Bled: what to see, where to stay and how to get around
Lake Bled is a small glacial lake under the Julian Alps, with a castle on a cliff above it and the only natural island in Slovenia in the middle. The path around it is six kilometres, flat, and passes everything. About two hours with the boat to the island; early morning, when mist lies on the water, is the best.
A short history of Bled
Bled is first mentioned in 1004, when Emperor Henry II granted the area to the Bishop of Brixen. The castle on the cliff above the lake is one of the oldest in Slovenia. On the small island in the middle of the lake stands a church, reached by traditional wooden boats. In 1855 the Swiss physician Arnold Rikli opened a treatment centre here based on air and water, and the town became a resort for Austrian aristocrats. After the Second World War a villa by the lake was Tito's summer residence.
The ten best sights in Bled
1Bled CastleA castle on a cliff over the lake, first recorded in 1011
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2Bled Island
The church on the only island in Slovenia; by pletna boat
3St Martin’s ChurchThe neo-Gothic parish church by the lake
4Spa ParkThe lakeside park of the old resort
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5Vila Bled
Tito’s summer residence, now a hotel
6OjstricaThe classic viewpoint over island and castle; a steep 20 minutes
7Mala OsojnicaA higher viewpoint up ladders and steps
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8Straža
A small hill with a summer toboggan
9Vintgar GorgeBoardwalks through a green gorge; buy tickets ahead
10Prešeren’s birthplaceThe village of the national poet at Vrba
Scan with your phone camera to open the map there
What is an audio walk?
Tours in Bled →A guide in your headphones: open the walk on our site, walk from stop to stop, and at each one your phone tells its story. No guide, no group, and free. This is the first walk in Bled:
Free walking tours in Bled
Around the lake
Lake Bled is a small glacial lake under the Julian Alps, with a castle on a cliff above it and the only natural island in Slovenia in the middle. The path around it is six kilometres, flat, and passes everything. About two hours with the boat to the island; early morning, when mist lies on the water, is the best.
- Spa Park · Bled became a resort in 1855, when a Swiss healer, Arnold Rikli, opened a cure here based on air and sun — his patients walked barefoot in the morning dew and took naked sun baths on wooden terraces, to the horror of the locals. The aristocrats of Vienna followed.
- Hotel Park · In 1953 the pastry chef of this hotel created the kremšnita, a square of vanilla cream and whipped cream between layers of puff pastry. The hotel says it has sold more than fifteen million of them, and every café by the lake makes its own.
- Mlino · Motorboats are banned on the lake, and the way to the island is the pletna, a wooden boat with a striped awning rowed standing up from the stern. The right to row it was granted to about twenty families of this village by the Empress Maria Theresa in the eighteenth century, and passes from father to son.
- Bled Island · Ninety-nine stone steps lead up from the landing to the church of the Assumption, and by tradition a groom carries his bride up all of them on their wedding day. Inside, visitors pull the rope of the wishing bell; the legend says a widow had it cast for her drowned husband, and it sank in a storm, so the pope sent another.
- Vila Bled · The royal villa of the Yugoslav kings was rebuilt by Tito after the war as his summer residence, where he received world leaders. It is now a hotel, and its terrace on the lake is open to anyone for coffee.
- Bled Castle · In 1011 the German emperor Henry II gave the land of Bled to the bishops of Brixen, and the castle is first recorded then, making it one of the oldest in Slovenia. It stands on a cliff a hundred and thirty metres above the water, with a museum, a wine cellar and a printing workshop.
Lake Bohinj and the Triglav
Half an hour west of Bled is Lake Bohinj, larger, wilder and quieter, inside the Triglav national park under the highest mountain in Slovenia. The day goes along the lake, up a cable car and to a waterfall. A full day and a car, or the bus from Bled.
- Ojstrica · Before leaving Bled, a steep twenty-minute climb through the woods from the western shore reaches this rock, the classic view of the island, the church and the castle in one frame.
- St John the Baptist, Bohinj · A small Gothic church by the stone bridge at the end of the lake, its walls covered in frescoes of the fourteenth to sixteenth centuries. On its outer wall a huge Saint Christopher was painted, since seeing him was believed to protect from sudden death that day.
- Vogel Cable Car · The cable car climbs to about fifteen hundred metres, over the lake to the ridge facing Triglav, at 2,864 metres the highest peak in Slovenia — so central to the country that its outline is on the flag. A tradition says every Slovene should climb it once.
- Savica Waterfall · The Savica falls about seventy-eight metres from a cleft in the rock in the shape of the letter A, the source of the Sava Bohinjka. The national poet Prešeren set his epic Baptism at the Savica here. A path of about five hundred steps leads up to it.
- Vintgar Gorge · On the way back, a gorge of about one and a half kilometres cut by the Radovna river, with wooden walkways fixed to the rock walls over green rapids. It was discovered for visitors in 1891 by a local mapmaker and the mayor of Gorje, and opened two years later.
- Prešeren’s birthplace · France Prešeren, Slovenia’s national poet, was born in this farmhouse in 1800. A stanza of his poem A Toast, which calls for peace between all nations, is the national anthem, and the day of his death, the eighth of February, is a national holiday of culture.
