noticed the healing effect of the natural environment in Bled. He has created baths, walking paths, hiking paths and housing. In the year 1895 he has built a wooden house and baths in Swiss style and a hospital with his own examination office. He turned Bled into a progressive health resort... Rikli Balance Hotel tries to keep this tradition.

Pletna boat - recognisable by the colourful top to protect from sun or rain.

Bled also known as the fairytale town has been a beautiful weekend trip for us and we hope you will enjoy it as much as we did. Don’t hesitate to contact us if you have some questions.

Thank you for reading!