Our first time ever in Slovenia. Everyone knows the iconic photo of the church on the Island on Lake Bled, but apart from that, we had no idea what to expect. I wasn't even sure where it was, apart from close to Croatia, which we love.
We booked with Trailfinders who suggested 2 nights in Ljubljana (the capital), 2 nights in Bled, and 3 nights nr Lake Bohinj. They also suggested a hire car would be useful, although we could have taken a taxi to each of our destinations, since all are relatively close. (all in the north east of the country).
We knew we wouldn't use the car in Ljubljana, but decided to hire one for the week anyway. We had an afternoon flight, and as we flew in over Austria, which borders Slovenia, our first sighting of how mountainous it was! Our flight had been delayed due to very strong winds, so an interesting take off when we finally got going.
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| phone shot from the plane. |
With the hour time difference and collecting the hire car, it was getting dark by the time I drove the hour or so to our hotel, and thankfully my navigator, John, did a great job of getting us there. We were booked into the Intercontinental Hotel which boasts to be the "tallest hotel in Ljubljana". Hmm. Not our usual choice, but it was 5*. A strange comment from the receptionist as we checked in was "Did you intend to book an accessible room?". ie disabled. NO, we did not, so our agent got that wrong. With no similar priced rooms available we decided to go for an upgrade to a Junior Suite, and will claim back the difference from Trailfinders. The room was HUGE!!! And of a very high quality. 😉 We also had to pay 36 Euros a day to park the car. 😖
THURSDAY 4TH SEPTEMBER. A misty start.
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The view from the 20th floor restaurant, was pretty awful.
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A new station under construction. The weather was also looking rather grey, but the forecast was for sunshine and soon improved as we walked a short distance into the old part of the city. A selection of photos from the city centre, a mix of camera, and Go Pro screen shots.
We took a funicular to the Castle as well as wandering around in general. A busy, bustling city, with a university too, so lots of young people and endless cafe choices.
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Castle on the hill, of course, but a Funicular available.
We did walk back down. |
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| the market area, designed by Joze Pleknic |
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This pink church could be seen from all over the city
to help get our bearings. |
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The TRIPLE BRIDGES, also designed by Joze Pleknic
(not heard of him, but we will visit his house on our final day) |
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the Castle is not very ancient, and was never "lived in"
but used as a fortress. |
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Delicious home made Iced Tea. It was hot now....
the weather, not the tea! 😂 |
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| Views from the Castle. |
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A quieter part of the city with more church towers.
They are also in beautiful condition. The corner stone are painted in. |
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| One to paint? |
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Shame about the cars, but a pretty street.
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| Pumpkin soup for me and sausage with Sauerkraut for John. |
After lunch, we walked by the river, before we decided a boat trip would be appropriate to escape the heat and have a rest.
A pleasant hour long there and back boat trip, and time to try the "Slovenian Cream Cake". Which is huge, and of course we shared. 😇
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Nice, but a bit sweet. We would discover that the Original
recipe was from the hotel restaurant we are staying in at Lake Bled. |
We walked back to our hotel for around 4pm, feeling knackered. We had walked miles, and walked back into the town again for dinner, since we had eaten dinner in the hotel the previous night.
FRIDAY 5TH SEPTEMBER. Check out and move on to Lake Bled via Skofia Loka
Since it was only under an hour to Lake Bled, we spent the morning back in Ljubljana, a few more photos, and where the fruit market was in full swing this morning. Very colourful.
We had noticed quite a number of football supporters in Yellow shirts yesterday (mostly retired aged!). and assumed it was a Slovenian shirt. But on our wanderings this morning we chatted to some, and it turned out they were Swedish. A match against Slovenia tonight... by which time we will be long gone!
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| Yellow shirts of Swedish Supporters. |
Our guide book had suggested a small town called Skofia Loka is worth visiting, so we parked up there enroute to Bled. The "Stone Bridge" is apparently famous, and it's a pleasant scene with the mountains behind.
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| Skofia Loka. A stop off for a walk and lunch. |
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Another day another castle to walk up to!
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| Beautiful views as we walked to Skofia Loka Castle |
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| Skofia Loka |
Unfortunately, several streets in the town are currently having a new cobbled surface laid all at the same time.......it was a mess! Never mind, we found a pleasant riverside cafe for lunch before we continued our journey to Bled.
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| Our hire car. Useful to take a photo to remember what we are looking for! 😂 |
The scenery became more spectacular as our journey continued as we passed through many small villages, with an Alpine feel, with farms too. (Some unusual agricultural structures which were for log storage. Difficult to stop, but we would see more another day.)
