Bled Castle
Here’s an article I wrote in 2009 about a place that turned out MUCH BETTER than advertised:
A picturesque mountain lake. Soaring Alpine peaks. A storybook island church. A medieval castle overlooking the scene from high atop a rock cliff. And no summer crowds.
Dare I let the secret out?
When you mention you’re going to Lake Bled, Slovenia, it tends not to register with the typical Orange County resident until you fill in some blanks. First of all, it’s Slovenia, not Slovakia, which used to be part of Czechoslovakia. Look further south and west on your map of Europe and you will find Slovenia, a country about half the size of Switzerland, tucked in south of Austria. For most of the 20th century Slovenia was part of Yugoslavia, and Bled had the distinction of being its longtime ruler’s hideaway.
It’s easy to see why. The sparkling turquoise lake set amid the towering Alps is every bit as charming as those you find in Switzerland. But Slovenia is off the beaten track of Euro-tourism – at least for Americans.
We stayed at Pension Mayer, a small chalet-style inn with a top-rated restaurant just outside our cottage’s door. Here they keep the local trout fresh, splashing in a well, until a diner places an order. At one point we worried that our reservation, made on the Web, might not have stuck because the proprietors had not requested a credit card number. We emailed them, and they said they didn’t need one. When we got there all was in order.
Pension Mayer
The lodging was very reasonable – about $450 for two nights in a two-bedroom cottage that slept five. Despite the town’s quaintness and lack of tourist hordes, we did not find meals to be bargains. They were fresh and high quality to be sure. We also had good meals at the lakeside Labod, where we sampled Bled’s signature cream cake on the patio, and Okarina on the main road into town, where wild art, fresh fish and Indian food made for an eclectic and enjoyable dinner.
Generally speaking, restaurant prices in Bled, like the other places we visited in Europe, were similar to at home – not particularly cheap or expensive.
There was no lake view from our two-bedroom cottage, but a five-minute walk alongside the larger hotel next door got us to lakeside and we were able to view its various brilliant colors, moods and angles as we walked the entire 4-mile circumference on an uncrowded shoreline trail in weather that transitioned from sunshine to rain and back.
We rented a wooden row boat — only vintage crafts without motors are allowed on the peaceful lake — and visited the island where grooms purportedly are required to carry their brides up dozens of steps to the 17th Century Church of the Assumption. We walked through a fable-style enchanted forest to Bled Castle, a 1,000-year-old fortress built strategically atop a huge cliff. The views are spectacular and the castle museum offers an interesting glimpse into the history of the area and its people.
We had heard Bled was nice and made it a two-night way station on our drive from Munich, German, to Dubrovnik, Croatia. This rather atypical itinerary was cobbled from airline miles, Marriott Rewards points and a family gathering in Dubrovnik. Although we had not even heard of Bled a few months before, it seemed familiar, like the inspiration for those European fairy tales we all grew up with.
Slovenia and Croatia exceeded our expectations with plenty to fill an entire two weeks if we had chosen. Lake Bled is a somewhat hidden treasure that is definitely worth visiting if you’re going to be in the neighborhood. And the neighborhood is a worthy destination, even if it is off the typical vacation track for Americans. This situation is likely to change. New, modern autobahns provide easy access to Slovenia and Croatia from Austria and Italy. There may not be an abundance of flights directly into Sovenia, but Bled is only a 2 ½-hour drive from Salzburg, Austria, and four hours from Munich, Germany. This corridor makes for a spectacular exploration the eastern Alps, which we might consider the Alps less traveled.
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