Lake Bled is a green lake with an island in the middle, a church on the island, a castle on a cliff above it and the Alps behind. It is the postcard of Slovenia and it is real, and it is small enough that a family can do all of it in three days without a car.
The island first. Rent a rowboat and row it yourself, twenty minutes each way with a child on each oar for the photo, or take the pletna, the flat wooden boat with the striped awning that a local rows standing up. On the island, ninety nine steps to the church, and a bell to ring for a wish. The kids ring it. Everyone rings it.
The castle on the cliff is a walk up through the woods or a short drive. Small museum, a printing press where the kids can make a page, a terrace with the whole lake below. An hour, then the cafe.
The gorge and the cake
Vintgar gorge is four kilometers away. A wooden boardwalk pinned to the rock above a river that runs turquoise through a narrow gap, ending at a waterfall. Flat, safe, spectacular, and it takes an hour each way with children. Go first thing, it gets busy.
Bled cream cake, kremna rezina, is a slab of vanilla custard and cream between two layers of pastry, invented at the Park Hotel and served at every cafe around the lake. One slice, four forks. It is dessert and lunch.
Swim from the lido on the west shore where the water is shallow and warm by July. Walk the six kilometer path around the lake in the evening. Three nights. Then the Soca valley or Ljubljana, both an hour away.
Planning Slovenia with kids? Start with the full Slovenia family travel guide, or send me the ages and the dates and I will come back with what is really available.
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