In early October, my family visited Croatia for a week-long event hosted by our running group. To minimise my carbon footprint, I opted to travel by train between the UK and Croatia, which you can read about in this previous blog post. The journey back to England from Croatia was going to take multiple days, so I wanted to break it up with a stop in another location and Lake Bled seemed like the perfect place.
I was glad that my sister, Ashlynn, was able to join me for this leg of the journey. Although we'd spent a few days in Bled with our parents in 2013, I was eager to return to visit Vintgar Gorge, a 1.6-kilometre gorge located on the edge of Triglav National Park. Plus, we've changed a bit since our first visit to Lake Bled, over ten years ago!
Twelve hours after setting off from Split, Croatia, we arrived into Bled, the small town nestled on the shore of Lake Bled. We checked into Bled Hostel, where we'd be spending two nights. The hostel was very basic, but it was a good price and in a perfect location for exploring the local area. After a delicious dinner out, we bought tickets online for our visit to Vintgar Gorge the following morning (this last-minute purchase was only possible because it was off-season). We opted for an early timeslot, hoping we would get to see the gorge before it got too crowded. Exhausted from an early morning and a full day of travel, we went to bed soon after returning from dinner.
The following morning, we woke up at 6:45 and ate breakfast in the hostel kitchen, before quietly getting ready for the day. Luckily, Ashlynn thought to check the weather forecast before we left – we were surprised to see it was only 5°C outside, so we layered up. After a week in the warmth of the Croatian sunshine, it was a bit of a shock to see our breath in the cold morning air as we stepped out of the hostel and began our day.
Sunrise on the lakeside
After leaving the hostel, we walked down to the lakeside to catch a glimpse of the golden hour lighting. Mist rose lazily from the lake as Bled Castle was illuminated in the light of the rising sun. Across the lake, we could just make out the church located on a small island (I've found about ten different names for this church, but we'll go with the name used on the Bled tourism website: Church of the Mother of God on the Lake). As much as I would have liked to wait until the church was lit by the warm light, we didn't have time to linger – we had a bus to catch!
In the summer season, there is a free shuttle bus to Vintgar Gorge from downtown Bled, however, as we were visiting in the shoulder season, we were informed by the hostel receptionist that the shuttle would cost €10 per person each way. No, thank you. To save money, we caught a local bus to the nearby town of Podhom (which was only €1.30 each) and then walked the last kilometre to the gorge entrance. From the bus window, I was excited to spot a hot air balloon drifting past mountain peaks coated in the first snow of the season.
The walk from the bus stop to the gorge entrance was well marked as we passed through fields and a small village before the road dipped down towards the river.
Hiking in Vintgar Gorge
Our tickets were booked for the 8:40-9:00 entrance slot and we learnt that the digital turnstile wasn't going to let us in even a minute earlier! That was enough encouragement Ashlynn needed to get a cup of tea to warm her freezing hands. After scanning our tickets, we were handed hairnets and a pair of sexy orange helmets. We couldn't resist taking some silly selfies before setting off on the hike.
The dirt path followed the electric blue water before we reached the first of the wooden walkways crossing over the river. Like we'd hoped, the gorge was quiet and we didn't feel rushed as we stopped to admire the water crashing below us.
At one point, we spotted a huge group of people speeding along the walkways behind us. We were worried that, perhaps, the gorge was about to get very busy. But luckily it was just a tour group, rushing through the gorge with barely a moment to admire the incredible force of nature on display. Soon, the group had passed and the wooden walkways and dirt paths were quiet once again.
Cliffs climbed up above us, blocking the sun and leaving the gorge in the shade for most of our hike. These were perfect conditions for photography and I had a lot of fun shooting the fast-moving water using as slow a shutter speed as I could manage without a tripod.
While I spent time behind my camera, Ashlynn enjoyed recording the sounds of the rushing water on her microphone (check out her water-inspired DJ sets here).
We finished hiking along the gorge at 9:50, over an hour after we'd started the walk. Out from the walls of the gorge, the landscape opened up and we could see the snow-capped mountains again.
