Beautiful Bled - Slovenia's Picture Postcard Resort

Bled is a small town in north west Slovenia with a population of around 6000. It lies close to the edge of the Julian Alps and it is the most popular tourist destination in the country, mainly because of it's beautiful, picturesque lake, but in general for the wealth of outdoor pursuits on offer in the area.

No brochures or guidebooks could prepare me for just how beautiful Lake Bled is. It is almost too perfect with it's tiny island and Bled Castle guarding over it protectively one hundred metres above on an ominous looking crag. There have been settlements on the island and around the lake for centuries but it was an enterprising Swiss doctor who made Bled what it is today. He managed to save the lake from being drained (the keeper wanted to extract the clay from beneath the lake to make bricks!) and developed Bled into a spa resort for wealthy Europeans, exploiting the thermal springs. It quickly took off and even the Yugoslav royal family summered at Bled.

The lake itself is quite small, measuring 2 kilometres by 1380 metres, so an easy walk around it only takes about an hour. However, with breaks to stop a while to take in it's beauty and more breaks for liquid refreshment, it can fully occupy a whole morning or afternoon.

For travellers on a budget private rooms arre pretty plentiful in Bled. You can even cut out the middleman and knock on the door of houses displaying a sign saying "Sobe" or "Zimmer Frei". There is also a hostel, Pension Bledec, and a large camping ground at the western end of the lake.

Hotels range from mid to high prices and, naturally, are more expensive the nearer you are to the lake. Unless money is not an issue I would say that you just as well off going for private accommodation which tends to be in quiet residential areas because the cheaper hotels seemed to be on noisy main roads. If you really want some luxury you could try Vila Bled near Mlino which was where Tito used to summer along with his foreign guests. The Presidential Suite can be yours for around 200 Pounds a night.

Bled has plenty of variety as far as eating out is concerned; there is a Chinese restaurant, various pizza places and plenty of restaurants serving a mixture of international dishses and local Slovene cuisine. The full range from cheap and informal to very formal and exclusive can be found in Bled. There is no end of bars and cafes but do me a favour and try the area's speciality - a big cream cake a bit like a custard slice, covered with nuts. Sadly I can't try one as I'm allergic to nuts but I'd love to hear someone's verdict! Most of the cafes and coffee shops proudly sell these confections.

There is not a great number of shops in Bled but given that many wealthy Slovenes live in the area and commute to the capital and many wealthy Slovenes spend alot of time here, they do lean towards the pricey and exclusive with lots of designer boutiques and jewellery shops. There are loads of shops selling all the gear you need for outdoor pursuits so you needn't worry if you've forgotten anything like that.

Bled is a small town and can be navigated on foot. There is a tourist information office next to the casino close to the eastern shore edge and Kompass travel is across the main road in the modern shopping centre.

No brochures or guidebooks could prepare me for just how beautiful Lake Bled is. It is almost too perfect with its tiny island and Bled Castle guarding over it protectively one hundred metres above on an ominous looking crag. There have been settlements on the island and around the lake for centuries but it was an enterprising Swiss doctor who made Bled what it is today. He managed to save the lake from being drained (the keeper wanted to extract the clay from beneath the lake to make bricks!) and developed Bled into a spa resort for wealthy Europeans, exploiting the thermal springs. It quickly took off and even the Yugoslav royal family summered at Bled.

The lake itself is quite small, measuring 2 kilometres by 1380 metres, so an easy walk around it only takes about an hour. However, with breaks to stop a while to take in it's beauty and more breaks for liquid refreshment, it can fully occupy a whole morning or afternoon. There is plenty of interest as you circle the lake - pretty houses, swans and scores of handsomely coloured ducks and a lovely canopy of trees overhead. In Mlino, a hamlet on the south shore, there are a couple of cafes and bars and a small supermarket if you rather pick up a picnic and eat beside the water. Further round on the western shore there is a bar and restaurant at the Zaka Regatta Centre with indoor and outdoor tables. Even in February we sat outside and enjoyed a beer and a hot fuit tea overlooking the tranquil lake.

Rowing is a popular pastime in Slovenia and nowhere more so than at Bled. A competition is held on the lake each June and the locals are understandably proud of their local boys who won a medal at the Sydney Olympics in 2000 - not bad for a little-known country tucked away in the heart of Europe!

