Mon 8th – Thur 11th June
Accommodation: Villa Pavloski booked through Booking.com.
Mon 8th June
It was perfect weather for our drive across to Lake Bled and we punctuated the short trip (1 hr) with stops at Kranj and Kropa along the way.
Kranj is the fourth-largest town in Slovenia and the first to be acknowledged as a European Destination of Excellence in 2023 by the European Commission but we didn’t get much of a flavour of this given it was a Monday and almost everything was closed. It was a very scenic journey though as the landscape had changed rather quickly to be more alpine in nature. Kropa was a picturesque stop too, being a town with a strong history in iron forging, but just for 20 minutes or so as nothing of interest was open here either. The scenery along the way was spectacular though and held our interest for the entire journey.
It was 2 pm by the time we arrived in Lake Bled and we easily found our apartment and were well pleased to discover it to be so large and comfortable for our 4 night stay. We wasted little time however as we headed straight back out to source information on hiring bikes for our planned cycle tomorrow around Lake Bled. We then spent a couple of hours taking one of the traditional Pletna boat trips out on Lake Bled (Slovene: Blejsko jezero) which was most pleasant and a great way to take in all the beauty of the surrounding area on this magnificent sunny afternoon.
It was almost 6 pm by the time we got back to shore and we had one drink at a lakeside bar before heading for an early dinner at Spica which was excellent.
Tue 9th June
Rain was forecast for tomorrow but thankfully it was fine and only partly cloudy for our first morning in Lake Bled. The boys had an early ride and Coll and I had a short walk but we wanted to save our energy for the cycle around the lake.
Our cycle around Lake Bled turned out to be quite an adventure. When we asked the bike hire girl how the route would be for two novices she replied ‘easy’. It was never going to be that! Half of the loop necessitated riding along the road and proved to be quite scary for myself and Coll given the rapid was narrow and winding and there were lots of large tourist coaches and trucks. Rather intimidating for us novices! We are both glad we did (aka: survived) it but this certainly isn’t something I’d recommend if you’re not a regular road cyclist. We made two stops along the route, one to climb 25 minutes, almost vertically, to get a view over Lake Bled and the other was for a drinks break. We’d hired the bikes for 4 hours but returned after them after 3 as the navigating around people and traffic was just too much for us beginners.
Our afternoon was spent resting (recovering for me and Coll) and our next outing wasn’t until after 4 pm when we headed off for another steep climb but only up to Bled Castle. The climb was steep but it was a much better finished and shorter path being only 15 minutes for the uphill journey. We’d had our share of castles so didn’t go inside and there wasn’t much of a view point from outside the castle so we ambled back downhill with a stop at St Martin’s church before heading for aperitivo and then a night of dining at home. We’d walked over 10 km today and done around 6 km on the bike so we were all pretty tired.
We have a trip to Vintar Gorge booked for tomorrow afternoon but rain is forecast for the entire day so we’re hoping they’re incorrect!
Wed 10th June
We woke to thunder and lightning this morning which was a new experience for us here in Lake Bled. Mark and I made use of the large umbrellas provided by our host and set out for a walk anyway. Our only scheduled activity for the day was a 4 pm tour of Vintar Gorge so we hoped the weather might clear up a bit before then.
It ended up being a slow morning for us, given the weather, so Mark and I used the time to do a bit of fine-tuning for the itinerary of our next stop in Ortisei. This involved some checking of driving routes, cable car routes and planning walking trails. We did all pop downstairs to the cafe below our apartment, Art Cafe, to try the traditional Bled cream cake, Blejska kremšnita, which was nice enough but nothing to rave about. We get the feeling that the 3 rental apartments are being run by the two daughters, the cafe by their mum and the jewellery shop by their dad making the whole building a family affair.
It was near 3 pm by the time we ventured out again and we had a short walk up to catch the shuttle bus that took us to Vintar Gorge for our 4 pm guided walk.
Vintgar Gorge had been sculpted by glaciers but remained unexplored and inaccessible until 1891 when a particularly dry season enabled access to the area. Our guide walk took us along the gorge but, imho, Cataract Gorge in Tassie was just as impressive and a visit there came without all the restrictions. Our guide, Zana, took us through the Gorge and offered the bare minimum of information along the way. I started to wonder whether we would have been better taking the audio guide option. There were three segments to this tour and Zana left us after the second segment. That meant we had the half hour walk back to base station on our own. This seemed rather odd and, for people who were so concerned about occupational health and safety at the outset, leaving clients to find their way back for the last half hour seemed rather weird. Later at dinner, we discussed whether this tour would be an activity you would say that people visiting Bled must do. I would argue no. The others thought yes. So let’s just leave it at that.
We got back to town near 7 pm and headed back to restaurant Spica for another delicious meal before making our way home for our last evening.
We had all enjoyed our time in Lake Bled and would highly recommend a visit as the scenery in the region is quite spectacular. Our accommodation was good too and in a great location and I would highly recommend one of the three available apartments; depending on your group size. We depart Lake Bled tomorrow morning and make our way back across to Italy and Ortisei in the Dolomites.
