Lake Bled is one of the most beautiful areas in Slovenia and definitely, one of our favourite places to visit in the country. One of the best ways to enjoy the surrounding landscapes is to follow some of the beautiful trails that exist around Lake Bled. To help you plan your outdoor activities in the area, we put together this guide on the Best Hikes and Walks around Lake Bled. Here we will primarily focus on trails that can be reached on foot from the town of Bled. Some of the trails are easy and family-friendly, while others will offer a little more challenge by ascending some short mountains. However, none of the trails presented here are particularly difficult as the truly tall mountains are beyond walking distance from Bled.
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You might also be interested in these pages (coming soon):
Best Things to See and Do in Bled (Slovenia)
Best Day Trips from Bled (Slovenia)
5-Day Slovenia Road Trip Itinerary
Best Hiking and Walking Trails Near Bled (Slovenia)
Lake Bled Gorge Location & Map
Lake Bled is located in northwestern Slovenia, immediately west of the town of Bled near the edge of Triglav National Park. The closest large town is Slovenia’s capital, Ljubljana.
How to get to Lake Bled
By Car: Bled (and Lake Bled) is particularly easy to get to from Ljubljana (45-50 minutes). It is also within driving distance of Zagreb (2 hours), Salzburg (3 hours), Venice (3 hours), Munich (4 hours), Vienna (4 hours) and Milan (5 hours).
If you need to book a rental vehicle for your travels, we highly recommend using Discover Cars to get the best rates on your rental in Slovenia.
We also highly recommend Airalo (eSIM card) for your connectivity needs when travelling abroad. Airalo is the world’s first and largest eSIM store with eSIM plans for 200+ countries and regions worldwide.
Important: All Slovenian freeways and expressways are subject to tolls. All cars, motorbikes, and camper vans must have purchased a digital vignette online when they plan to drive onto a motorway or expressway. Digital Vignettes with periods of validity of 7 days, 1 month, 6 months or 12 months are available and can be purchased from the Slowenien Vignette website. They are not prohibitively expensive — for instance, the 7-day vignette for cars costs €13.90 (2024).
By Bus: You can take a bus from Ljubljana central bus station to Bled central bus station, which takes about 1h-1h15.
The operator FlixBus provides long-distance bus services to Bled from several of Europe’s major cities, including Salzburg, Munich, Budapest, Prague, Milan, and Zagreb. Schedules and fares can be found on the FlixBus website.
By Train: There are two stations at Bled — Lesce-Bled (4 km from the city center) and Bled Jezero (1.5km from the city center, near the western edge of the lake). Despite being farther from the center, arriving at Lesce-Bled is generally easier as it lies along the Oste railway line, which connects cities between Munich, Salzburg, Villach, Ljubljana and Belgrade, and eventually Athens (in contrast, arriving at Bled Jezero would require an additional train transfer). From Lesce-Bled, you can take the bus (the bus stop is on the other side of the road from the train station) to the Bled central bus station, which is located in the town center).
If you want to save transit time, we don’t recommend taking the train from Ljubljana as the journey takes nearly twice as long as the bus. However, the journey is more scenic from the train.
By Group Tour (from Ljubljana or Zagreb): This can be a great option if you don’t want to deal with the transit logistics while benefiting from a time-efficient direct route. The following tours are particularly popular and well-rated:
Arrival by Car & Parking:
If you are visiting Bled as part of a day trip, you will probably need to use one of the public car parks (if you are staying overnight, your accommodation will likely provide parking for you). One of the better large car parks is referred to as “Lake Bled Parking” next to the Bled arena – the car park is open 24 hours a day, parking is unlimited and costs 2.5€ / hour (2024). For more options, consult Bled’s parking website.
