15 Things To Do At Lake Bled On A Day Trip From Ljubljana

Slovenia is a super underrated country and one I thoroughly enjoyed spending a few days in. One of the more popular attractions is Lake Bled and you may not even know it but you’ve most likely seen pictures of it already. The picturesque lake is pretty much the front page of any tourism information on Slovenia and it’s a super easy visit as a day trip from Ljubljana. While the lake is obviously the highlight, there’s a surprising amount of things to do at Lake Bled including things around and in the lake itself. I combined my day trip to Lake Bled from Ljubljana with a visit to Vintgar Gorge and had a great time. There’s plenty to see and things to do at Lake Bled to fill an entire day even without visiting Vintgar Gorge but it’s a great combination if you’re short on time while visiting the country.

Is Lake Bled Worth Visiting?

In short? Absolutely yes. If you google this question you’re going to get some people saying that Lake Bled is quite touristy and while it may be a little touristy for some people (I certainly didn’t think it was), I feel that some people are using touristy and popular interchangeably. It’s popular for a reason but it’s absolutely worth the visit. I personally think a day trip to the area is sufficient. I spent majority of a day split between Lake Bled and the Vintgar Gorge and felt very satisfied with all I saw. Because the area is so close to and accessible from Ljubljana it really should be included on any Slovenia itinerary. It’s a nice introduction to the nature that Slovenia has to offer.

When to visit Lake Bled?

I personally visited in late September and had an amazing time. There were still groups of people about but it was totally manageable and boats were free without any lineups. If you visit in the peak of summer (July and August) you’re probably going to deal with some crowds but if you’re visiting other places in Europe in the summer it’s always going to be like that. Some of the restaurants and businesses are seasonal so it’s worth keeping that in mind if you decide to visit in a season other than summer. Ski season starts in the winter (sometimes in November) and this will bring its own crowds.

Getting to Lake Bled from Ljubljana

Lake Bled is located northwest of Ljubljana. By car it’s about 40-60 minutes (depending on whether you take toll routes or not). You can also book a cab from Ljubljana to take you by car as well but that’s probably going to be pricier than just renting a car and driving yourself.

I personally took the bus from Ljubljana to Lake Bled and found this to be the easiest way to visit. The bus takes approximately 6o-80 minutes depending on if you get an express bus or not and obviously depending on traffic. The buses depart from the central station. You can view the schedule for departures here. The buses run more frequently in the summer but even in the winter there are daily departures. The bus is quite cheap and ranges from €1.90 (weekend discount) up to €6.30 and is even cheaper for children. The Lake Bled bus station stops close to the Bled Rose Hotel and from there it’s about a 5 minute walk down to the lake. You can purchase tickets online but I walked into the central station in Ljubljana and bought my ticket in person.

There are two train stations in Bled: Bled Jezero and Lesce-Bled. Bled Jezero is on the northwest side of the lake and is about a 10 minute walk towards the trail around the lake. Lesce-Bled is much further away (4.5 km so about an hour away) and it makes more sense to take the train into Bled Jezero. You can check timetables here. Weirdly, it’s actually slower to take the train than the bus and most train rides appear to take at least 1.5 hours with some being slightly longer than that and requiring a change. The train tickets are similarly priced to the higher end of the bus tickets.

If travelling on your own is not your style at all for day trips then there are plenty of companies that offer organized group trips to Lake Bled as well which may be an option. I’m not a huge fan of the restrictions on organized group trips and tend to not use it unless I really feel I can’t organize the trip on my own so can’t offer much advice here but a google search should give you plenty of options.

Things to do at Lake Bled

Hike up to the Ojstrica Hill Viewpoint

The trail for the Ojstrica Hill Viewpoint is located on the west side of the lake. You’ll be able to find signage for the hike by the trailhead on the road. It’s close to the Bled Camping. There is a second trailhead entrance but from what I read ahead of my visit, it’s a harder hike so I would recommend just looking for this one. It’s labelled on Google Maps here so you know where to look for it.

