Arriving in Lake Bled and Walking the Vintgar Gorge!

Monday was a mainly sunny day until the evening when we were hit with a massive thunderstorm. High of 22C.  We said our farewells to Ljubljana and caught the 11:00 a.m. bus to Bled.  We arrived at 12:20 p.m.

En route to the bus station-- picking up some coffee beans at Stow 2 Go near the Main Square

From the bus window-- lots of small villages and lots of green

Lovely scenery

We are staying in Lake Bled for two nights and this is the only part of our journey that we are staying in a Pension rather than an Airbnb.  "Mint and Lavender Pension" is about a 20 minute walk north of the bus station to a suburb of the town of Bled.  The entire town has an amazing Alpine vibe because it is just below the Julian Alps and many of the houses are chalet style.   

Lake Bled is Slovenia's leading mountain resort.  Since the Habsburg days, Lake Bled has been the place where Slovenes entertain visiting diplomats.  In the late 19th century, local aristocrats surrounded the lakefront village of Bled with large villas.  Tito had one of his vacation homes here (today's Hotel Vila Bled) where he entertained illustrious guests.

Our Pension is on a quiet street.  There are just four guest rooms and a shared kitchen we can use.  We are the only guests for the time we are here.

The side entrance to the Pension

Our cozy room with en suite bathroom

Shared kitchen area

View of the backyard of the Pension

Table just outside the side entrance to the Pension

Our host, Katja,  gave us some suggestions of what we could do as well as some restaurant recommendations.  Her very firm (i.e. do NOT miss this) suggestion was that we hike the Vintgar Gorge in the Triglav National Park.  She said it would take about 3-3 1/2 hours to get there, hike the Gorge and return.  Katja said we should go this afternoon as there was some rain predicted for Tuesday and none predicted until the evening on Monday.

We decided we would go on this adventure.  It was quite hot in the sun and we quickly realized that we should have worn shorts.  However, no turning back.  There was first about a 50 minute walk to get to the entrance to Triglav National Park and the Vintgar Gorge.

Heading down our street- a few Pensions but mostly private homes

Heading north through fields and another village

Everyone has large vegetable gardens-- typical houses

Lots of hills getting to the entrance

Entrance to the Park-- we only had to ask directions once en route

Poster about the Gorge and the Park

The Vintgar Gorge is found at the eastern end of the Triglav National Park, the only national park in Slovenia and one of the oldest in Europe.  There was a plaque outside the entrance to the Park with some information about Dr. Albin Belar (1864-1939).  He was a seismologist and scientist and the driving force behind the creation of the National Park.  Two years after the 1895 earthquake that devastated Ljubljana, Dr. Belar started a seismic observatory, the first of its kind in the Austro-Hungarian Monarchy.  Under his guidance, it developed into the leading seismic institution in Europe.  

In 1903, he submitted a proposal to the Provincial Government of Carniola, to establish nature reserves. Between 1906-08 he developed a proposal to protect the Triglav Lakes Valley.  In 1924, the proposal was partially implemented and a section of the present area protected, but permanent conservation was not yet possible at that time.  In 1961, the protection was renewed on a permanent basis, however all the objectives of a true national park had not been obtained.  Finally, in 1981, Triglav National Park was officially established in its modern form.  It was expanded to 838 square kilometres.  In 2010, the park expanded again to include the settlement of Tolmin, according to the wishes of its inhabitants, expanding the park area to 880 square kilometres.  The Park now covers 4% of the area of Slovenia!!

The river Radovna, which rises below Mount Triglav, travels between the sheer cliffs of Vintgar Gorge.  The Gorge is at the gateway to the National Park.  The Triglav National Park takes its name from Slovenia's highest mountain, the 2,864 metre tall Triglav. It covers most of the Julian Alps and is part of the Julian Alps Biosphere Reserve. 

The Gorge is 1.6 kilometres long and is highlighted by the Radovna River and its waterfalls, pools and rapids.  Though the gorge has been in existence for more than 10,000 years it was discovered in 1891 by a pair of adventurers (a photographer and the Gorje (a nearby village) mayor and cartographer).   It was impassable in its natural form, but due to the tourist development of Bled, more than 500 metres of bridges, railings and viewing platforms were built in 1893 and the gorge was regulated and open to the public.  Before each new season, the bridges, platforms and 1469 metres of protective wooden railings are inspected and repaired.  Every year, 50 young people from the local community of Gorje help out with the maintenance work.

It is a one-way trail through the Gorge and then one can choose two different trails out of the park. There is an entrance fee of 10 euros and one is given a helmet to protect oneself from hitting an overhang.

First photos of the gorge

One has to keep looking back to get the whole vista

Allan on one of the wider parts of the trail 

On a narrower wooden walkway on the gorge

Intricate series of paths and bridges- one criss-crosses the river

Another view

This part of the trail was incredibly beautiful

Rushing water

The trail and more rapids

At the end of the walk, is a beautiful waterfall

Bridge and waterfall

Right at the end of the walk

The walk along the gorge took about 1.5 hours.  We then took a route out of the park into a small village north of where we are staying with a beautiful small church called St. Katarina.

Leaving through the forest

St. Katarina - Gothic style church from about 1400 with a built balcony from the start of the 16th century.

Frescos on the Church wall

Church, mountains and clouds

We descended through the village of Zasip. 

View of the red roofed Church of John the Baptist (first mentioned in the 13th century) and sheep.  
A very pretty village. 

View of the Bled castle in the distance

We had a rest at the Pension and then headed into town for dinner at a recommended restaurant near the bus station.

View of St. Martin's Parish Church along the way

We had dinner at Gostilna Pri Planincu, which featured Slovenian food.

Outside of restaurant.  There is a dark pub inside but a wonderful side patio, where we had dinner.

Great outdoor seating- very buzzy

We shared a mixed grill plate and a seasonal salad- three different types of sausages and chicken.

What's not to like about delicious apple strudel, whipped cream and ice cream.

Just as we were finishing dinner we heard some very loud thunder and lightening and then it started to pour.  We had our umbrellas and hoofed it back to the Pension in record time.  We clocked just under 30,000 steps for the day.  Almost a record for both of us.  A very full first day in Bled.  We are so glad that Katja told us that we must walk the Gorge.