<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\nAfter recovering from the cake, it was time to walk around the lake and get a little closer to the main attractions, Bled Island and Bled Castle.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Upon arriving at Bled Island you\u2019re faced with 99 steep steps which take you up to the baroque Church of the Assumption. The church doesn\u2019t have a wishing well but a wishing bell. My wish for all the other tourists at the lake to disappear did not come true. I should have asked for my money back.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
You can get to Bled Island by taking one of the cute little boats known as a pletna<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\nThe following morning I finally hit the jackpot and got to see the beautiful, peaceful lake at its best. 6am was the best time to experience the lake with only a few joggers and a couple of crazy swimmers out at that time of day.<\/p>\n\n\n
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<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\nOur hotel was about a two-minute walk from the water. Unfortunately, I had no idea that was the case and instead of turning right upon exiting the hotel I turned left and half an hour later found myself in the middle of nowhere completely lost. Of course, these things always work out for the best and we were able to enjoy a cheap and delicious lunch in what was probably the least touristy restaurant in all of Bled. From there we were pointed in the right direction by some friendly locals and 15 minutes later we were at Bled Castle overlooking the lake.<\/p>\n\n\n
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<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\nThe upper level of the castle is the perfect place to take in the spectacular views of Bled, the Julian Alps and of course the castle itself.<\/p>\n\n\n
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<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\nAlthough I got off to a bit of a rocky start to my visit to Bled, the scenery won me over in the end but the best of Slovenia was yet to come.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Vintgar Gorge<\/h3>\n\n\n\n Clear blue-green water, rapids, calm pools, high cliffs and waterfalls. That\u2019s what you\u2019ll find at Vintgar Gorge, 15 minutes drive from Lake Bled. I am a city girl and rarely make it out into the country but that might have to change if this is the kind of thing I\u2019ve been missing out on. The 3km round trip through the gorge was the highlight of my trip to Slovenia.<\/p>\n\n\n
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<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\nLake Bohinj<\/h3>\n\n\n\n I hadn\u2019t realised that Lake Bohinj was so close to Lake Bled and this would have been a much more relaxing location to base myself for a few days before exploring the region. Arriving first thing in the morning, there was virtually no one else around and this was the serene atmosphere I had been expecting at Lake Bled. I know it\u2019s a clich\u00e9 but the crystal clear water and snow-capped mountains really were breathtaking. I didn\u2019t want to leave.<\/p>\n\n\n
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<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\nLake Bohinj is Slovenia\u2019s largest glacial lake and is a popular weekend destination for those wanting to escape the city. You can visit on a day trip from Lake Bled or Ljubljana but I would strongly recommend staying there and enjoying some of the many outdoor activities on offer. Hiking, mountaineering, horseback riding and fishing are amongst the popular activities available in summer while you can go skiing, ice skating or tobogganing in winter.<\/p>\n\n\n
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<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\nSavica Waterfall<\/h3>\n\n\n\n Visiting Savica Waterfall at the end of summer meant only a small portion of the waterfall had water flowing. I wasn\u2019t disappointed though, the fresh air and energetic walk made it a great day out. Savica is only a 10-minute drive from Lake Bohinj so you could easily visit both in one day as I did but if you have the time and energy you could walk to the waterfall from Bohinj and make a day trip out of it.<\/p>\n\n\n
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<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\nPostojna Cave<\/h3>\n\n\n\n After having fallen in love with the Slovenian countryside at Vintgar, Savica and Bohinj, I couldn\u2019t wait to get to Postojna Cave, an underground world with large stalactites and weird amphibian creatures. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
My GPS wasn\u2019t cooperating and I didn\u2019t have one of those things known as a map so had to follow the signs along the way. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Of course, that was doomed to failure and after driving seemingly further and further away from civilisation we had to stop when the brakes on my car started to burn. I was not having any luck with the car but things looked up when a local came over and told us it was very common for the brakes to start to smell when driving down the mountain, especially if you are driving too fast (oops!). <\/p>\n\n\n\n
He invited us for lunch at his restaurant (which we just happened to stop in front of) and promptly forgot about the caves and enjoyed a delicious Slovenian village meal instead.<\/p>\n\n\n
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<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\nIt was only later that I realised Postojna Cave was 100km from where we were and the entire trip was a wild goose chase. Ah, the adventures of travelling without a map\/guidebook\/any clue what you\u2019re doing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Koper<\/h3>\n\n\n\n My trip to coastal town Koper was actually a day trip from Trieste. It\u2019s an inexpensive trip and worth it if you are looking for a place to relax for a few hours rather than to go sightseeing as there isn\u2019t much to see around the town. The little cafe at the Loggia is a great place to start before heading down to the waterfront area where you can swim or maybe just sit and read a book.<\/p>\n\n\n
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<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\nThe biggest regret of my trip? Not visiting Piran. Piran was originally high on my list of places to visit in Slovenia after Ljubljana and Lake Bled but after inadvertently being stuck in Trieste for 5 days we were behind schedule so continued on to Croatia instead. I know I will be back in Slovenia and I know visiting Piran will be the top priority on the next trip.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
After enjoying a fantastic week travelling through the Tirol region in Austria, I finally had to move on and headed south to Slovenia. In the last few years I\u2019ve become lazy about researching my travel destinations so for this trip my week-long itinerary was kind of sparse with only Slovenia\u2019s capital Ljubljana and the famous…<\/p>\n
Read More<\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2960,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"content-sidebar","footnotes":""},"categories":[171,48],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\n7 Days in Slovenia<\/title>\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n\t \n\t \n\t \n \n \n \n \n \n\t \n\t \n\t \n