Its thousand years of history Bled has always cultivated its traditions while created new ones. All year round the calendar of the town is full of cultural events and festivals. Since the 1960’s it has became increasingly popular resorts, so in Bled there are a lot of accomodation, restaurant, many recreational opportunities and vibrant nightlife are waiting for the visitors. The beauty of Bled’s surrounding has inspirated many musicians, photographers, artists and the town also boasts with an internationally renowned business school.
Considered as one of the most beautiful Alpine towns, the highlight of Bled is absolutely the thermal, medicinal lake and the mountains surroundings. The view of the town is picturesque, the air is extremely fresh, the range of recreational opportunities is almost endless. Bled is a perfect choice for relax, hiking and romance.
In the middle of Lake Bled lies a tiny island, the only island in Slovenia and one of the most beautiful spots of the country. Also an iconic part of the area is the Castle of Bled, sits on a cliff top, outstanding from scratch and look down to the surroundings for more than 1000 years. This fairytale-like spectacle inspires children’s imagination as well. The first document dating back to 1011, so officially this is the oldest castle in Slovenia. It seems that during the centuries it would have been expanded randomly, so its image is quite chaotic today but just gives a unique feeling for the town. In the castle there’s a lot to see. There’s a small but informative museum here, which introduces the history of the region for the visitors. Don’t miss the 16th century chapel, the wine cellar, herbal gallery and the rebuilt Gutenberg’s printing machine where we can see how a hard work to produce the souvenirs for tourists. It worths to timing the visit in lunchtime, because from the restaurant of the castle there’s a panoramic view over the lake, the mountains and the countryside.
The movement of the Bohinj glacier created the crystal clear Lake Bled. The 2120 m long and 1380 m wide lake was born in the last ice age, when the ice melted and the basin filled with water. The lake has no major tributaries, it’s fed by only a few streams. Thermal springs flowing from the northern part are gathered together into three pool at Toplice Grand Hotel, Hotel Park and Hotel Golf. In summer the temperature of the lake reaches 25-26 Celsius degrees, on winter it usually completely freezes. The lake is the most beautiful from its Western side, its gem is the Baroque style Church of Our Lady which stands on the island with its 55 m high belltower and dramatic mountains in the background. The 12th-century church was destroyed by an earthquake and lighting several times and heavily damaged during the centuries. Its current presence is from the 17th century, inside the fascinating altar and the frescoes remained from the earlier Gothic church are very remarkable. Traditional small wooden boats, “pletnas” carry the visitors to the island, where they can spend half an hour to discover the church. Locals say the trip to Bled can’t be complete without these distinctive boats, which origin is date back to the 16th century. Since then the building and special rowing technique of pletna is almost a science here and inherited through generations. Other typical means of transport for which the locals in Bled are very proud of is the horse-drawn carriage. This service is available for whole year and really worth to use it. From the rain and hot sun special umbrellas protect the tourists. There is nothing more romantic than wandering around the lake while travelling behind the coachman who wears traditional clothes with a ruby Gorenjska carnation on his coat.
One of Bled’s authentic attractions is the little bee house, where we can get a taste of the famous and healthy Bled honey and find out how to produce this natural sweet. An 1-2 hours trip can be done and wonder the richly decorated, hand-painted panels. A professional beekeeper guides groups of 20-30 people to the secrets of beekeeping and of course we can purchased the products. These many attractions can be crowned with the famous Bled cream cake, what we can buy anywhere in the town. It’s not a simple cake, the ‘kremsnita’ is one of Bled’s symbols for decades.
The mountains around the lake also attract people who don’t really adore hiking. It would be a mistake to leave Bled without spend at least only one day with hiking. The top of Straza can be reached with a light walk but we can choose the cable car too. Osojnica is probably the most reknowned part of Bled’s surroundings. Sure we have seen this view on many photos. A 45 mins long, steep trail takes to the first peak on 685 m and from here we can go all the way up to 756 m. To the East there are mountain ranges and the Gorenjska plateau. Bled is an ideal starting point for hikes. The most beautiful natural attractions of the are are Pokljuka and Vintgar where walking trails leads to. Most of the trails are available for hiking all year round.