About Lake Bled
Lake Bled is a lake of mixed glacial and tectonic origin in the Julian Alps of northwestern Slovenia, where it adjoins the town of Bled. The lake, which is 2,120 m (6,960 ft) long and 1,380 m (4,530 ft) wide, with a maximum depth of 29.5 m (97 ft), is located in a stunning environment, surrounded by mountains and forests. The lake color will dazzle you, particularly as it changes during the day based on the angle at which the sunlight reflects on the surface, ranging from a deep blue-green to a clear sapphire blue.
The Medieval Bled Castle is built on a precipice overlooking Lake Bled. It is believed to be the oldest Slovenian castle and is currently one of the most visited tourist attractions in Slovenia. The lake itself surrounds Bled Island, where you will find the pilgrimage church (and its 50m high tower) dedicated to the Assumption of Mary, built in its current form near the end of the 17th century. To access the church once ashore, you have to climb a 99 Baroque stone staircase dating from 1655.
As you can see, there are many things to see and do around Lake Bled, so we’ve dedicated several travel guides to the area. In addition to this Best Hikes and Walks around Lake Bled guide, we have also put together the following guides:
–Best Photo Spots and Viewpoints Around Lake Bled (coming soon), where we will highlight some of our favourite photography spots around the lake.
–Best Things to See and Do in Lake Bled (coming soon), where we will present all the best things to do in the area, including tips on how to visit the Castle and Bled Island.
–Best Day Trips from Lake Bled (coming soon), a guide that can be useful if you are planning to stay a few days in Bled and would like to explore what else the region has to offer.
Best Hikes and Walks near Lake Bled
Lake Bled Loop
This is the quintessential trail that anyone visiting Lake Bled should do. It’s easy and family-friendly, yet the views around the trail are non-stop spectacular. You’ll probably have a hard time stopping yourself from taking pictures around every corner.
The trail is very easy to follow and there is no significant elevation gain as the trail essentially loops around the lake.
Distance: 6.0 km
Route Type: Loop
Elevation gain: 105 m (115m cumulative elevation gain)
Start point: Town of Bled
AllTrails rating: (4.7, 291 ratings (2024))
Duration: Most people complete the loop in about 1h30-2h
Access Fees: Free
It is generally recommended to walk the trail in a clockwise direction and we would agree. It starts with a bang and you are rewarded with immediate stunning views of the castle.
Some additional notes about the trail:
-The first quarter of the trail is essentially a sidewalk along the main road out of the town. But don’t worry, this is short-lived and soon the trail and the road will separate making the walk more peaceful and enjoyable.
-The path is shared with cyclists, so that is something to be aware of. But we found that pedestrians far outnumber cyclists so it didn’t really become an annoyance or an issue.
-When walking the loop trail in the clockwise direction, the best views of the lake and the surrounding scenery definitely occur during the first half of the walk (along the lake’s southern shore). You no longer see the castle along the lake’s northern shore and you see the island church’s backside. To maximize your time enjoying the best scenery, once you reach the beach along the lake’s western shore, which roughly marks the midway point of the walk, you could backtrack and return the way you came instead of completing the loop.
-You will actually need to walk part of the Lake Bled loop trail to reach the trailheads for the next three trails described below. So you can easily combine several of these trails together.
2- Mala Osojnica Trail
This trail leads to our favorite viewpoint (Mala Osojnica) of Lake Bled. The trail isn’t very long or particularly difficult, but it is pretty steep the whole way (you’ll climb over 150m in elevation in just under a kilometre), with a few metal staircase sections.
If you are in decent shape, you can probably make it up to the viewpoint in about 20 minutes.
Distance: 1.8 km
Route Type: Out & back
Elevation gain: 177m
Start point: Mala Osojnica Trailhead
AllTrails rating: (4.9, 222 ratings (2024))
Duration: Most people complete the loop in under an hour
Access Fees: Free
A favorite time to make this climb is for sunrise, the views from the viewpoint are quite spectacular. But don’t expect to be alone, it can actually get quite busy at sunrise when it isn’t too early in the morning.
