Activities in Bled
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Emerald River Adventure
Agencies such as 3glav, Life Trek and OSA organise a wide range of outdoor activities in and around Bled. The 3glav agency's most popular trip is the Emerald River Adventure, an 11-hour hiking and swimming foray into Triglav National Park and along the Soča River. A two-day guided ascent of Triglav from Pokljuka, the Vrata Valley or Kot Valley costs around €150. More challenging mountaineering traverses lasting between three and five days cost between around €250 and around €500.
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outdoor activities
Agencies such as 3glav, Life Trek and OSA organise a wide range of outdoor activities in and around Bled, including trekking, mountaineering, rock climbing, ski touring, cross-country skiing, mountain biking, rafting, kayaking, canyoning, caving, horse riding and paragliding.
A 2½-hour rafting trip down the Sava Bohinjka/Soča River costs around €23/around €30, and a three-hour canyoning descent is around €45. Kayak trips lasting three hours cost around €38. Paragliding is around €70. Horse riding starts at around €40 for a two-hour outing.
A half-day tour of the (easy) Bobji Zob cave near Bohinjska Bela is around €20, while the more challenging Simnovo Brezno…
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gondola
Getting to Bled Island by a piloted gondola is the archetypal tourist experience; there are jetties below the tourist office, below Spa Park (Zdraviliški Park) to the north, in Mlino on the south shore and near Zaka Regatta Centre. You get about half an hour to explore the island. In all, the trip takes about 1½ hours. Alternatively, you can rent a rowing boat at the Castle Baths, at Mlino or at the large beach at the southwest end of the lake.
The boat sets you down on the island's south side at a monumental South Staircase (Južno Stopnišče) built in 1655. As you walk up you'll pass the Chaplain's House (Meznarija) and the Provost's House (Stavba Proštije) from the 17t…
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Old Timer Train
In summer the Old Timer Train offers excursions in vintage carriages hauled by a steam locomotive. Trains usually run between Jesenice, 13km to the northwest, and Most na Soči, stopping at Bled Jezero station and Bohinjska Bistrica. Ask the tourist office about departure times; there have been fewer trips scheduled for individuals in recent years, amounting to only about one a month in summer.
You can buy tickets from most travel agencies in Bled, including Kompas on on Ljubljanska cesta or through the organiser ABC Rent a Car (01-510 43 20; abc-tourism@europcar.si; Ulica Jožeta Jame 16) in Ljubljana.
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hikes
There are many easy signposted hikes around Bled (numbered signs correspond to numbered routes on the local hiking maps). One of the best is trail No 6 from the southwest corner of Lake Bled to the summit of Velika Osojnica (756m). The view from the top over the lake, island and castle, with the peaks of the Karavanke in the background is stunning, especially towards sunset. The climb to the first summit is steep, but the round trip, returning via Ojstrica, takes only three hours or so.
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Bled Golf & Country Club
The 18-hole, par-73 King's Course at the Bled Golf & Country Club , about 3km to the east of Lake Bled near Lesce, is Slovenia's best golf course and, with its dramatic mountain backdrop, one of the most beautiful in Europe. This club also has the nine-hole, par-36 Lake Course (Mon-Fri around €35, Sat & Sun around €44) open the same hours. You can rent a set of clubs for around €15, and there's a PGA pro who gives lessons from €18.
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Castle Baths
Bled's warm (23°C at source) crystal-clear water - it now rates a Blue Flag - makes it suitable for swimming well into the autumn, and there are decent beaches around Lake Bled, including a big gravel one near the camping ground and a grass one on the northern side. Just east of the latter is the large Castle Baths , with an indoor pool and protected enclosures in the lake itself with huge water slides.
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rowing boats
You can rent rowing boats for getting to the island or just pottering about (motor boats are banned on the lake) from the Castle Baths (Grajsko Kopališče; 578 05 28; Kidričeva cesta 1). Boats for up to four people are also available from the Pension Pletna in Mlino or further west near the entrance to the camping ground for around €11.50 per hour.
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Straža-Bled ski centre
Beginners will be content with the tiny (6-hectare) Straža-Bled ski centre, southwest of the Grand Hotel Toplice. A chairlift takes you 634m up the hill in three minutes; you'll be down the short slope in no time. Rental skis and poles are available from ProMontana and Kompas, both on Ljubljanska cesta.
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fishing permits
The tourist offices sells fishing permits valid for a day on the lake (around €23), the Radovna River (around €51) and the Sava Bohinjka River (around €46 to around €51, depending on location and catch). Fauna on Cesta Svobode sells equipment and has a guide service.
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horse-drawn carriages
Romantics will like one of the horse-drawn carriages from the stand near the Festival Hall (Festivalna Dvorana; Cesta Svobode 11). A spin around Lake Bled for five people costs around €25, and it's the same price for two people to the castle.
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tourist train
The lazy or infirm can jump aboard the tourist train for the 45-minute twirl around Lake Bled. It departs from in front of the Sport Hall (Športna Dvorana; Ljubljanska cesta 5) up to 20 times a day in season.
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Lesce Alpine Flying Centre
The Lesce Alpine Flying Centre 4km to the southeast has panoramic flights in Cessna 172s over Bled (around €70 for three people), Bohinj (around €120) and even Triglav (around €170)
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indoor swimming pools
Hotels with indoor swimming pools filled with thermal water and saunas that are open to nonguests include the Grand Hotel Toplice, the Park Hotel, Hotel Jelovica Bled and the Golf Hotel Bled.
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summer tobogganing track
In summer, the tiny (6-hectare) Straža-Bled ski centre becomes a summer tobogganing track, on which you wend your way down a metal chute sitting on a mini 'bobsled'.
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