Lake Bled is beautiful, quiet, relaxed, stunning and quite possibly one of the prettiest places I’ve seen.
Lake Bled.
Don’t get me wrong, I love big cities. I feel at home in them, I like the grime, the noise, the mayhem, the arts, culture and history. But, sometimes Europe can feel like one big city after another. They are wonderful places, but they need to be broken up so they can be fully appreciated. So when I saw the opportunity to visit Lake Bled, I took it. And I am so glad I did. The place looks like it should be a piece of art, a post card and a tourism dream. It is so beautiful.
Bled from above.
Arriving in Bled on a sunny afternoon was the perfect way to see it. The sun glistened on the water and the almost-cloudless sky framed the cliff-top castle beautifully; It was pretty as a picture. Have you ever taken a picture of something and thought “no, that doesn’t capture it at all! It’s much prettier/bigger/more interesting than that!”? Well, I don’t think I got any photos that will do Bled justice. You’ll see them in this post and on my Slovenia page, but I really am unsure if I was able to show just how beautiful the place is.
Bled Castle and the Julian Alps.
Activities in Bled are outdoorsy, so I aimed to do as many walks, boat rides and hikes as I could cram in. I began by riding a chairlift up to a glorious viewpoint of the lake. Here idiot tourists like me get a shot of them jumping high in the air over Bled. But how to get down? Here there is a crazy luge track with twists, turns and drops to navigate. Kids streak through the course with impressive speed and old ladies ride the break all the way down. I found that my ride to the bottom was somewhere in between. This was super fun and I certainly let out a few little squeals on the crazy corners and quick drops. I also took the time to walk around the lake (about 8 ks) and watch some local rowers competing for a spot on the Slovenian Olympic team. Besides my hectic trip down the side of the mountain, there is no rushing in Bled. The walk around the lake could be more accurately defined as a stroll and even the stand-up paddle-boarders in the lake seemed to be taking it easy. Sitting on the banks with your feet in the water watching the friendly swans (in white of course), eating cakes in small cafes. Europe is a crowded place. There are people and travellers, tourists and holiday-makers everywhere. It makes sense, there is so much to see and do here. For some reason, not too many people were in Bled while I was. I’m not sure if that is a symptom of shoulder-season or the fact that this little gem is a secret of Europe, either way, escaping the crowds, the lining up and managing to get some photos without a million strangers in them was refreshing!
Chairlift up, luge down.
I also took the time to visit some sights around the town. In the grand tradition of devotion in Europe, the church is on a remote island in the middle of the lake called Pletna. You can pay a few Euro to a captain who will row you out in his noble vessel (mine was called Sonja). From here you can climb up to the church and its tower and wander around the gardens. The legend tells of a woman who cast the golden bells of the church tower to honour her dead husband. People come to the island today to pray to St. Mary, take selfies from the viewpoint and to eat cake from the cafe.
Pletna Island.
Speaking of cake, this entry would not be complete without talking about my favourite part of Bled. Cream cakes. Kremna Rezina. Not quite a vanilla slice, not quite a custard tart, but all delicious. These are a speciality specific to the area of Bled. They are available in most cafes in town, I went to two (purely for comparison, of course). One who claimed to have the original recipe from the 1950s and another who made no bold claims, but matched the original in creaminess and pastry flakiness. I think by now you all know I love food and have a bit of a sweet tooth, but even I found these a bit rich. I would have been happy with one half the size, but those generous Slovenians wouldn’t have it any other way. So of course I had to finish.
I love you, Bled Cake.
My escape to Bled was so relaxing. I adored the vistas of Bled’s lake, I enjoyed my strolls around the lake’s edge and of course, as expected I loved stuffing myself with delicious Cream Cakes. All in relative peace.
Ali's adventure 