The view is spectacular and absolutely worth it but I do want to warn that it’s not the easiest of hikes. It’s a fairly short trail at 1.3 km but it’s quite steep. It took me about 25 minutes on the way up but I did have to stop for a break twice cause I was pretty out of breath. Once you get nearer the top it gets a little steeper but you’re almost done so it’s easy to push through. Once you’re at the top there’s a bench you can take a break at and enjoy the beautiful view of the lake and the island. Make sure to give yourself a pat on the back for surviving the climb as well.

You can keep hiking further up to Mala Osojnica and Velika Osojnica. I was super happy with the viewpoint from Ojstrica so decided that was good enough for me but you can definitely keep going if you’re up for more of a hike.

Try the Bled Cream Cake

The Bled Cream Cake, or kremna rezina like it’s called in Slovenian, is a super popular dessert in the area that is a must try when visiting. The cake is a square essentially made of vanilla cream, cream and phyllo dough.

The cake was developed by Ištvan Lukačević when he worked at the Sava Hotel Bled in 1953. The cake originated at the hotel but has now become a symbol of the entire region. While you can definitely get the cake at the hotel you’ll also be able to find at pretty much every single café in the area and you can get it to go and eat it at a bench around the lake!

Walk or bike around the lake

The path around the lake is 6 km long which you can easily walk in 1.5 hours (do account for some extra time for stopping for pictures though). The path is quite flat and it is paved so it’s quite easy to stroll even if you’re not super fit.

I had rented a bike and used it to get around the lake. The paths are wide enough for both pedestrians and bicyclists but there were a couple of spots where it was busy enough that I had to get off and walk the bike.

There are lots of places to stop and take pictures so do account for extra time when walking around the lake and if you’re stopping of to do any of the activities like hike a trail or take a boat over to the island.

Take a boat to Blejski Otok

The small island in the middle of the lake is pretty unmissable. It’s called Blejski Otok (Bled Island). When you’re walking around the lake you’ll come across the option to take a boat over to the small island. You can take wooden boats over or you can take an electric boat for a faster trip. Please note the boats do cost. You also have the option to rent a rowboat and get yourself to the island.

You can take the boat to the island and just take it right back to the mainland or you can take the boat to the island and get off. If you do get off you can visit the Church of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary. Visiting the island itself is free but the church has an admission fee.

According to local legend, Bled Island was formed a long time ago from pastures and meadows where a chapel for the Virgin Mary stood on a hill. Sheep from the pastures and meadows would wander into the chapel and the locals were indifferent to the fact that the animals were desecrating the chapel. The legend goes that despite divine warnings to build a fence around the chapel, the local people did nothing and as a result God flooded the pastures in order to protect the chapel.

The Church of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary is a Catholic church located on Bled Island. Once you depart your boat you can take the staircase up to the church and explore the interiors. The are multiple buildings that are a part of the church but the main building and tower are the ones I explored.

The tradition was for a groom to carry his bride up the 99 steps to the church and if she was silent on the way up they would have a long and happy marriage.

There is a €12 admission fee to enter the church for adults but it’s worth it for the views from the tower and for the ability to ring the bell which is supposed to bring good luck! You can view up to date hours and admission fees here.

Ringing the bell

This is technically part of visiting the Church of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary but it’s a popular thing to do and comes with its own lore so I’ve listed it separately so I can go into more details about it. Once you land on Bled Island and climb the 99 steps on the staircase up to The Church of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary and pay admission you’ll be able to enter the church. One of the main features is a large bell that you can ring by pulling a thick rope. It’s believed that ringing the bell will bring you good luck (jury’s out on that for me personally haha).

The legend of the bell says that there once lived a young widow in Bled Castle. Her husband had been killed by robbers and his body had been dumped into the lake. In her grief, she commissioned a bell for the church on the island from all her silver and gold. The bell never arrived to the church cause the boat that it was travelling on sunk during a terrible storm killing those on board. The widow ended up selling her properties and moving to Rome where she lived as a nun for the rest of her life. After her death, the Pope heard her story and made a new bell for the church in her memory. He declared that anybody who rings the bell 3 times (and believes in God) will have their wish come true.