A trouble free journey to Bled apart from the last couple of miles which was basically a queue. We were much relieved that when we arrived at our hotel
Hotel Park, we had not one, but two staff waiting to guide us to our parking space. (only 10 Euros per day.... bargain!). Once again a BIG hotel, but pretty much on the lakeside.
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View from our room alongside Lake Bled.
(Better in winter with the leaves off the trees.) |
A quick cuppa, then out for a walk to the Castle.... uphill of course!
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| Looking back to our hotel from our walk up to the Castle. |
We didn't go into the Castle, but enjoyed the views of the lake, and a short walk around the local area by which time the evening light was looking lovely.
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| The "PLETNA" Boats are to Lake Bled as Gondolas are to Venice. |
A beautiful end to the day. Dinner options in our hotel were buffet only, which we don't like for dinner, and we were referred to the "sister" A La Carte Restaurant, just over the road and on the lakeside. BUT, the wait would be an hour, since a huge group had just turned up. We had a very nice Tai meal instead and booked in for the following night.
SATURDAY 6TH SEPTEMBER - LAKE BLED WALK AND BOAT TRIP
As we arrived yesterday we had noticed a banner. "LAKE BLED TRIATHLON SATURDAY 6TH SEPTEMBER"! This is ONCE a year, and typical that is should be on one of the TWO days that we are here to enjoy some peace and tranquility!!
However, we checked the details and all the action was at the far end of the lake. We were planning to walk the 6 km around the lake, so not sure quite how it would affect our plans.
A few photos from our lakeside circular walk...
About half round, at 10am. a loud horn sounded, as well as loud "disco" music, and it was the start of the SWIM part of the Triathlon. We were only about 5 mins from the start, so a shame we missed it.
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The swimmers just reaching the waters edge before they
jump on their bikes. |
We were told they were doing 3 laps of the hillside behind, and then they arrived jumping off their bikes to get their running shoes on.
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It was a junior race, and all very young and fit.
Their bikes shoes still attached to the peddles as they run in bare feet
to find their shoes. |
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| Continuing our walk, some beautiful views of the iconic island |
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The view from Tito's Belvadere.
(more steps!) |
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Almost back to the start and liked
the church reflection over the lake |
We shared a pizza for lunch, then went to find a boat trip. They run all the time, as long as the boats are full.
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| View from our lunch stop for a Pizza. |
We got back to our hotel in time for a swim in the indoor pool, which also has excellent views.
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Views from the pool balcony
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View from our dinner table in the evening. Just before sun went down.
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And we shared another Cream cake, since this was where
the ORIGINAL recipe was from. It was very light and delicious. |
SUNDAY 7TH SEPTEMBER - DRIVING DAY TO LAKE BOHINJ - VIA THE TRIVLASKI NATIONAL PARK, and Julian Alps.
We could have driven 30 mins from Bled to Bonhinj, but instead we went the long way round via Jesenice, to the mountains. It was Sunday, and it was amazingly busy with cars, motorbikes and cyclists all heading up to the top! Hundreds of hairpins and fabulous views. We passed through a couple of ski resorts too!
Some photos enroute to the mountains.....
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| These structures are for stacking log piles |
Our first stop off was at
Zelenci Nature Reserve, with its emerald lake reached after a very short woodland walk, the mist hanging over the mountains as we arrived.
A quick cuppa at the Zelenci Cafe, and John took over the driving as we faced the climb over the mountain. Quite a number of the hairpins had a cobbled surface, maybe to provide extra grip? We did witness one motorcyclist fall off right in front of us, as she timed it wrong. Fortunately, unharmed, but she needed assistance from another biker to get her going again on the steep hairpin.
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Cobbles on some of the bends. And a wandering cow as an added hazard!!
We saw another cow feeding her calf on the left then one with BIG HORNS
blocking the road in front of us! (below) |
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| OK then. Right or left side of the road? |
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| It was a wiggly road! |
It took best part of an hour to reach river level at the bottom, and we spotted a cafe for lunch, nr Bovec?
Having finished with hairpins and mountains, I offered to drive the remainder of the route to our hotel in Bohinj..... except that our route now turned left to climb 2 more mountain passes! It went on and on forever, passing a handful of villages and eventually we thought we were at the top as it opened up into green pastoral views.
As I turned the next corner (which I thought was the top), a HUGE steep hill ahead, guessing 20-25% gradient. OMG. I hit the accelerator and hoped for the best, and we met a vehicle coming the other way seconds after I reached the top. Phew. Didn't fancy a hill start on that climb!
