How to Spend 3 days in Bled - Day 1 Bled
Let’s start freshly this first day in Bled. As we arrived late in the evening in Bled after more than 12h driving we decided that we will hang around lake Bled in our first day.
We visited Bled in August 2021 during a Road trip between France and Serbia.
So, today we will be visiting the Vintgar Gorge, a truly scenic and breath-taking gorge north of Bled. We will then head back to Lake Bled and walk all around to discover its beauty. Along the journey, we will stop by Bled Castle, take a rowing boat to visit Bled island the its church and hike to Ojstrica to get the postcard picture of Bled.
Table of Contents
Mapping the day
Get our full Balkans Map
Why pin one by one when you can get them all at once?
Day 1 of 3 days in Bled
Vintgar Gorge
The Vintgar Gorge opens at 7:30am. So, the best is to be there between the opening hours and 9am. We arrived at 9am, and it wasn’t yet crowded. We were even some of the first in the parking.
To park, we first went to the P2 parking but there the guy told us to get back and go the P1 right in front of the entrance. So, we followed the narrow road until we found the main parking. When we arrived, there were maybe 20 cars. A guy there told us where and how to park. As we didn’t park 2mm from the other car, we heard him say “Yebiga” which means “Fuck” haha.
When we went out of the car, Tina told him HI, as Serbian and Slovenia can understand each other. But I guess, he wasn’t in a good mood and just say 5€! So, we paid and head on. Once at the entrance, we paid 10€ each and took a little map.
We then followed the beautiful and breath-taking trail within the gorge. This trail is nicely made of platforms and is accessible for all.
There is a misty ambiance all along the trail which made it quite unique. At the end of the gorge trail, we found a little shop selling food, drink, souvenir… From there you can go a bit further (5min walking) to see a waterfall.
From the shop, there are 2 ways to returns. The first one uses stairs and goes up in the mountain, the second one, easier but longer goes all around the mountain. We opted for the second one and we believe it was the right call as we got some beautiful views.
As it was raining from time to time, we also got to run a bit till we found a nice and thick tree to protect us.
We were back at the parking around 11:30am. Meaning it took us around 2h30 for the whole experience.
If you need toilet, there are WC at the entrance and in the shop.
Lunch Break
We made lunch boxes in the morning and planned on eating them by the lake but as it was raining, we returned to our accommodation to eat in a dry place.
Lake Bled loop
We then decided to make the loop around the lake, the most of it is truly amazing and quite peaceful. It wasn’t crowded at all. Only the southern west part wasn’t too nice due to the proximity to the road.
Also, for us at this time, the showers became thunderstorms, so we made most of our loop under the rain. Only later in the afternoon, the sky opened.
As you can guess, this walk is quite flat.
Bled Castle
Once we passed Bled town, we used the stairs up the castle. There wasn’t a lot to go on and was quite easy to reach. The castle Entrance is 13€ per person.
The castle is in a beautiful condition and a small museum in within its wall.
From up there, we also got some crazy beautiful views of the lake and in the blink of an eye, the island disappeared behind a thick fog, and it started pouring again 😊
Osojnica Viewpoint
Depending on where your start your loop around the lake, you will do this earlier or later. But it is totally worth it. There is a total of 3 viewpoints called Osojnica, Mala Osojnica and Velika Osojnica. You can do one or all of them. They offer similar views.
We opted for Osojnica which was the closes from where we started, and it took us around 1h or so back and forth.
It is a small hike through the forest until a small summit.
For us, this was the end of our first day, because the weather wasn’t too great even though between 6 to 8pm, the sky opened, we were tired and stayed in. Otherwise, we would have added the rowing and the island to this first day. We luckily had time to do it on our last day, but we would recommend doing it now.
Rowing
Depending on where you are staying in Bled, there are a couple of options to get a rowing boat. But one of the best spots is the renting boat dock near Villa Bled. Renting the boat cost 20€ for 1h and then 10€ per hour but 1h is more than enough.
The reason we opted for this spot is that this is one of the closest places to the island. So, we hopped on the boat, Tina was enjoying, and I was learning how to row. Boy, it ain’t that easy!
It is possible to dock in the rear of the island. We slowly headed there but when we wanted to dock, the wind went back and pushed us against other boats. It was chaotic for everyone at this moment haha. In the end me managed to dock.
Bled Island
The island is super small, and you can walk all around in 5min. We went for the church as we wanted to do the wishing bell. At this time, we discover that you had to pay 12€ per person. It is expensive and only get you access to the church and the clock tower.
Well, we will only be there once, so let’s do it. We were all alone in the church and got to run 3 times the bell to make a wish.
We then walked up the clock tower for a view and headed back to the boat and back to mainland. It took us 1h or so, but the guy at the boat renting company didn’t check time or anything.
Where to Stay in Bled
- Apartment with Triglav view (outside Bled) : Apartma Gaby
- Apartment in Bled: Apartments & Rooms Sebanc by Lake
- Entire House: Sovica
Couples who come to understand one another often part. – Mason Cooley
Get our full Balkans Map
Why pin one by one when you can get them all at once?