It’s said you can sometimes hear the bell ringing late at night. Apparently there have been attempts to recover the bell from the lake but it remains unfound.

Bled Castle

I had plans to visit Predjama Castle the next day and had already visited Ljubljana Castle so I was a little castled out and decided to skip Bled Castle (Blejski Grad) but it’s definitely one of the popular sites to visit in Lake Bled. It’s the oldest castle in Slovenia at over 1000 years old. You can visit the castle but a ticket is required for entrance.

Swimming at Lake Bled

I didn’t personally go swimming since I visited in late September but the water is supposed to be quite warm and if you’re visiting in the summer it makes for a great spot for swimming and a great way to enjoy the lake. There are multiple different designated swimming areas around Lake Bled: Grajsko kopališče, Mala Zaka and Velika Zaka. There may be more but these are the ones I came across.

Grajsko kopališče (Castle Bathing Area) is a public beach located just below the Bled Castle Rock. You can swim here between June and middle of September. The beach is a blue flag beach (which means it complies with strict environmental standards) and there are changing rooms, lockers, toilets and showers are available. There’s lots of entertainment at this area too like playgrounds, a water park, swimming pools, waterslides, a jump board and plastic rafts.

Mala Zaka is located in the northern part of the lake. There are wooden piers to enjoy the lake from here. Velika Zaka is also located on the northern part close to the Bled Camping.

Other things to do at Lake Bled

If you’re into water activities then you can’t go wrong with enjoying those at Lake Bled. You can paddleboard, kayak and canoe at the lake. In fact, they have the clear bottom kayaks and even offer night tours in them.

There’s a tourist train that runs around the lake. You can check out the official website for schedule and fees.

The longest zipline in Europe is in Bled so if you’re up for an adventure this is an option as well.

About 10 minutes from Lake Bled you can find the Jama pod Babjim Zobom Cave which is one of the oldest caves in the Slovenia. Because I was already planning on visiting Postojna Cave I skipped this one but it’s worth a visit if you have lots of time in the area.

From spring to fall you can summer toboggan on on the sledding tracks. For more information check their direct website.

Bled is also known as a spa town so if you wanted to stay overnight and take in some spa treatments it would be a great way to extend a day trip into a nice relaxing overnight stay.

Vintgar Gorge

Vintgar Gorge is located about 4 km from Lake Bled and it’s an easy thing to tack onto a Lake Bled day trip. It’s a 14 minute drive so you could book a car but I had an ebike booked and made the trip in about 20 minutes each way. I rented my ebike from Mamut Slovenia for 6 hours. I had a great pick-up and drop-off experience with no issues.

The gorge was carved by Radovna River over thousands of years. The walk through the gorge goes over boardwalks and bridges along the water. There is the Šum waterfall, rapids and pools to see. The water is a beautiful colour and it’s a great place to take pictures at.

Vintgar Gorge does have entrance fees but I’ve got a whole separate post on everything you need to know about visiting Vintgar Gorge for you to check out as well.

Things to do at Lake Bled in the Winter

In the past the lake used to freeze over in the winter and you could walk on the lake or skate but that rarely happens anymore. You can take in the lake, island and castle covered in snow and admire the proximity of the mountains. There’s also the option to partake in winter activities like snowshoeing, snowboarding and skiing. There’s a skating rink on the Park Café outdoor terrace.

From early December to mid-January, the lake turns into a winter wonderland with thousands of holiday lights. There are stalls selling local goods, regional dishes and warm drinks. On December 25th the reenactment of the Sunken Bell takes place.

For a fairly small place there’s certainly plenty of things to do at Lake Bled. Have you been? What was your favorite? As always, pin the post for your own upcoming trip to Lake Bled!