Bled is a small lake town in Slovenia, in 50 km northwest distance from capital Ljubljana. It is a part of Grad which means Castle in Slovenian and yes there is also a castle here 🙂 This place is famous for its beautiful lake and the island with a church on it in the middle of the lake. It is getting popular by the day and I stumbled upon it after researching where to go in Slovenia and it became one of the places that I’m very glad I went to! I recommend Bled and the Bled Lake visit to especially those of you who are looking for a romantic weekend escape.
Bled is usually visited as a day trip but I think one day stay would be more fun. Because then you can enjoy the beauty of the lake and views without daily tourists. There is a bus from Ljubljana every hour, and there is also train. But bus seems to be more practical as you can get in and get off closer to the town center 6.3 euro (2017). Roads are good if you want to rent a car and came here yourself. And of course there are lots of daily tour organizers you can also join.
Slovenia has an amazing nature and Bled is also no different. Bled has many outdoor sports oppourtunities especially if you come in spring or summer time. Activities are not only limited to hiking, trekking but from rafting to paragliding etc. But winter time has its charms too.
Bled Lake has really breath taking views from all points and it is not that big so even if you walk around all of the lake, It would take you approximately 2 hours. Actually maybe even less but you would want to stop every where and take photos so I included photo time too 😀
Of course aside from walking around Bled Lake , going to the island in the Bled Lake and going to the Bled Castle are other major activities to do here.
So here comes the most asked questions about these 🙂
How to go to Bled Lake Island? / What are the options to go to Bled Lake Island?
Well you have couple of options. If you are like a group (or team up with other tourists), cheapest option is renting a boat. Granted you are supposed to row then but it is cheaper and you can go at your pace and enjoy within your small group. You will see lots of couples doing this, so if you are travelling alone and single at the moment, there might be too much love in the air :p
Other options would be taking a motor boat or a rowing boat to get to the Bled Lake Island. Motor boat is 11 euro, rowing boat is 14 euro. (round trip prices 2017). In these options boat is full with other tourists like a public transport. And they wait about 40 minutes on the island which is plenty of time for you to see the Bled Lake Island. I was travelling alone and I chosed to take a rowing boat. I get on from the farthest point to the Bled Lake Island so I spend more time on the Bled Lake :p It took about 20 minutes one way to reach the Island and it was a nice pace to see things from Bled Lake.
The Bled Lake Island has a church on it, as well as a café and souvenir shops. If you want to get inside the church tickets are 8 euro. I was told well there is nothing special about the inside of the church, if you want to see a church go to the one in the main land (in town center). So I skipped getting into it :p Please do tell me what did I miss if you go inside it!
The Bled Lake Island is very small, so if you do not sit at the café even 40 minutes can be long. The real charm is seeing this island from high perspective. Actually, I think those golden Instagram shots kind of made this place even more famous 🙂
Speaking of:
Where do I take a picture of Bled Lake Island best?/ Best Place to take photo of the Bled Lake Island?
You have to climb up a bit for the money shot folks! It is not for everyone so I only recommend the best view place to those of you who are accustomed to hiking. Especially last 65-70 meters can be really challenging for beginners. Ojstrica view point is one of the places you can get a great shot of the Bled Lake Island. But I repeat, if you don’t have proper hiking shoes and not sure you can handle hiking with steep steps don’t push it there are other alternatives.
Other easier alternative would be view from Bled Castle. Of course then the castle itself is not in the picture but oh well still pretty enough 🙂 Getting to the Bled Castle is also not without a bit of work out. But at least you have a clear path with steps. It is also illuminated in the evening so you can also go there at night. Getting into the Bled Castle is 10 euro. I was also told that well except from view there is not much but this time I went in anyway and glad I did!
First of all, view from the Bled Castle is really really good. And if you can’t hike, this is the only convenient spot for you to take a good shot of the Bled Lake Island from top. Plus there were couple of nice attraction/shops inside the Castle. There is this wine cellar for example, in which you can actually fill and seal your own wine bottle! And get a certificate for it! It can be an interesting memory for wine lovers.
And there is also a café and a restaurant too along with other souvenir shops.
By the way speaking of cafes and restaurants, you will see many cafes along with the Bled Lake. I haven’t tried it all but as you can imagine having a nice view is good enough already 🙂 But my favorite became Cafe Pelezn . It is actually not exactly on the corner of the Bled Lake but I still liked it because of the amazingly sweet interior décor. I just enjoyed some coffee here but I noticed from the menu that you can also come for breakfast here. (I just bought some bakery from the pekerna across bus station and coffee from the place next to it and eat it while walking across the Bled Lake, which was also not bad at all :))
Aside from walking aroung the Bled Lake, visiting the island on the lake, and visiting the Bled Castle, if you are staying in Bled, you might also want to check out nearby Triglav National Park. I didn’t had chance to and season was not that suitable for many outdoor activities but if it is your think , I leave the link above 🙂
So that would be the end of Bled Lake daily tours but before i end one important point:
What to eat in Bled?
There is a famous cake from these Bled area, it is called Bled Cream Cake.
You can find it in almost every café/restaurant here. It is basically lots of cream between milfoy doughs. I tried it in couple of place and I can’t really say this one was much better than the others but I liked tasting it inside the Bled Castle with the top view of the Town 🙂
So that was my visit and notes for the Bled and the Bled Lake. As usual please let me know if you have any questions or additional comments!
