Lake Bled and Vintgar Gorge

Hi all,

We’ve had another big but amazing day! We picked our hire car up at 7.30am and headed straight for Lake Bled. We wanted to come here on our 2010/2011 trip, but due to it being winter for that one we had said we would just have to hope we could come in the future. 

The drive was pretty cruisy, and then we drove to the Zaka end of the lake. This end of the lake is full of nature and nowhere near as populated/touristy. There are no hotels or anything and it’s simply beautiful. The weather forecast had promised a top of 26, but at this point it was cloudy and cool and we looked pretty silly in our shorts and singlets. 

We parked our car and then headed towards a hike to a viewpoint I had found online to a hill called Ojstrica. As with most signage at the lake, some parts of the path were really well signed, and other times we felt a little lost. But after about 15-20 minutes up a rocky path, we made it. Because we had come so early we were rewarded by having the place to ourselves for 10 minutes. We sat on the bench and took it all in - Slovenia’s only island in the middle of the lake with a beautiful church (even with scaffolding!), Bled Castle perched up on a cliff top and the dramatic surrounding mountains. It was a bit cloudy but if anything, it added to the beauty. The view was AMAZING. Already at this point I knew today would be what we coined in Africa as a “remember forever” day. 

After our descent, we started following the path around the outside of the lake. This track is 6km along and has a trail the entire way around. The lake itself is 2120m long and 1380m wide. People were rowing boats out to the island by this point, but we decided to admire it from afar (20 mozzie bites + rowing = ouch). 

We passed the Slovenian Rowing Federation headquarters and saw a poster about Slovenia winning gold in the rowing in Sydney 2000. We continued around the lake and ascended the many steps up to Bled Castle. 

There has been a castle recorded on this site since 1011, and it sits atop a 125m high cliff. The views are stunning, but our appetites were calling most of all. We headed straight to the cafe and ordered Bled’s famous Kremšnita (cream cake). This was much like vanilla slice, but with two separate layers inside the fluffy pastry, cream and custard. Oh my god. Most people around us were sharing one, Mum and I had one each and decided to make it our lunch! The view was beautiful, the food was delicious and it was a fantastic moment overall. 

There wasn’t much information about who actually lived in the castle, but as far as I could gather noble families who purchased it did. Many renovations took place throughout the centuries due to earthquakes etc. After the Second World War, the castle was looted. 

At the castle we enjoyed lovely views, a small chapel, a small museum about archaeological digs in the area, a printing press displaying the first book printed in Slovene, a honey shop, ramparts and a small exhibition about a Swiss man named Arnold Rikli. Arnold fell ill and in 1854 decided to move to Bled because he believed the benefits of fresh air, fresh water and sunshine could heal illness. Once he was in good health again, he started a sort of health retreat in Bled which kickstarted tourism in the area. In 1903, he didn’t like how popular Bled was becoming so left the area. In 1941, the Germans arrived during the war and tourism came to an abrupt halt. Nowadays, Lake Bled sees a huge amount of people each year. Slovenia’s tourism figures have hit record highs four years in a row now.

We then walked towards the town of Bled. Too busy and touristy for our liking, so we continued our lap of the lake. It was then we saw a summer adventure park with a huge tobogganing track down the side of a hill. We eagerly paid our €9 each and got the chairlift up. At this point, the sun had decided to make an appearance! And if we thought the lake was stunning before, it was even more emerald and magnificent now. The toboggan was steep, fast and so much fun!! Heaps better than the one at home that they’ve now slowed down. 

By the time we got back to our car, it was quite hot. We are finding that unlike home where the hottest part of the day is 2pm ish, it seems to be about 4pm here. The weather forecast was finally correct and we looked very smart in our shorts and singlets!!

We got in the car to leave, but I had a “will I regret this?” moment and decided to hike back up to the viewpoint while mum relaxed on the lakeside beach. It was so sunny and beautiful, but lots of people were up there. So I got the best of both worlds. 

Next we drove to Vintgar Gorge, a 1.6km gorge carved by the Radovna River. We didn’t really have any expectations here and we were in for a lovely surprise! The water was beautiful and the boardwalks allowed you to experience it up close. There was a waterfall right at the end as well. 

We drove back to Ljubljana and gave the car back to the hire car company. My friend Keira had told us of a Friday night outdoor food market here, but our information told us it closed at 6. We decided to have a quick look in case it was open anyway, and we were in luck! It was bustling, sunny and lovely. We shared some pad Thai and a sort of pizza bread loaded with ingredients. We also had some more delicious wine and beer. What I thought was really cool here was that they had someone helping you sort out your rubbish into paper, plastic etc to help recycling. We need this at home!

We are both absolutely wrecked now. It’s 8pm and I have done 32,000 steps today. I think I’ve “only” sustained three more bites today too - ha!

Nothing a shower and a sleep in tomorrow can’t fix. 

Love to all
Claire
Xoxox