If you visit Bled in summer you will find the lake very popular with swimmers: there are a couple of "beaches" dotted around the lake and on the north side there is a lido with a waterslide. You can also visit the Castle Baths which has separate enclosures within the lake which means safer swimming for children and an indoor pool too. The Castle Baths are open from mid-April until October. Apparently in summer some people swim over to the island but be warned that if you do so you should take with you some clothes in a waterproof bag because entering the church in swimming clothes is not permitted (as you would expect).

For a touch of luxury, contemplate staying in - or spending a day - at Hotel Gran Toplice - this top class spa hotel has it's own private jetty for sunbathing!

The best way to see the lake properly is from the water and you could hire a rowing boat or take a trip out to the island on a by hand-propelled gondola. On our first visit in winter the lake was partly ised up so we went on a small motorised boat.

Those with walking problems (or who simply don't wish to walk) can easily find an alternative way to tour the lake. There are horse and carriage rides (pricey), a frequent land train (only €3 for adults) or you could hire a bike from any of several places in town. Pension Pletna right by the lake at Mlin has bicycles to rent if you are at the other end of the lake.

No trip to Bled would be complete without seeing the Lake - I can't imagine why you'd go if not to see this beautiful little corner of Europe!

In a town that can be expensive, Pizzerija Pletna, over looking Lake Bled, represents reasonable value. It’s situated in the little hamlet of Mlino on the southern side of the lake, about ten to fifteen minutes walk from the main part of town. The interior of the restaurant is clean and comfortable enough but not very exciting; however, do yourself a favour and venture upstairs to bag a table on the terrace which will give you a wonderful view of the lake. To be honest you’d expect to pay more to eat somewhere with such a lovely view so this does make Pletna stand out.

Pizzas are the speciality and the restaurant has a wood burning pizza oven but both times I have eaten here (some five years apart) I have eaten the cevapcici which are among the best I’ve tasted in Slovenia . For the uninitiated, cevapcici are "little kebabs" – small sausages formed from spiced ground meat and served with ajvar – a relish made from aubergine and red peppers. It’s really a Bosnian dish but it’s eaten all over Slovenia too. In many places you get the sausages with a flat bread bun called a lepinja but at Pletna it comes with fries and a reasonable salad on the side (more than a garnish but not as much as a side salad). In August 2009 this cost €7.50 per person.

Other dishes include things like burgers and chicken dishes - generally anything from the grill.

Although it was a fairly busy Saturday lunchtime our waitress was efficient and spoke excellent English – however as I need to practice my Slovene I’d have appreciated her responding more in Slovene to help me. Our food came fairly quickly and it was a generous portion. The fries were good but of course they were eclipsed by the cevapcici which were nicely spiced and lovely and moist.

We drank beers with our meal – one Union and one Lasko, both priced at €2.40 for a 500ml bottle.

As we were eating we saw pizzas being brought to neighbouring tables and they did look very good; from the conversations at those tables it seemed like they tasted good too. Other people just acme for drinks and it seems this is OK though I suspect they’d rather you were eating too at the busiest times.

There is only one drawback for me with pizzeria Pletna and that is that the toilets are on the ground floor and aren’t that nice. They are clean enough but quite stark and they could be a lot nicer. You also have to go through a first part of the mens’ toilets to get to the ladies’ and the smell in the men’s is really not very nice.

At a shade under €20 for drinks and two main courses at a place over-looking the lake you won’t get better value than this. If you are at this part of the lake or don’t mind the walk (you could take the road train but that costs) then Pizzerija Pletna is a good value option.

While a restaurant with a really extensive and varied menu can cause some raised eyebrows – are they spreading themselves too thin? – it can also be a godsend; recently in Bled we needed to find a restaurant to please a group of four people that included a pair of unadventurous parents, one of whom couldn’t walk very far in search of dinner.

As we approached Chilli, my initial reaction was that this was a restaurant we wouldn’t be eating at. However, a quick glance at the illuminated board outside showed that the menu was quite extensive and covered much more than just Mexican food. As it was a warm evening we chose a table outside and within a minute or two our waitress brought some menus. The first hurdle was that the font used in the menus was really difficult to read; furthermore, although the dishes were listed in Slovene, English, German and Italian, the English versions were not always fully translated so explaining to the parents what everything was took some time.

