After yesterday’s series of disasters that almost cancelled our entire weekend trip to Slovenia, it was finally time for things to go our way today. We headed to bed last night at around midnight, waking up at 7:45am to be picked up by Slovenia Explorers at 7:55am across the street for our day tour to Bled, Predjama Castle, and Postojna Caves.
The car ride takes about 45 minutes north to Bled, a Slovenian resort town in the foothills of the Julian Alps known for its picturesque glacial lake and the natural inlet within. On the inlet is the Pilgrimage Church of the Assumption of Maria with its 90-step staircase and bell tower.
Walk about 5 min through a park to hire a boat that’ll take you across the lake to the inlet.
Walk up the 90 steps from drop off to reach a café and the church.
For 6 euros (4 if you have a student ID), you can head up to the top of the bell tower for decent views.
You can also gain admission inside the humble church itself, where you can ring a wishing bell for good luck.
Just don’t do this:
Afterwards we rowed back out where we drove up to a cliff to reach 11th-century Bled Castle that overlooks the lake.
Take about 30-40 minutes to explore the castle, which houses a few exhibits, a honey store, a printing press, and a small chapel.
I chose to kick back with an iced tea and a sandwich for these views.
Afterwards we drove south towards Predjama Castle.
- At time of posting in Bled, Slovenia, it was 18 °C - Humidity: 58% | Wind Speed: 6km/hr | Cloud Cover: partly cloudy