Not an AllTrails member yet? We highly recommend signing up for either their free or paid membership plans. The free plan allows you to find new trails and plan routes but can only be used while hiking if you have access to mobile data. The paid membership plan (AllTrails+) allows you to download trail maps for offline use and provides live progress updates and off-route notifications.
If you are still uncertain – you should know that the All Trails mobile application was voted the 2023 iPhone App of the Year by Apple.
3- Mala Ojstrica Trail
This is a slightly longer version of the previous trail, but with two primary exceptions: 1) it leads to a second viewpoint (Mala Ojstrica) and 2) the return leg completes a loop instead of returning the same way you came up.
This is a good trail to do if you want a longer route and/or prefer loop trails to out-and-back ones. However, don’t expect a better second viewpoint, as the Maja Osojnica viewpoint has partially obstructed views of the lake below due to the surrounding foliage. The views from Mala Ojstrica are hard to beat, and it’s a much larger viewpoint that can accommodate larger crowds.
Distance: 3.1 km
Route Type: Loop
Elevation gain: 217m
Start point: Mala Osojnica Trailhead
AllTrails rating: (4.7, 401 ratings (2024))
Duration: Most people complete the loop in about 1h-1h30
Access Fees: Free
Trail Notes:
-Contrary to what is indicated on the map above, we would suggest starting the trail from the same spot as the Mala Ojstrica trail. Once you’ve descended
-Also contrary to what is indicated on the above map, we would suggest doing the loop clockwise instead of counter-clockwise. This is for a few reasons: 1) We believe it’s best to go up the steepest section and not down, and 2) we found that most people did it this way, meaning that you would be going against the flow of traffic if following a counter-clockwise direction.
4- Straza Trail
Straza (646 m) is a hill on the southern side of Lake Bled and is favorite among hikers, as it offers attractive views of Castle Bled and the Julian Alps in the background. The trails on the hill are free to access.
Straza can be accessed from several paths with different starting points around the hill. Unfortunately, there’s no curated trail to follow on All Trails, but you can clearly see the main access points on the map below. We prefer to access the mountain trails either from this point on the west side or near the parking lot on the north side. Ideally, you go up one way, explore the summit (which has viewpoints in several directions and a fitness trail) and then come back down the other.
The trails aren’t too steep or difficult. You can easily cover most of the mountain in about an hour.
The reward is definitely the views from the top, particularly those of Bled Castle in the distance, but also those from a viewpoint looking south towards farmlands.
From another viewpoint, you’ll also get good views of Bled island from above.
If you want the views without having to make the climb, you can use the chairlift that is located by the car park. But even better, climb up the hill and come down via the toboggan slide along 520 metres 520-metre-long track down the hill. We did it once and it was a lot of fun!
You check for up-to-date chairlift and toboggan ride prices here.
5- Vintgar Gorge Loop
Although Vintgar Gorge isn’t in the immediate vicinity of Lake Bled, we are including this proposed loop walk for two reasons: 1) The actual Vintgar Gorge trail isn’t very long, and 2) the walk to-and-from Bled is both pleasant and scenic, and is only slightly longer than the Lake Bled loop trail.
The gorge itself is stunning. Wooden boardwalks follow the gorge’s walls and run for approximately 1.6 km.
The boardwalk also crosses the river on several occasions giving you spectacular vantage points to capture some of the river’s various features, including small pools, falls, and rapids.
For more information on visiting the gorge, including opening hours and access fees, check out our Vintgar Gorge Hiking and Visiting Guide.
With regards to the loop trail between Bled and Vintgar Gorge, it can be divided into two sections: 1) The walk from Bled to the Vintgar Gorge entrance, and 2) the walk from the Vintgar Gorge exit back to Bled. This avoids you having to backtrack to the Gorge entrance while allowing you to see different scenery (and in our opinion, the return leg from the gorge exit is more scenic).