The menu is too long and extensive to describe in much detail but there are hot and cold starters, side and main course salads, steaks and grill dishes, Mexican dishes such as chili con carne, burritos and tachos, a full range of pizzas, a choice of pasta along with your choice from a long list of sauces (some quite unusual) and a host of traditional Slovenian (and Balkan) dishes too. As we had two menus to share among four diners (and had the difficult font to contend with) it took us a while to choose but finally we made up our minds.

My partner and I opted for pizzas – mine with prsut ham, olives and feta cheese, his a "Mexican". My mother plumped for a steak with fries and my father was persuaded to try cevapcici, a traditional Balkan dish consisting of small sausages made from spiced minced meat.

The meals arrived fairly quickly given that it was a fairly busy Saturday night and that people were having quite different things. The pizzas were a good size and the bases were good – not too think but not too thin to pick up. It would have been useful if the kitchen had part-sliced the pizzas before they came out because without a decent knife they were almost uncuttable. The prsut was delicious and although the amount of ham on the pizza was very generous, it was too much in that it made the pizza almost too salty. When the pizza was presented to me I was inclined to think that three green olives in the centre of a pizza do not constitute a pizza topping; on reflection any more would only have increased the salt factor. The "feta" cheese" was good but this was actually just a finely grated sprinkling over the top after cooking. The Mexican pizza was excellent if a little topping heavy, being covered in anything and everything Mexican (and vaguely Mexican). The ground meat chilli was especially good and the whole pickled peppers had a good kick.

The cevapcici were nice plump things and there were plenty of them. They came with raw onion as is usual and mustard, rather than ajvar (a relish made from aubergine and peppers) which is more traditional. The cevapcici were nice and tender and flavoursome, and were served with French fries.

My mother’s steak was served medium rare, although the waitress had not asked how it was to be cooked. This was what she would have asked for anyway, but it’s worth telling the staff if you want it a certain way and they neglect to ask. It was a big steak and came with a creamy mushroom sauce, but others are available. It was served with a generous portion of "steak fries".

The main courses were filling so we didn’t even think about looking at the dessert menu but having glanced at it briefly I did see that there is plenty of choice. The others all drank beers but I opted for red wine and ordered "dva deci" (that's 200ml). It was brought in a enormous bulb of a wine glass that was frankly too big and a little at odds with the otherwise semi-formal ambience of the place.

While visiting the toilet, I got to see the interior of the restaurant which is formulaic Mexican but cosy, comfortable and colourful. The toilets were spotless and nicely presented too.

Overall this is a good choice for groups in particular because of the varied choices on the menu. I had feared that the food might suffer because the menu was so vast but there were no complaints about any of the meals we had.

There is nothing like a chair lift ride to the summit, a quick look at the amazing views across the mountains then careering down the pistes only to start all over again. Especially on a July day! In the snow free months, the ski slope at the Straže ski centre in the Slovenian town of Bled – overlooking the picturesque lake with its tiny island – is home to a "summer toboggan" - a 520 metre run where you are seat-belted into a plastic sledge that runs along a single rail about two feet off the ground.

My parents wanted to visit Bled and as we (the CM and I) had been before we looked for something new to do. The summer toboggan is signposted from the road that circles the lake and is between Hotel Grand Toplice and the hamlet of Mlin. A two minute walk from the road brings you to the bottom of the slopes. This is where you buy your tickets – assuming you have started at the bottom (maybe you can by them at the top too, I must confess to not knowing).

You take your ticket to the barrier, and go through the electronic turnstile. First is the ascent in the chair lift which takes just a couple of minutes and is good fun although it never gets particularly high. As you go up the tobogganers pass underneath you – we cheered as they went by but got no response which we found a bit disappointing (we were getting much more excited than is decorous for people of our age). The downside of the chair lift is that it’s not easy to turn round and get views of the lake as you ascend so you should take a minute or two to appreciate them once you get to the top before you descend. If you don’t want to make your descent immediately – or have just come up for the views – there is a café at the summit.

