The breathtakingly beautiful Lake Bled surrounded by snow-capped mountains of Julian Alps seems like a set of a fairy tale. It is a picturesque place with emerald green water and one medieval castle sitting high up on a rocky perch. In addition, there is this gothic church on a tiny island which enhances the magical feel of Lake Bled. It’s probably the most popular destination in Slovenia and rightly so – who does not like a fairy tale?

The tiny island is called Bled Island where Church of the Assumption is located. So you can either take a 15-minute gondola ride across costing 12 Euro. Or if you rather paddle on your own, rowing boats are available for rent too. One of the things to do while visiting the Church is to ring the bell and make a wish. I didn’t do any of these because I opted to visit Bled Castle and Vintgar Gorge instead.

Bled is essentially the lake area and everything around it and the town’s built-up areas are mostly in the eastern part of the lake. A walk around the shore area is calm and peaceful during non-peak season.

Bled Castle

Bled Castle (Blejski Grad) is perched high above and has a commanding view over Lake Bled. The castle adds a dramatic effect to the scenic surrounding. While it requires a short trek on a pathway to get on top, it’s worth the effort. That’s because the view from up here is simply magnificent! Now if only the weather that day was cooperative…

The castle is protected by the Romanesque wall and other fortifications like towers and ramparts. There are also café, chapel, and museum around the castle building.

Gostilna Pri Planincu

I had a splendid meal at Gostilna Pri Planincu after visiting the castle. The 100 over years old restaurant pub is well-known and serves traditional Slovenian cuisine. And I was recommended to try their homemade sausage – it’s all great and tasty!! Furthermore, the soup was equally good too.

Bled Cream Cake at Park Hotel

And finally, there’s this dessert called the Bled Cream Cake (Kremsnita). It’s said that the original recipe was created by the head pastry chef of Park Hotel in 1953. Hence, I suppose Park Hotel seems like the place to try the popular light and soft dessert. And yeah, it’s really nice especially the crispy crusts!!

Getting from Ljubljana to Lake Bled

This idyllic hideaway can be easily reached from Ljubljana. And according to my finding, it’s probably better to visit Bled via bus than the train. Since Bled bus station is situated in the town area while Bled-Lesce train station is located 4km southeast. Therefore, one will need to change to a half-hourly feeder bus connecting to the town after the train ride.

There are computer booths at Ljubljana bus stations where you can check the timetables of buses and ticket prices.

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What are your thoughts about Lake Bled? Leave a comment and share it with me.

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