Posted by In the north of Slovenia lies the famous Lake Bled. It is one of the most beautiful and warmest lakes in the Alps.
There is a famous island in the lake, the only island in Slovenia at all. The lake is not too big. A popular, easy hike leads around the lake.
Lake Bled in an idyllic landscape with the famous island
Most foreign guests in Bled come from German-speaking countries. You don’t have to speak Slovenian or English in Bled to be able to communicate. Many holidaymakers in the spa town of Bled belong to the older age groups, and quite a few are well-to-do. The town is situated directly on the lakeshore. There are several large, well-known luxury hotels.
Day trip to Bled: The town and the lake are extremely popular among tourists. There are many day trips by bus to Bled from various places. You can book these bus trips to Bled on Getyourguide
Book day trips in Slovenia onlineYou can book many great day trips within Slovenia by bus online. Many of these tickets are available on the well-knownwebsite Getyourguide.de. – Bus tours to the Postojna Caves: Click here – Tours to and from Lake Bled: Click here – Tours and bus trips Ljubljana: Click here |
Getting to Bled
Bus
As there is no railway station directly in Bled, it is often easier to travel from Ljubljana by bus. There are direct connections from the Slovenian capital Ljubljana to Bled every hour or so. The buses leave directly in front of Ljubljana’s main railway station. In Bled, the buses stop at the central bus station in the centre. Buses depart from Ljubljana on the hour, from Bled to Ljubljana on the half hour. The journey time is about 80 minutes. The fare is 6.30 euros for adults (one way).
There are also some interesting bus connections for tourists to the Triglav National Park, for example for hikers. Bled is not a bad base for hiking in Slovenia’s only national park. The administration of the national park is also in Bled. During the day, buses run hourly to the other well-known lake in the Bohinj Jezero (Wocheiner See) region, with stops for example in Bohinjska Bistrica and on the west side of Lake Bohinj in Bohinj Zlatorog.
There are good bus connections to Lesce and Radovljica, a town about 8 kilometres from Bled with about 15,000 inhabitants.
The information on this page refers to weekdays, on weekends and public holidays there are sometimes considerably fewer buses in Slovenia. At the bus station in Bled there is a large timetable on which the bus connections are clearly arranged according to destination.
Unfortunately, it is not so easy to get from Bled to Jesenice and Kranjska Gora by bus. It is best to take one of the frequent buses to Lesce and change there. There are also a few direct buses a day to Jesenice, but with a long diversions.
Opposite the central bus station in Bled is a good fast-food restaurant. Five huge cevapcici with salad, bread and 0.5 litres of Coke cost only €4.50 (as of 2019).
Day trip to Bled: The town and the lake are extremely popular among tourists. There are many day trips by bus to Bled from different places. You can book these bus trips to Bled on Getyourguide
Railway
The two stations of the Slovenian railway are 2 km to 5 km away from the city (different railway lines). The station Bled-Jezero is on the other side of Lake Bled from the town. From here, several trains leave daily for Jesenice, where you can change trains to Austria. In the other direction, the train runs through the Triglav National Park and the Soca Valley to Nova Gorica towards the Adriatic Sea, probably the most beautiful train route in Slovenia. To the other train station near Bled (name Lesce), there are about two buses per hour from the central bus station in Bled. The Austria-Jesenice-Ljubljana railway line runs here with frequent connections.
The lake is located in the southern Alps.
Book day trips in Slovenia onlineYou can book many great day trips within Slovenia by bus online. Many of these tickets are available on the well-known website Getyourguide – Bus tours to the Postojna Caves: Click here – Tours to and from Lake Bled: Click here – Tours and bus trips Ljubljana: Click here |
Around the lake
Lake Bled can be easily circumnavigated on foot (walking time 1.5 to 2 hours). There is a beautiful walking path around the body of water. One of the highlights of the walk is a detour to the castle, about 150 metres above the lake including a drawbridge worth seeing. There is a small museum and a restaurant in Bled Castle. If the way up to the “Blejski grad” is too arduous for you, there are of course buses and taxis from Bled to the medieval castle.
