Bled – Petty, expensive and full of No-Gos

18. + 19. August 2025

 

 

It’s really amazing how close Slovenia is! Hardly had we crossed the Austrian border, we were already at our destination—at least in terms of kilometers. In reality, though, we were stuck in traffic. And we later learned: there’s always traffic there. And it’s really bad. Apparently, the town of Bled had some plans, made some changes, and then assumed that farmers would give up their land for the road. But the farmers said: no way! You already tricked us years ago with something, now we don’t want to. And that’s why there’s traffic. Always!

 

But eventually, we did get there and had plenty to marvel at: it’s a tourist hotspot. Everything was crowded with people, and almost automatically, everyone addressed us in English as the most likely common language. The visitors seemed pretty mixed, though—we heard Americans, French, saw license plates from many former Yugoslavian countries, and all sorts of people who appeared to be from various parts of Asia were bustling around as well.

 

We wandered around and realized we had two architectural expectations: traditional “Balkan” houses and buildings with a socialist vibe. There was a bit of both, though not an overwhelming amount. About 5,000 people live here at 500 meters elevation by a very picturesque lake, which also has Slovenia’s only island.

 

 

I had booked Vila Nana. It was a must, and it turned out to be a great choice. The owner is Rosi from Bremen, who, ages ago, fell in love with a Slovenian jazz musician; they married and had a daughter, Nadja, who later came to be called Nana. Today, her husband has passed away, Rosi is 90 (and very fit), and Nadja works in Austria. We had an apartment under the roof and found it an excellent choice.

 

 

On the evening walk by the lake, we saw the many people and the numerous “no-go” signs.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

So people strolled politely, sat in cafés, ate and drank, and everything felt a bit too orderly and “petty.”<

 

Then the next day came, and we walked along a pretty path over a hill, only to find a very popular toboggan run on the other side:

 

 

 

 

Bled has a castle that sits picturesquely atop a high cliff above the lake, and you can photograph it from anywhere at any time:

 

 

 

 

We walked up there, but the high entrance fee (€18) kept us from going inside. Later, we saved €12 at a church and €13 for a jump in the lake. We also didn’t go on the toboggan run, rent bikes, or pay for parking, saving even more. The only expense we had was a boat ride to the island for €20.

 

 

We got the impression that you can easily spend quite a lot of money here. Besides the boat ride, I also tried the local specialty: Kremsnita:

 

 

Only espresso, cappuccino, and the like seemed cheaper than at home. There were also plenty of coffee machines here, which reminded me of Armenia—just with more variety..

 

 

 

What was still cheap or free: a church interior (and Jesus on the outside).

 

 

 

 

 

But we did end up investing in that boat trip. The boats are called Pletna and are rowed using a special standing technique. The boats are built and maintained locally, the rowers are from the area, and in 2019, the boats and rowing technique were declared intangible cultural heritage of Slovenia.

 

 

 

 

The destination was Blejski Otok island, which greeted visitors right away with a no-go sign.

 

 

On the island, there’s a church with a tower. But since it costs quite a lot to go inside, we just looked from the outside and strolled around the little island, repeatedly enjoying the amazing color of the water.

 

 

 

 

UThen we were rowed back and felt like we’d seen pretty much everything Bled had to offer. It didn’t exactly blow us away, but it wasn’t really bad either. Whenever I visit a new country or region, I seem to always look for quirks, little details that make you pause and marvel, and maybe even reflect a bit.

 

Here I reflected on how people spend their vacations, how much money they sometimes have to spend—especially families seeking entertainment—and what that does to a place like this. Rosi mentioned that people don’t really love living here, because aside from tourism there aren’t many job opportunities, and local offerings are limited. Probably these prices and vacations are “normal” nowadays, and it’s just me clinging to an old image of the affordable former Yugoslavia.

 

Besides all the conspicuous prohibition signs, my eye was also drawn to this unusual horse head with bulging eyes:

 

 

Next, we planned to embark on a hut-to-hut tour. You’ll read about that later. Particularly for one day, very bad weather was forecast. In principle, everything is quite close to what I’m used to. But what’s already a bit special is the completely foreign language, which gives me a “more unfamiliar” feeling and makes me imagine that even hiking in the mountains must somehow be “different.” I’m curious!