Adventures At Lake Bled

IMG_1607Lake Bled is a small gem hidden in the Julian Alps with a beautiful lake to enjoy, and the most helpful people! We were up in the air of what to do in Slovenia with our 5 days. We thought about taking a day trip to Lake Bled from Ljubljana, or maybe spend 2 days in Ljubljana, and 3 days at the Lake. But after much thought and research, we decided on spending the entire time at Lake Bled, and no regrets. Other then we wish we had one more day to enjoy the lake.

Lake BledWe took the train from Graz, Austria where we had greatly enjoyed the best hike EVER! If you haven’t read the Mixnitz Blog, check it out. We came into the huge city of Ljubljana to catch the next local regional train to the lake, after some mass confusion we asked for which direction to head from an employee. We had encountered the most genuine people in Slovenia while we visited there.

Once we navigated our way to the correct platform, the train conductors highly suggested we get on the other train because it will arrive much quicker, again very nice and honest people. And indeed they were correct, we beat the train by 20  minutes! From the town of Bled to the lake consisted of a 7km walk through town, and then parallel to the road.

Once armed with some directions of our next adventure, we were getting ready to head off when just our luck knocked, we were offered a ride. 3rd nicest person already! A gentleman whom worked for the Scouts in the area offered us a ride from the train station down to Lake Bled! Amazing to meet just friendly and out going people. We took him up on the ride, and jumped in the van and headed down to Lake Bled. Dropped us off in the middle of a busy town of everyone enjoying the summer weather, we were just excited to see the lake and the mountains! And what a beauty is was.

IMG_1463For the next 5 days we did as much outdoor activities as possible! First full day we explored around the town, the local stores, restaurants, bars, what is located down by the lake. Best of all, we found the swimming hole which costed a few euros for an entrance fee, and also offered clean bathrooms, change rooms, lockers for our stuff we packed for the day. Our Bed & Breakfast was only a 8 minute walk away, but for us it was easier to keep everything with us for our day. Our swimming hole, as super deep, and consisted of 2 floating platforms. We basked in the sun as much as possible, while jumping in the mountain lake to cool off.

 

 

Lake Bled Rental Bikes

We discovered that the distance around the lake is only about 5 km, and we previously scoped out some bike rentals from the tourist office, they were the cheapest we could find. We picked out the bikes in the morning before all the rentals were gone, and headed around the lake.  The bikes did not take long to travel around the entire lake, so enjoy the ride. Stop along the way to enjoy the views, and check out the other areas of the lake. We found a free swimming area at the other then of the lake, with more restaurants and stores. A private swimming area for a local resort, and almost back around the lake, we located the summer tobogganing area. We also seen many people enjoy fishing, picnics and hikes along the way. Do watch out for the tourist train that travels around the lake

Lake Bled KayaksLake Bled is also well known for its recreational rowing across the lake. We did not see any competitions while we visited, but we did see many boats in the water. We did rent some kayaks to paddle to the island and back. It was too tempting always looking at it and never touching the island, and we did miss our kayaks back home.

We greatly enjoyed our time spent at the lake in the mountains! Reminds us so much of back home in Alberta. We next magical train ride was from here to Venice, Italy. Did you know that the trains do not cross the boards between each country. In fact you must take the train to the edge of the country, then walk across the board and jump on the next train! Read about that adventure HERE.

Thanks for reading our blog(s)!