After passing through another ski resort we finally headed down to follow a fairly dry river bed all the way to Bohinj, arriving late afternoon. Another large hotel, designed for coach parties, but we had a nice room, and great views (beyond the car park).
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our balcony view at Bohinj Eco Hotel.
Once more the dining option was buffet style, so we went out to a fabulous meal in the hotel just next door, which served a 4 course set price menu. All delicious, and two extra courses of "amuse bouche" and home made sweets to finish. MONDAY 8TH SEPTEMBER - BOHINJ | 8AM. oh dear! The mountains have disappeared!
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With full sun forecast, we hung on a little hoping for the mist to clear before we set off to see Lake Bohinj around 9.30, and it did miraculously disappear.
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| Next morning... The mountains are GONE! |
We parked up twice in the main area of the lake approach before realising that the maximum parking time was only 2 hours. Since our plan was to walk around one side of the lake and take a boat back, we needed a lot longer. We drove to the far end of the lake instead, near the ski resort, and left the car on a hill, to walk back to the lake to start our walk.
One side of the lake partly follows the road, so we took the boat trip first, and walked the opposite side of the lake, a quiet pedestrian path back to the car eventually.
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here comes our boat.
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| Chatting to our captain. The boat almost empty. |
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Reaching the far end, where we will start our walk.
I had hoped to fly my drone on this walk since it was so calm, but too many people around, sitting on the lakeside and swimming, so didn't want the noise to be a nuisance. We eventually got to an area that was empty, and sat on a bench for a snack, sent the drone up, and SECONDS later, a lady appeared in a bikini, saying it was prohibited! So I got one shot for my film. Doing a piece to camera for my film.
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It had been a reasonably good path with just a few larger stones until we had to
cross this dry riverbed. Obviously not a winter walk! |
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| Almost back to the start. |
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| Autumn crocus in flower. |
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A lot of artistic licence as I did a late afternoon sketch,
back at our hotel balcony. |
Having a very late lunch at 3pm (a HUGE Caesar salad), we decided to try the in house buffet this evening. Not great, but we were tired. Out again tomorrow, our final night.
TUESDAY 9TH SEPTEMBER
Another atmosphereic morning with low clouds at our hotel location. We parked in the same spot as yesterday to walk the short distance to the Ski Gondola at Vogul Ski centre, high over Lake Bohinj.
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Views from Vogul 1535mtr ski centre.
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The option to walk to the next level to a cafe, or take a chairlift?
We devided to walk. The path looked smooth, but it wasn't!
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| Getting there! Half way up. |
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Apple Strudel stop. Yum.
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| A little patch of light over a tiny John. |
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Clouds looking rather threatening.
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The clouds quickly blew away and blue skies once more, as we walked to where the Hang Gliders would take of from.
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| John. |
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We took a cable car over another side, and stayed
on to come back up again to join a chair lift. |
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Getting the chair lift back down to the Gondala,
crossing over the ski run we had walked up. |
Lunch at the top of the Gondala, before back to the car. Our next plan had been to a local Waterfall (Slap Savica) but with the rivers so dry it seemed pointless). Instead we went back to use the hotel pool, called an "Aquapark". It was empty! And no, we didn't use the slides! 😂.
We drove less than 10 mins to dinner at the same restaurant where we had lunch yesterday. Nice meal. A great day.
WEDNESDAY 10TH SEPTEMBER - FLY HOME AT 6PM.
We had to check out by 10am, but did not need to check in at the airport until 4pm in Llubliana, about 90 mins drive. It was POURING DOWN, and due to continue all day. 😖 What to do?
We had a miserable drive back to Bled, planning to visit inside the Castle this time. But between the car park and the entrance we got absolutely soaked. (Castle interior not worth it. Mostly exhibition space.)
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| Bled Castle. Not very big. |
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| Lake views almost invisible today. |
For the afternoon, we had booked online to visit a private house in Ljubljana, at 1pm, which belonged to a local architect called Jose Plecnik. (1872 - 1957). He had designed several part of Ljubljana, as well as part of Vienna, and also Prague Castle. The tour was for groups of 7 only. John had identified a car park in the city, which was underground and we got the last space!. A quick pizza lunch in a student bar, then a 15 minute walk in POURING RAIN, to get to the house. Once more we were soaked.
A very interesting tour, and well worth the 7 Euros.
We got to the airport, stripped off and got changed into dry clothes the shelter of the car park. 😂
A wonderful week in Slovenia and we just toured the North East corner. So much more to explore another time?
