Falling in Love with Slovenia’s Lake Bled

I was planning to be in Salzburg right now, but the beauty of traveling alone and planning as I go has been that I can change my plans whenever I want. And after being told by several people that it was a place I needed to visit, I decided to go to Slovenia instead.

I booked three nights on Lake Bled, which has developed quite the reputation as one of the most picturesque and romantic lakes in the world. It is home to a castle on the edge of a cliff, an island with a church on it, lush hillsides, and sweeping views of the Julian Alps. In warmer months, Bled is a pretty big tourist destination, but I found it quite quiet when I arrived.

That’s because I arrived at 6PM and it was already pitch-black outside and it was pouring rain and anyone in their right mind was curled up on their couch. I stood under the overhang of the bus station, hoping the rain would slow down, but when it didn’t after a while, I decided to just head out on the 10 minute walk to my hostel. This is when I learned that there aren’t many sidewalks in Bled. I found myself walking along skinny 2-way streets in the rain, no umbrella (because it broke in Iceland) and with streetlights few and far between. I was even lucky enough to have one of those perfect car-drives-through-a-puddle-and-splashes-the-protagonist movie scenes happen to me! I was incredibly happy to change my clothes when I got to my hostel.

I had come to Slovenia to spend some time in the mountains, do some day hikes, and be by myself in nature for the first time since leaving Iceland. Though I have had fun exploring Budapest and Vienna, I was ready for some trees and steep climbs. But my plans were thwarted by the weather. I have had pretty much nothing but rain since arriving here and the clouds have been so bad that I didn’t get to enjoy the views of the Alps that I had been expecting. I was a little sad and frustrated at first, but I knew there was nothing I could do about it and, besides, so what if I get a little wet?

I spent my first full day in Bled walking around the lake, which is a little bit more than 6 km in circumference. It’s a nice path that takes you by churches, swimming areas, the training center for Olympic rowers, and some hotels. I chose to go off-path though and head up to some pretty popular lookouts. These are some of the most touristy spots in the city, but I found them absolutely empty because (once again) anyone who was sane was inside. I loved having them to myself, however. Even if they weren’t quite as desolate as some of my favorite spots in Iceland, they were beautiful all the same. It was nice to be surrounded by those sounds that only solitude in nature can bring. I finished up my circuit, got some goulash to warm me up (not as good as it was in Hungary), and then went to the grocery store to buy some chocolate.

I returned to my hostel soaked to the bone and feeling like I had a case of trench foot. It felt great to put on my pajamas and to watch the world go by from my window. Rain slowed for a little while and I even saw a patch of blue sky before it started storming again as night fell. I tucked myself into my warm bed and had a cup of tea, not sure what the next day would bring, but knowing that I would be happy to experience it in Slovenia.