After returning our helmets, we crossed the bridge over a roaring waterfall, awed by the sight of a rainbow in the mist. We followed the path down to the viewpoint at the bottom of the Šum waterfall, the largest river waterfall in Slovenia.
There are normally two separate hiking routes back to the entrance of the gorge – the River of Trees trail and the King of Triglav trail. When we were visiting, however, the latter was closed, which made our choice of return route simple. As the dirt path climbed into the forest and the sound of the waterfall faded into the distance, I felt a slight sense of disappointment that we'd be leaving the dramatic river behind us.
Morning snack stop: Slovenian dumpling at Natour bar
Within a few minutes, the trail left the forest and we stumbled upon the Natour bar, where we ordered a local delicacy: a Slovenian štruklji (dumpling). We warmed up in the sun and enjoyed the panoramic view of the surrounding landscape as we enjoyed our fresh apple juice and blueberry dumpling, which was a texture unlike any we had experienced before!
From there, we continued on the forest path back to the entrance of Vintgar Gorge. By now, the sun had reached the river and the blue water sparkled as it rushed past us.
Out of the forest and back in the light of the afternoon sun, we heated up quickly. Although the walk between Lake Bled and Podham is recommended as a good way to get to the gorge, I was surprised to see that the route led us onto a cycle path on the main road between the two towns. The views, however, did not disappoint.
I enjoyed the different textures of some of the houses we walked past once we got to the edge of the town.
Hiking around Lake Bled
After arriving at the hostel, we grabbed our lunch fixings and walked back out to the lakeside for a picnic. This was followed by a quick nap at the hostel, before we headed back out. We briefly debated cycling around the lake, but decided to save money and walk instead. As we set off from town, the church on the island was just visible in the distance, shaded by the clouds above us. From the edge of Bled, it was difficult to even see that the church was on an island – it blended in so well with the hillside behind it!
The first stretch of the walk was elevated above the water's edge. After rounding the top of the lake, the sidewalk followed the the road. I wasn't paying much attention to my map, so we missed the turn off for the official trail leading up to the Mala Osojnica viewpoint. Instead, we followed Komoot onto an alternative route. After entering the forest, we struggled at first to find the trail and once we were finally on an obvious trail, it became very steep. By the end, we were practically scrambling up a rock face to get to the viewpoint – definitely one of the more sketchy hikes I've done...
When we finally reached the viewpoint at 685 metres elevation, however, the sweaty hike was worth it. The views out over the lake were impressive and I was overjoyed at the incredible lighting conditions. The whole time we had been hiking around the lake, the island had been shaded by clouds, and now, it was one of the few things touched by the sunlight. I couldn't have asked for more dramatic lighting.
After admiring the view, we got some pictures together and then began making our way back down to the lakeshore, following the more "official" path, which involved descending this steep metal staircase.
The lighting remained spectacular as we continued our walk along the edge of the lake, admiring the autumn colours that were beginning to emerge. We debated stopping for a swim, but never found a suitable location – there are only a handful of designated swimming spots on Lake Bled and we accidentally walked past them all without ever getting in the water!
Evening snack stop: Bled cream cake
As we approached Bled, it was too early for dinner, so we stopped at a restaurant overlooking the lake to watch sunset and – more importantly – to try a slice of the local Bled cream cake, which was messy but delicious. Dessert before dinner feels like such a holiday luxury!
Later that evening, as we ate dinner, we agreed that we’d visited Lake Bled at the perfect time. We’d been warned that the area gets ridiculously busy with tourists over the summer, but it had been fairly quiet during our visit. We also agreed that we'd ticked off most of what there was to see in Bled. The town itself is very small, so if I go back, it will be to do more of the outdoor activities in the area – white water rafting, cycling, or ziplining, perhaps! We were also happy with how we had scheduled the day: visiting the gorge in the morning meant we got to see it while it was quiet and we had perfect afternoon lighting for the second half of our walk around the lake. We only had one full day in Bled, but we certainly made the most of it!
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