The Alps over Kranjska Gora
North-west of Bled the valley of the Sava leads into the high Alps, past waterfalls and a mountaineering museum, to Kranjska Gora and the highest road pass in Slovenia, built by prisoners of war. A full day and a car; the pass is closed in winter.
- Alpine Museum · Slovenians are a nation of mountaineers, and this museum at the foot of Triglav tells their story, from the first ascent of the peak in 1778 by four local men to the climbers of today.
- Peričnik · A waterfall that pours over a limestone overhang, so a path runs behind the curtain of water. Above it is a second, upper fall.
- Kranjska Gora · The ski resort under the peaks, which hosts a World Cup race every winter. Nearby, at Planica, is one of the largest ski-flying hills in the world, where several world records of over two hundred and fifty metres have been set.
- Lake Jasna · A small lake of mountain water at the foot of the pass road, with a bronze statue of the Zlatorog, the golden-horned white chamois of Slovenian legend whose blood made Triglav’s flowers grow.
- Vršič Pass · The road over the pass, with fifty hairpin bends, was built by Russian prisoners of war in the First World War to supply the front on the Soča. In 1916 an avalanche buried a camp of them, killing many, and the survivors built a small wooden Russian chapel in their memory beside the road.
- Zelenci · A pond of emerald and turquoise water fed by springs that bubble up through the sand, the source of the Sava Dolinka. The water stays at about six degrees all year and never freezes.
Getting to Bled and getting around
- Ljubljana Airport · About thirty-five minutes by car
- Bled Jezero Station · The little station above the lake on the Bohinj line
- Mlino · The pletna boatmen’s village; boats to the island
Cheap eats in Bled
Upper Carniola eats Alpine: Carniolan sausage, smoked pork with garlic, protected by the EU; štruklji, rolled dumplings of cottage cheese or tarragon; potica, a rolled nut cake for holidays; trout from the clear rivers; and the cheeses of the Bohinj dairies. And at Bled the cream cake, kremšnita. A sausage with mustard and bread, or a kremšnita with coffee, costs a few euro.
- Hotel Park · The original kremšnita, by the lake
- Beekeeping Museum · Honey, gingerbread hearts and honey brandy
- St John the Baptist, Bohinj · Bohinj cheese from the alpine dairies
- Begunje · Carniolan sausage in the polka village
- Radovljica · Štruklji in the old town inns
- Kranjska Gora · Mountain hut food and trout
Museums in Bled
The museums around Bled are small and local: bees and gingerbread, a nail forge, the national poet’s home, mountaineers, and a prison of the Second World War.
- Begunje · The polka village and the wartime prison
- Bled Castle · The castle museum and printing press
- Kropa · A working nail forge
- Alpine Museum · The story of Slovenian mountaineers
- Prešeren’s birthplace · The national poet’s farmhouse
Nature and day trips near Bled
Bled is the gateway to the Julian Alps and the Triglav national park: glacial lakes, gorges, waterfalls and the mountain on the flag. The rivers are famously clear and green.
- Vintgar Gorge · Boardwalks over the rapids
- Mala Osojnica · The high viewpoint over Bled
- Savica Waterfall · The A-shaped waterfall
- Vogel Cable Car · The ridge facing Triglav
- Zelenci · The emerald source of the Sava
- Vršič Pass · High Alpine walks from the pass
Things to do in Bled with kids
Bled is easy with children: a boat to an island and a bell to ring, a castle, a summer toboggan, a gorge of boardwalks and a cable car.
- Bled Island · Ring the wishing bell
- Straža · The summer toboggan
- Bled Castle · Print your own certificate in the castle
- Vintgar Gorge · Walk over the river
- Vogel Cable Car · Up the mountain by cable car
- Peričnik · Walk behind a waterfall
Holy places in Bled
The churches of Upper Carniola are small and painted, from the island pilgrimage church to frescoed village chapels, and a Russian chapel on the mountain pass.
- Bled Island · The pilgrimage church of the Assumption
- St Martin’s Church · The parish church below the castle
- St John the Baptist, Bohinj · Gothic frescoes by the lake
- Vršič Pass · The Russian chapel
Nightlife in Bled
Bled’s nights are quiet: dinner by the lake, the castle and the island church lit up, and a few bars along the shore.
- Spa Park · Evening on the lake promenade
- Bled Castle · Dinner over the lit-up lake
- Vila Bled · A drink on Tito’s terrace
- Hotel Park · Bars along the eastern shore
Frequently asked questions about Bled
What is there to see in Bled?
The top sights in Bled are Bled Castle, Bled Island and St Martin’s Church. The full list on this page has 10 sights, each with a photo and a short note.
How many days do you need in Bled?
Three to four days are enough to see the best of Bled without rushing, including at least one walking tour.
Is there a free walking tour in Bled?
Yes. sleepntrip has 3 free audio walks in Bled, with no guide and no group: your phone tells the story at every stop. The first one: Around the lake.
How do you get to Bled and get around?
The main ways are Ljubljana Airport, Bled Jezero Station and Mlino. Full details are in the transport section on this page.
Where to stay in Bled, and for how much?
sleepntrip shows only rooms in Bled that meet nine conditions: a good location, high guest scores, cleanliness, and a price of up to $80 a night for two. Pick your dates and see what is free.
Looking for a hotel in Bled for your dates?
Only rooms that meet nine conditions, up to $80 a night.