The Walk from Bled to the Vintgar Gorge entrance
Distance: 4 km
Route Type: One-way
Elevation gain: 95 m
As we alluded to earlier this walk is fairly straightforward. You simply need to walk towards Podhom and then follow the signs along the way that direct you to the Gorge. Much of the walk is along the side of countryside roads on which there is little to no car traffic. In some areas there are sidewalks, but not along the full length of the path (at least it wasn’t the case when we walked to the gorge). The first half of the walk (see the Google Maps link above) is fairly flat, but there is some elevation (nothing too steep) during the second half of the walk.
Most of the walk takes place through scenic open countryside and farmlands.
The Walk from the Vintgar Gorge exit back to Bled
Distance: 4 km
Route Type: One-way
Elevation gain: -130 m
The return walk from the gorge exit is very different from the walk to the gorge entrance. This route first goes through a mix of open pastures and forests, with a stop by the scenic St Katarina Church. A few short hops from the church is a restaurant featuring an outdoor patio with stunning views, for those in need of food or refreshments.
From here, continue straight downhill towards the village of Zasip, and you will quickly be rewarded with beautiful panoramic views of the surrounding landscape.
You might even come across some goats as we did.
Hiking Packing List
All Trails subscription – This comes in really handy for areas with little or no cell reception, as the annual subscription allows you to download trail maps for offline use.
External Battery – If you are using your phone to track your progress along the trail or to help with navigation, you certainly don’t want your phone to die on you. That’s especially true in the unlikely event that you might get hurt or need assistance.
Hiking poles – These can be particularly useful in steep trails or muddy/boggy trail conditions.
Trail Tips For Hiking Around Lake Bled
-During the peak summer months, the Mala viewpoints can get quite crowded. Try to arrive early in the morning or late afternoon
-Stick to the designated paths to protect the surrounding environment. Take nothing but pictures, leave nothing but footprints, and keep nothing but memories.
-Although most trails aren’t very long, it’s best to do them with proper hiking or athletic shoes (with the exception of the Lake Bled loop trail).
-For photographers, drones are not permitted in Triglav National Park (and this includes Vintgar Gorge).
– All trails listed above are open year-long, except for the Vintgar Gorge, which closes during winter for safety reasons.
Other Sights and Attractions Near Lake Bled
Coming Soon
Where to Stay near Lake Bled
Coming Soon
Photography Gear
If you like our photography, you might be interested in some of the gear we use to shoot our travel and hiking destinations.
Camera Body – Nikon Z 6ii Fx-series Mirrorless Body
Main Lens – NIKON 24-120mm F/4G ED VR AF-S
Zoom Lens – Sigma 745-306 150-600mm f/5-6.3
Polarizing filters – Urth Circular Polarizing (CPL)
Camera Tripod – K&F Concept 64-inch Camera Tripod
Mini-tripod – Lammcou Flexible Camera Tripod
Camera/hiking backpack – Vanguard Alta Rise 48 Backpack
Universal Travel Adapter – VYLEE Universal International Power Travel Plug
Other Travel Essentials
Travel Insurance
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e-Sim cards
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eSIMS are a sustainable alternative to single-use SIM cards – they are 100% digital, require less energy to produce and be re-used rather than disposed of.
Car Rentals
Discover Cars is our go-to website for car rentals. We almost always find our preferred rate there.
Transfer from Airport
Welcome Pickups is our favourite private transfer service, which you can pre-book at a fixed price. Currently available in 220 cities all over the world (mostly in Europe, but with several major cities in Asia, the Middle East and the US).
Kiwitaxi is another private transfer service – we haven’t tried it yet, but it’s currently available in a few more countries (102 as of 2024).
Hotels and Accommodations (coming soon)
Photography Prints
If you found this blog useful, you can help support our blog by purchasing low-cost digital prints. Printed physical prints are also available for purchase.
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Well, that wraps it up! We hope you enjoyed our guide on the Best Hikes and Walks around Lake Bled, Slovenia and that it will prove useful for planning your trip.
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