There was no question as to whether or not I would visit Lake Bled on my trip to Ljubljana. I had seen pictures of it in books years ago and of course with Instagram, seeing pictures of it are ubiquitous if you search for anything related to Slovenia and travel. It is a picturesque, small lake surrounded by trees and mountains. In the centre of that lake is a small island. On that small island is a small church. It sounds and looks like something out of a fairy tale. It makes a perfect day trip from Ljubljana.
Getting There
You can go by train or car, but I decided to go by bus. As much as I like trains, the bus was just more efficient and cheaper. There are multiple buses per day, however in the busy season it can get quite booked up, so I think it’s a good idea to book ahead of time. I went to the bus station in Ljubljana the day before my trip to Lake Bled. The bus station is directly in front of the train station. It’s a tiny building, easy to miss except for the fact that there are numerous buses parked outside. Inside, you can buy tickets with cards or cash and the schedule is well posted. It’s best to buy a round-trip journey and then when you are finished your exploration of Lake Bled you can just hop on another bus heading back to Ljubljana. They leave about every hour or so.
The journey is beautiful. I wasn’t able to get many good photos outside of the windows, but it was lovely to see the scenery going by. It became increasingly green and there were cows, villages, and mountains.
Once you get to the bus station in Lake Bled (another small unremarkable building) you really can’t go wrong; you just follow the hill down and eventually you will see the lake I don’t know how one could get lost.
And that’s what I did. I walked to the lake and turned right and walked around the lake in the direction of the castle island. It was just a lovely walk.
The Lake
On the way there are different spots where you can access boats to go to the island. You can get you can self-hire boats from one stop that I found for, I think, it was €20 and you can row yourself to the island and back, but I continued walking until I found someone who would row me across in one of the traditional boats called a pletna, used in Lake Bled for hundreds of years. I kept walking and came to the part of the lake where there was a boatman with pletna that went across at appointed times. I paid for a ticket. It wasn’t cheap, I believe it was €20 (cash only). While I waited for the next crossing, I went over to a cafe.
The Cake
Aside from the beautiful church on the little island in the middle of the beautiful lake, Lake Bled is famous for a particular dessert: a cream cake called kremna rezina or kremšnita. It doesn’t seem like something that I would ever order in my real life but it is a famous cake from a famous town in the middle of a charming country and I had time to kill of course I was going to have it. The cake has been designated by the Slovenian government as a protected dessert 0whatever that means) and there is a festival dedicated to it. So I ordered this cream cake. It was the size of my fist. It was good, but not really my cup of tea; I was happy to have tried it though. (I did not eat the whole thing.) I went back to the boatman, and we went across to the island.
Getting to the Island
Crossing Lake Bled to go to Bled Island was my favourite part about my visit. It was just so beautiful and I could really appreciate the water and the views. It really did seem magical. On the way, I chatted with a friendly couple from Belgium who were traveling around Europe with their dog. And with the boatman who was a fit and handsome maybe 65 year old. He stood on the end of the boat, rowing it with two oars as we crossed the lake.
The island itself is… fine. All there is on the island is a café, a souvenir shop, a small museum and a small church. The cafe in the souvenir shop I skipped, but I did buy a ticket for the small church. If you are reading this and you are planning on going, let me save you €8 now: the church is not worth visiting. If someone told me that, I probably would have gone anyway because I like to see things for myself, but if you’re short on cash, skip it. There is nothing remarkable about the church.
the church on Bled Island
The price of the church entrance also gives you admission to the small museum, which is above the cafe in souvenir shop. The museum is just a couple of rooms of paintings and maps and a few artifacts from Lake Bled. It is of moderate interest, but I would have been happy to have skipped it. The island is nice enough, but I only needed a short time there. The real treat is being on the shore and looking at the island.
Bled the Town and Returning to Ljubljana
I stopped and had a tasty lunch of apples, cheese, and honey on bread and coffee, after which I walked around the town a bit and caught some nice views of the streets and the mountains in the distance.
Bled town views
I caught the bus back to Ljubljana. It is a perfect day trip. I was back in Ljubljana early enough that it was still light outside and I could enjoy the late afternoon and evening back in the capital. The next day I would take the train to Zagreb and my Slovenian adventures were over.
(Just as a postscript, I do wish that I had had one extra day in Ljubljana because I would have done a day trip to the Postojna Cave, which looks like another great day trip option. I guess I’ll just have to return.)
Leave a Reply