Another must-see is the former residence of the famous Yugoslavian head of state Tito on the shores of the lake. Today the villa is a hotel with a café. The huge murals are impressive. The former socialist propaganda is now a sight to see.
Bled Island
The beautiful island in the middle of the lake (size about 0.8 hectares)is the only island in the country! There are no islands on the Mediterranean or in other lakes in Slovenia. On the island con Bled, on a small hill, there is a nice church called St. Mary’s Church.
Boats with motors are not allowed on Lake Bled. Tourists have to be brought to the only island in Slovenia by muscle power. The driver uses two so-called standing oars. The boats are called pletna, the captain pletnar. One ferry has room for 20 passengers. The boats to Bled Island depart from various places, including the spa park and behind the casino right in the town of Bled.
In St. Mary’s Church on the island, every visitor is allowed to ring a bell. According to legend, all wishes that one thinks of at the moment of ringing the bell will come true (Bled Wishing Bell). However, the boats to the island only sail in summer. You cannot get to Bled Island in winter. The church is also called the Church of the Ascension or “Cerkev Marijinega vnebovzetja” in Slovenian. The island and the church are also very popular for weddings. According to a Slovenian custom, the groom must carry the bride up the 99 steps to the church. A trip to the island of Blejski otok is the highlight of a holiday in Bled for many tourists.
Bathing in Lake Bled
Lake Blejsko jezero (the Slovenian name of the lake) is one of the warmest lakes in the Alps. No wonder, the body of water is quite far south for the Alps and only 475 metres above sea level, which is not much for a mountain lake in the Alps. In summer, the water temperature is up to 25 degrees. The nicest place to swim is the beach directly under the castle. You can also find a place to swim on the other side in summer. In high season, however, it gets quite crowded at the short sections of the beach.
Accommodation Bled
In Bled and the surrounding area there are well over 100 hotels and pensions with over 5,000 beds in all price categories.
Cheap accommodation in Slovenia is available in hostels, which are more or less private youth hostels. They all have dormitories where you can book a bed. Some also have simple single rooms and double rooms. In a larger room with more than 10 beds, you sometimes pay less than 10 euros per night. Our recommendation among hostels in Bled is Castle Hostel 1004.
If you want your own room, you have to pay at least 30 euros in Bled in the low season. The cheapest accommodation is usually priavte room rentals with 3 to 10 rooms, which often call themselves B&B (Bed and Breakfast). B&B Mlinar Bled has very good reviews (central in Bled, clean, free wifi in the room).
An excellent 3-star hotel with about 100 rooms in Bled is Hotel Jelovica. It is close to the lake shore and has a wellness offer with swimming pool, beauty studio, sauna and more.
In the 4-star range, we would like to recommend the Best Western Premier Hotel Lovec in the centre of Bled. The hotel’s restaurant and bar have a good reputation. Indoor pool, sauna, massages and a whirlpool spoil the guests. The selection of beer and wine is huge.
Other
The length of Lake Bled is just over 2 kilometres, the width around 1.4 kilometres. Depth of Lake Bled: maximum 30 metres, area just under 1.5 km², height above sea level: 475 metres, circumference of lake about 6 kilometres.
There are several ski lifts and winter sports areas around Bled. Thus, the tourist resort is also well frequented in winter. The town of Bled has a good 5,000 inhabitants, but it seems somewhat larger. Bled is also a health resort with 5,000 hotel beds. Rheumatism and migraines, for example, are treated here. Prices in Bled are relatively high for Slovenia, especially the majority of hotels are not cheap, especially in summer.
Around Bled there are many leisure activities for tourists. Examples are rafting, rowing, ballooning or paragliding. White-water courses for beginners and advanced rafters in the nearby Soca Valley are particularly popular in summer.