Once you are ready to go, you step round to the starting place. In my excitement I jumped into my toboggan before the assistant had removed the two ends of the seat belt and I had to lift my buttocks so he could retrieve them. Although there are signs at the top, he quickly went through the instructions again; the toboggan has a single joystick control – forward to accelerate and back to brake – "Seemples!"

The Curry Monster went first with a little push from the assistant then it was my turn. There’s a corner near the start so I applied the brake – far too cautiously and came to an undignified standstill in front of the café. I tried to get going again pushing the control forward but nothing happened. I tried moving my weight forward to propel it into motion but still nothing happened. As I turned round to call the attendant the thing started to move (Curry Monster was by this point at the bottom) and with not inconsiderable speed. I was away! Apparently the maximum speed is 40KM an hour - I was in no danger of getting any points on my licence. speed is

There are plenty of ups and downs and good corners – and usefully placed signs at the more extreme bends telling you to brake. A couple of the bends take you right up on your side – I was mightily pleased to be seat-belted in! It wasn’t until I got to the bottom that I remembered I’d gone under the chair lift – in the excitement I’d forgotten it was above me and I totally understand why we’d got no response. You are having far too much fun to notice someone’s legs dangling above you, as they sit suspended from a wire.

As we were short of time we made only one descent each at a cost of €6 per person (for adults). Two rides cost €10 and three cost €13 which I think is pretty good value. However, you have to buy individual tickets per person. If you have two children you can’t buy a two-ride children’s pass for them to share; you’d have to buy singles. The ticket price includes the chair lift ride to the top. Children under eight must be accompanied on the toboggan by someone over fifteen years of age.

Prices for children (5-14 years) are €4, €6 and €8 Euro, so still good value. If you just want to ride the chair lift, the price is €3 for adult and €2 for children.

We grown up kids loved the summer toboggan and all the "real kids" we saw seemed to be loving it too. This is about as close to Alton Towers as it gets in Slovenia so maybe some kids would find it a bit tame; I would be disappointed if that was the case because this activity is great fun and you get to do it in such picturesque surroundings.

The summer toboggan operates at the following times

22 March - 25 April - open Saturdays, Sundays and holidays 11.00 - 17.00
26 – 30 April - daily - 11.00 - 17.00
1 May - 20th June - open Saturdays, Sundays and holidays 11:00 – 18:00
21 June – 31 August - daily - 11:00 – 20:00
September - Saturdays, Sundays 11:00 – 18:00
October - Saturdays, Sundays and holidays 11:00 – 17:00
November 2, 8. and 9 November 11:00 – 16:00

There are toilets and a place to buy refreshments at the bottom of the run beside the ticket office, as well as the café at the top.

In the picturesque town of Bled in Slovenia’s Julian Alps, lots of families rent out rooms to tourists all year round. You can simply enquire at the door of any house with the "sobe" or you can book through a number of websites or at Kompas Travel and there is a branch of this Slovenia-wide travel agency in the centre of Bled in the shopping centre. On this visit to Bled we found a website listing private accommodation with plenty of photographs and a decent map so we could see how far from the centre of town it was. The website gave an e-mail address for the owner; Janja replied almost immediately and we agreed a price. She didn’t ask for any money; we could pay on arrival. I asked about taxis to Brnik airport for the day we were flying home and she said she’d check the price and get back to me the following day; true to her word, she replied with a price. A few days before we were due to arrive I reconfirmed the reservation by e-mail and Janja gave me her mobile number in case we were delayed.

We had a good idea of where the house was when we got off the bus but it wasn’t until we started walking that we realised we were heading towards the same area we’d stayed in five years earlier. Then we turned onto the street and found it was the same street – and, yes, it was the very same house. On that occasion we’d arrived in Bled without accommodation and had found a room through Kompas Travel, the elderly owner had even come to pick us up in his car.

My parents especially were delighted with their first glimpse of the house with its colourful blooms and masses of fragrant lavender in the front garden. It’s not hard to see why there are lots of framed certificates for "Most Beautiful House" on the wall in the breakfast room. All the gardens in the area are beautiful, many have fruit trees and vegetables plots but all have lots of gorgeous well-tended flowers and most balconies are decorated with vibrant baskets that let the flowers cascade over them.

