HIKING IN LAKE BLED: HIKING TO THE BEST VIEWPOINTS

Are you planning a trip to Lake Bled? One of the most popular activities in Bled is to hike to one of its many viewpoints. This will allow you to get a beautiful aerial view of the lake with its iconic island in the middle. Do you also want to do this activity but are unsure which viewpoints are the best ones? Do you want to know how to get to them? Then, you have to keep reading this blog to learn everything there is to know about Hiking in Lake Bled. Are you ready? Put on our hiking boots and follow me!

HIKING IN LAKE BLED - PRACTICAL INFORMATION

Lake Bled is probably the most famous and photographed place in Slovenia. Well, it is not difficult to understand why. Even if you have already seen many photos of it, as soon as you get there, you too will not be able to stop taking photos. But where is the best place to take photos? What should I know before I visit Bled? Here is some practical information to make your visit to Bled as smooth as possible.

Getting to Lake Bled

Lake Bled is located in the Julian Alps, in the northwestern part of Slovenia. The lake is only 35 km away from the Ljubljana International Airport and 55 km away from Ljubljana itself. This makes it a very popular destination for a day trip from the capital of Slovenia.

Getting to Bled by Car: Driving to Bled is probably the easiest way to reach it. All you have to do is rent a car for a day or two (depending on how much time you want to spend there) and you’ll be in Bled in approximately 40 minutes. If you’re visiting during the summer months, it might take up to an hour since it is a very popular destination to escape the heat in Ljubljana.

Good to know: At Bled, there are many parking lots where you will be able to park your car. However, all of them are paying ones and let me tell you, they are not cheap. We paid 18 euros to park our car there for the whole day! In addition, make sure to get there early during the summer months to guarantee you find a parking spot easily.

Getting to Bled by Public Transport: If you don’t want to go through the hassle of renting a car and then finding a parking spot, you can also reach Lake Bled by bus. Every hour there are buses that will leave from Ljubljana Bus Station to Bled. You can find the timetables and ticket prices on the Ljubljana Bus Station Website.

Best viewpoints in Bled

There are many viewpoints in Lake Bled. You can get amazing views of the lake from Bled Castle, from the Toboggan on the East part of the lake, etc. However, in my opinion, the best viewpoints in Bled are:

Mala Osojnica
Mala Ojstrica

Equipment Needed

The hikes to the viewpoints near Lake Bled are not very long so I would only recommend bringing two things.

Proper hiking shoes. The trails to reach both viewpoints are quite steep and can get really muddy if it has rained recently. Trust me, I was here in August 2023, right after the flooding in Slovenia and my trail shoes were very useful.
A hat to protect you from the sun. If you’re visiting during the summer months, remember to bring a hat. Heat strokes are not fun.

Things To Know Before Hiking

Here are a couple of things that will be good to know before you hike to these viewpoints.

These viewpoints are quite popular, so if you want to enjoy them without many people around them, make sure to get here early.
During the summer months, it can get quite humid and warm. Starting your hikes early, will not only grant you fewer people, but it is also a fantastic way to cope with the heat.
Instead of hiking up and down twice to get to these viewpoints, it is possible to combine them in one hike.

PLAN YOUR TRIP TO SLOVENIA

Book your flights with WayAway.com
Book your car with Rentalcars.com
Find the best places to stay with Booking.com
Get reliable travel insurance.
Find the best activities to do like with Get Your Guide.
Don’t forget to pack your Airtag to always help you locate your checked-in baggage.
Remember to bring with you your portable battery and Insta360 Flow to capture the best photos and videos.

HIKING TO THE BEST VIEW POINTS IN BLED

Hike Summary

Trail Start/End: Southwest part of the lake (see map below for exact location)
Distance: 4,67 km
Elevation Gain: 293 m
Route Type: Circular Route
Estimated Time Needed: 2 hours (This includes plenty of time to rest and enjoy the views).

If you want to do the same hike as we did, we followed this AllTrails hike: Bled – Ojstrica – Velika Osojnica – Osojnica Trail

My Experience Hiking in Lake Bled

We arrived at Lake Bled at approximately 9 am. We parked our car, approximately 500 meters away from the trailhead so we began our hike, by walking next to the lake. It was a warm summer morning and there were not that many people around the lake yet.

It was so peaceful… The waters were very calm and gave a beautiful reflection of the sky and Bled Island. It was very difficult to not stop every few steps to take many photos and admire these views!

We had only been at Lake Bled for a couple minutes and we were already in love with the place.

Hiking to Mala Osojnica Viewpoint

As soon we reached the official beginning of the trail, it started going uphill immediately. It was quite steep but the trail was well-maintained so it was just a matter of taking it slow. Thankfully, this part of the trail was partially covered by trees, so the sun was not adding extra difficulty to the hike.

The trail kept going up while it zigzagged on the side of the hill. Every now and then we got a small glimpse of the lake and stopped to enjoy the view and rest a little bit. There were some parts that were a bit more difficult than others and had some chains to help you go up but all in all, it was not too difficult.

And then, we reached some very long and steep stairs. However, right after them, we reached a bench and the most amazing view of Bled Island.

We relaxed on the bench and ate a small snack while admiring the view. And to make it even better, we were completely alone there!

However, despite this spot being amazing, this was not yet Osojnica Viewpoint. We continued our way uphill and approximately 5 minutes later, we reached Osojnica’s Viewpoint. The view of Lake Bled here was better but on the downside, there were metallic fences blocking the view. Personally, I liked the bench a bit lower better.

Hiking to Mala Ojstrica Viewpoint

After Osojnica’s viewpoint, the trail continues to go up until you summit, Velika Osojnica. However, I had read that the view up there was not really worth it so instead, we headed directly to Ojstrica Viewpoint.

The trail between both viewpoints was almost flat with some moderate downhills in between. However, it was quite muddy and slippery due to the recent rain. Many people turned around because they were not wearing proper hiking shoes.

After approximately 15-20 minutes, we reached Ojstrica Viewpoint and it was really crowded! However, with a little bit of patience, we managed to get some really amazing photos! In fact, our photo from this viewpoint is one of my favorite photos of our Slovenia road trip.

Tip: I would recommend doing the hike in the other sense than we did. I would begin with Ojstrica and head to Osojnica afterwards. In my opinion, the views ad Ojstrica are better since there is no fence blocking the view. It would have been nice to be here with fewer crowds.

From Ojstrica, the trail just went down quite steeply and again it was quite slippery due to the recent rain. We took it slowly and made it back to the lake where we spent the rest of the day, exploring the different sites around it.

MAP WITH ALL LOCATIONS

And that’s it for my blog about hiking in Lake Bled. I hope you liked it and it encouraged you to visit one of the most beautiful places in Slovenia. Let me know what you think in the comments!

Happy hiking!

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