Slovenia Part I – Kranjska Gora, Lake Bled, Lake Bohinj

We leave Salzburg and head for Slovenia. We’re expecting great scenery when we hit Slovenia but Austria is also beautiful. There are so many castles and fortresses along the way. This was taken from the window of the car while we whizzed by on the autobahn (well I think we were on an autobahn – we were going very fast!!). Hohenwerfen Castle:

We decide to tick some things off the list before we hit our accommodation so we head straight for the Vintgar gorge or Soteska Vintgar. It’s a 1.6km walk through the gorge one way and you can enter from either side but you’ve got to walk back unless you’ve someone to collect you on the other side. We’re happy to view it from both directions as it really is stunning. [side note: pretty much everything in Slovenia requires a ticket. It’s €10 to enter the gorge and you must hold onto your ticket to exit).

It’s so quiet and the water is really clear. There are some tourists but it’s not overly busy

There’s a small refreshment area at the entrance/exit to the gorge and they have potica cake which Jennifer told us her grandmother used to make it. Did I forget to mention we have a Slovenian with us? It’s a bit like a fruit brack – not too sweet more like bread with dried fruit.

As we are only 4kms from Lake Bled, we decide to continue on and tick that off our list today. We park the car and follow a sign for the lake and suddenly it appears from behind the trees. It is stunning and just as picturesque as you’d imagine:

There are a number of options to get to the little island in the middle. We opt for a boat that’s rowed by a local rather than row ourselves and it’s definitely the better option. The rowers really work up a sweat rowing about a dozen of us in this boat.

There are 99 steps up to the small church and it takes only a few minutes to walk them and not too many more to walk around the tiny island. It’s all about the views back to shore – each way you look is beautiful. Looking back from the church to the castle:

Our rower points out a large house which he said was the summer home of Tito (former president of Yugoslavia) which is now a cafe with a terrace giving one of the best views of the lake and the little island with the church so we decide to do the return row to that side of the lake and walk back to where we’ve parked the car. We try the bled cream cake (kremna rezina) which we’d heard lots about and it is just like a custard slice so needless to say we love it. Throw in a glass of rose and that view and we are happy out…

On the walk back we take in the view from different angles and the light is really nice as the sun starts to go down. We are accosted by this lady who wants a photo with us (your guess is as good as mine) and of course we dutifully comply! She gives me a big hug before she rushes off with her friends!

From Bled we carry on to our Airbnb in Kranjska Gora which is just gorgeous. It has a terrace with a view of the mountains and is modern and spacious. Kranjska Gora is an alpine resort in northwestern Slovenia, near the mountains and glacial lakes of Triglav National Park. It’s very obviously a ski town, you can see the ski lifts and paths and it’s easy to imagine this place covered in snow and lots of skiers enjoying the apres ski in the many bars and restaurants. We are right in the centre of town and have dinner at Gostlina Cvitar. (Gostlina means restaurant) There’s some sort of festival on and a band are playing in the square. It’s a lovely end to our busy day – sitting in the square watching the locals enjoy the entertainment, as we do too!

Our second day is just as packed as the first. We start with a visit to Lake Bohinj which some say is prettier than Bled 😲. It is gorgeous but it’s hard to compare… we like them both – I would never discriminate against a beautiful lake!! We drive about an hour from Kranjska Gora (we actually have to pass by Lake Bled again) to the east (top end) of the lake. It’s stunning and as you’d imagine, surrounded by mountains:

St John the Baptist Church at the head of the lake, stands beyond the stone bridge so we head in there for a quick visit as we’ve read some interesting things about it.

It’s a tiny chapel but I count at least six different paintings or sculptures of the beheading of John the Baptist – they’re quite gruesome.

There are mosaics on the walls dating to the 13th century, one of which the guidebook tells us is of the first murderer – Cain from the Bible. (I must admit I’d never thought of Cain in that way but I suppose he is the first documented murderer!). He’s depicted with a white devil on his shoulder which apparently is very unusual!

There are also paintings of, what I would call, scary angels around the back of the alter – bizarre! Look at their teeth…

We climb to the top of its bell tower for another stunning view of the lake before we leave this peculiar little church. The girls jump in for a swim which looks amazing and I have a bit of a dip (not brave enough for much else 😢). The water is really clear and not too cold. It’s very refreshing on such a hot day.

We are coming to realize that Slovenia is full of waterfalls and they are called slaps. We drive to the west side of the lake, about 4kms up a windy road and take a short hike through the trees to Savica slap.

It is truly one of the prettiest waterfalls I’ve ever seen. The colour of the water is just beautiful.

Passing Bled again (it’s hard not to take more photos), we leave the lakes behind and get closer to home to do the “Martuljek” hike. Jennifer found this hike online and it sounds amazing. It’s a two hour hike to an alpine meadow which is surrounded by the Julian alps. By the time we find the starting point its much later than we planned to set out hiking (it’s already nearly 5pm) but we don’t want to miss it so we make a start. it’s a tough climb in some parts and we’re wondering if we should turn back but we push on and we are so glad we did… The view is idyllic with dairy cows wandering by. It really is stunning…

There’s a hut called Pri Ingotu which closes at 6pm and we make it there at 5:45. The guy tells us to relax and have a beer and that we’ve loads of time to get back before dark… we take his word for it!

Video clip alert!!!!

We are so glad we did this amazing hike and really happy to have finished it before it started to get dark. Happiness and relief on our faces below:

Elated and delighted with ourselves, we go straight to town for an easy dinner. As we are very close to the Italian border there are lots of Italian restaurants and we’ve decided to go for some recommended pizza. It’s really good. While sitting outside enjoying the pizza and some local beer (you know we’re going to crack open one of the wines when we get home), we hear music approaching and soon realize it’s a stag party who decide to serenade us and insist we drink a shot of some local schnapps with them..

When they hear I’m Irish the guy with the accordion insists on singing the entire “Living Next Door to Alice” …. you know the one – “Alice, Alice, who the F#*k is Alice” 🤭… I thought we might get asked to leave the restaurant!! Mortified!

We have been so lucky visiting this area at this time of year, it’s coming toward the end of the season so everything is a little quieter and there are no hordes of tourists but the weather is still beautiful. Tomorrow we will cross the Vršič Pass and drive south to explore more of this beautiful country.