After a fantastic week in Slovenia, how could I not share it with you all over here on the blog. 

We spent 4 nights in an Airbnb in Bled, and 3 nights in an Airbnb apartment in Ljubljana. And, with the help of hiring a car (I know, how grown up!), we covered a lot of ground during our trip away. 

I had a full itinerary list that continued to grow and grow in the lead up to the holiday, so I had to accept before we even got on the plane that we weren’t going to be able to do it all. At least on the flipside, I knew that we had A LOT of exciting things coming up! 

So rather than a full blown extended novel about our entire trip, I thought I’d break it down into a few blog posts and start with things to do in Bled:

Things to do in Bled

Walk Lake Bled

Duh! You can’t miss it when you’re in Bled. 

Lake Bled is a BEAUTiful lake with fantastic views the entire way around the 6km walk. We really tried to take it all in, with multiple trips around it throughout our stay here.

It’s a really peaceful walk along a partially wooded footpath where you can get epic views of Bled Island.

The water was so clear that we could even see the fish!

You’re missing out if you don’t walk the whole way around: each corner unfolds something new, it’s deffo worth taking the time to do it all.

The first morning, we got up early ish (early for a holiday, but no surprises; I was too excited to stay in bed any longer) and did the full loop with a few swim stops, a drink and look around the castle on the way around.

Swim in Lake Bled

A huge influence into booking this holiday and choosing Slovenia, was for the swimming opportunities and oh boy let me tell you, they did not disappoint!!

There are a few places in the lake that you can swim, 3 are paid and 2 are free (Mala Zaka and Velika Zaka) on the west side of the lake (the far side from central Bled) but are so worth the walk – it took us about 40 mins from our accommodation.

We assumed that the swimming locations were limited to certain areas to preserve the ecology and also make it safer with the amount of boats going to and thro from the island all day. From a quick google, it’s not totally clear as to why, although one website mentioned perhaps due to undercurrents and hazards under the surface in some areas. The locations that are safe for swimming are clearly signposted.

Even though we went in early September, the water temperature averaged around at a lovely18 degrees which was a lot warmer than I was expecting considering its depth and location near the mountains.

Our favourite spot was Mala Zaka and we made sure to return here a few times throughout our stay. 

Bled Castle 

Arguably a little pricey at €15 per person for the size of the castle, however the views across Bled that you can get from here were worth every cent.

We walked to Bled Castle as a detour on our trip around the whole lake so we had to head up a pretty hefty and steep hill to get here… meaning we were very ready for a drink at the cafe which was situated perfectly for a wine with a view.

It was interesting to learn the geology of the land, and how Lake Bled was formed from a glacier in some of the exhibits in the castle. 

Straža Toboggan

The summer toboggan run here was so so so much fun. It certainly kept our inner child happy. 

We only had one go, so we tried to take in most of this views at the top so that we could speed down the run. 

So much fun… even though I was a little scared of the chairlift.

Try the Bled Cream Cake 

We had a couple of meals out in Bled and in every place the food was amazing, but the most memorable food for me has to be the Bled Cream Cake.

As a vegetarian it can sometimes be quite hard to eat traditional food so I was excited to try the Bled Cream Cake dessert.

It’s most comparable to a custard slice, but 100 times better. 

We enjoyed our Cream Cake at Kavanna cafe, “the home of the original Cream Cake”, with an evening cocktail (well, a beer in Will’s case) as we looked out over Lake Bled and saw the Castle illuminated.

Other food places we tried in Bled (and that I would recommend) were: 

We loved being based in Bled as it was a fab place for a walk, swim, get food and drinks, and it just had a great vibe every time we got back from our day trips. 

If you don’t get the chance to stay overnight in Bled if you’re away in Slovenia, I would say to deffo make sure that you plan in a day trip here and squeeze in as much of this list as much as possible!

We did manage to do the whole lake walk, 2 swims, the castle, and toboggan in one day so it is doable… just a rather active day! 

Thanks for reading.

I can’t wait to share what else we got up to on our trip (including Vintgar Gorge, Pericnik Waterfall, Vogel cable car, Lake Bohinj, and 3 nights in Ljubljana).