The second of my day trips from Ljubliana was to Lake Bled. The hostel owner had also recommended Vintgar Gorge, which is nearby.
I got the bus to Bled, which took me through some lovely scenery:
Bled is at the eastern end of the lake, and was the tourist honeypot I expected it to be. I set off walking clockwise around the lake. The lake itself is very beautiful, with the waters a clear blue-green colour, with plenty of (quite tropical looking) fish.
At the western end of the lake, it’s possible to climb up a hill. Just like in the UK, a few meters climbing dispersed most of the crowds. There were excellent views of the church on the island:
After descending I started walking along the north shore, and stopped for a quick swim. The water was very pleasant and cooling on what was becoming another very hot day.
Shortly, it was time to leave the lake shore, and to head towards the gorge. The trail took me along minor roads through a few villages, with further lovely views
The gorge was €10, and one way. It was very picturesque
Some of the pools looked very inviting, but unfortunately swimming wasn’t allowed
Towards the end of the gorge, it’s crossed by an arched rail bridge:
At the end of the gorge, it’s exit via the cafe. From there there is a choice of two walks back to the start. The hostel owner had warned me that the buses back to Ljubljana could get full, so I’d decided to get the train back. There’s actually a station close to the end of the gorge, but as I had some time to kill before the next train, I followed one of the suggested routes back to the start, which took me close to Podhom station, which was the stop before the one at the end of the gorge.
The very shabby, decrepit sounding and graffiti covered train took us almost immediately into a long tunnel, which comes out over the gorge’s bridge:
We then headed through some more impressive scenery to Jesenice, where I had to change for the train back to the capital. Jesenice looked to be a very industrial town.
It was then about an hour’s train ride back to Ljubljana. This one was rather newer, and thankfully had air conditioning.