Janja was waiting for us and welcomed us in cheerily. We didn’t remember her from our previous visit but that was during the week and it is common for people to work during the week and have someone else look after the guests during those days, then take over at weekends. Our rooms had just been made ready; one at the front of the house with a lovely sunny balcony and another that looked out onto the side of the house which had no balcony but did have an en suite bathroom. The other room had a bathroom opposite it across the landing.

We took the room with the en suite, my parents took the one with the balcony. We were able to peek into the room we’d had previously which has been updated slightly since we were last there. Both rooms were a modest size but there was still enough room for a double bed (two singles pushed together in one of the rooms), a side table and two easy chairs. There was also enough room to move around the bed easily. There was small wardrobe, just big enough for a couple of days and a useful open hanging area which would be good for winter visits as you’d be able to hang up wet clothing and prevent getting clothes in the wardrobe wet. There were two quilts for the bed, one for each person but we didn’t need them in July and soon threw them off. The pillows were big squashy feather ones and I should have asked Janja if she had a synthetic one but I forgot and didn’t want to disturb her late in the evening. I ended up rolling up the quilt and using that instead. The mattress itself was comfortable and we had a good nights sleep. Even my mother who usually complains about beds commented on how comfortable she found hers. As the house is in a quiet location it was very peaceful not just at night but during the day when sitting out on the balcony. Unfortunately the same could not be said for some of the other guests who made a lot of noise on the landing in the morning.

The bathroom was small but spick and span. Bled can be freezing in winter so it was good that there was also a big radiator in the bathroom but it was so close to the toilet that I can imagine a few nasty surprises as arms brush the hot metal of the radiator. There was always plenty of hot water and pressure didn’t appear to be affected by people using other showers at the same time. There are two bathrooms on the landing for those rooms that don’t have en suites. When we arrived Janja explained which one was for which room but when my mother was showering someone tired the door and then started complaining loudly that someone was in "their" bathroom. We then heard Janja explain that the other was their bathroom and that they should stick to their own; I suspected that both people from another room wanted to use one bathroom each, rather than taking turns to use their own bathroom.

The breakfast room is on the ground floor and has two large tables. Breakfast is served between 7.30 and 9.00am and we went down just before 7.30 - Janja, if you read this I must apologise because I thought we had come down after 7.30 and now I know why you were rushing around so much! Laid out on a side board were several cereals, yoghurts and fruit juice. On our table there were dishes of different jams (– some homemade and very delicious), soft cheeses and plates of sliced prsut (the Slovene equivalent of prosciutto), a garlicky sausage and sliced cheese. Janja brought bread rolls and gave us a choice of how we wanted our eggs cooked. We asked for scrambled and she brought a hefty plate for the four of us; it was lovely, very buttery but delicious. Bread rolls were brought but there was also sliced bread for toasting on the sideboard. Janja had asked us the previous evening whether we wanted tea or coffee; coffee was in a stay-warm flask and there was hot water for tea, with a big box of different teabags on the sideboard. An Earl Grey was the nearest thing to "English tea". Overall breakfast was excellent and was thoroughly enjoyed.

We reminded Janja about the taxi and she telephoned the company immediately. Although we wouldn’t be taking the taxi until 1.20pm and the rooms were to be vacated by 10.00am we were able to leave our bags there for the morning and use the toilet at the house before the taxi came.

There is plenty of parking space in front of the house for visitors with a car and the house is a ten minute walk from the centre of Bled and the lakeside, with a few bars and restaurants (and a supermarket) on the way. The bus to and from Ljubljana stops at the end of the road.

There are lots of householders in Bled offering private rooms but I doubt whether many are as pretty as Sobe Stojanovic. There might be several nearer the lake, but the nearer you are the more you pay. We paid €27 (the breakfast element is €5) per person per night which included breakfast and tourist tax. You should also note that stays of less than three nights usually include a small supplement too. Breakfast is not included as standard, so you can pay less if you aren’t taking it. Bled is not a cheap resort so Sobe Stojanovic represents excellent value and staying in private rooms generally allows you to see something more than just hotels and to have more of a chance to meet Slovenians. Although Janja was busy she had time to talk to her guests and certainly made us feel very welcome. Highly recommended!

Sobe Stojanovic
Finzgarjeva 23a
4260 Bled

Although we didn't use it, a TV lounge is available for guests, and pets are welcome. There are also laundry facilities and a fridge for the use of guests.