Lakes
It may well be the main reason that you are here in Green Slovenia.. maybe you saw a photo of "that lake" with the castle on the cliff, the church on the island, the huge mountains all around, the crystal clear water and decided to come and see for yourself..
Well you made a great choice and Green Slovenia has lots of lakes in all shapes & sizes and you will not be disappointed with Lake Bled, which is quite rightly at the top of the charts for the most picturesque Alpine lake in the world.
Sometimes our guests ask ahead if there is "anywhere here we can swim" and the advice we always give is to wait until you arrive at the Lodge, decide what adventures you will be doing and then for sure there will be lots of choices to swim along the way!
It might be in a river, a gorge, a waterfall, the Mediterranean sea or a lake, but there are very few adventures around Green Slovenia where you will not be close enough to some natural water source where you can have a paddle..
So pack your towel, roll up your trouser legs and now we will take you on a tour of just some of the amazing lakes you can get to from Lipizzaner Lodge.. but we are also sure we haven't found them all yet ourselves!
Lake Bled..
This is the picture perfect lake you might have heard about and for many people, Lake Bled, just one hour away from the Lodge and located at the gateway to the Slovenian Julian Alps, is probably the best known and possibly the most beautiful lake you will ever see... (just hold a bit though on deciding that honour untill you have read further down this section)!
Lake Bled has a picturesque little island in the middle of the lake with 99 steep steps up to a church and a bell you can ring to make a wish! You can only get to the island by taking a Venetian style gondola, (Pletna) across the crystal clear lake or rowing yourself.
The walk around the lake is breath taking and can take 2 hours to all day, depending how many places you stop to enjoy the view, if you take a boat trip to the island, hike up to the castle or just have a swim.
If you remember your first trip to London or jumping onto your first water taxi in Venice, then seeing this beauitiful lake for the first time will certainly leave an impression on you.. no photo can do it justice, so you have to see it with your own eyes all the way round, but that won't stop you wanting to take a lot of photos!
The Alps dominate the skyline as you circle the lake and the views of the castle on the cliff, the pointy spire of the mainland church and Bled church on the island will change with every footstep.
There is a lovely walk up to the beautiful castle on top of the steep cliff overlooking the lake and there are plenty of other activities to do at Bled for your day out, including biking, stand up boarding, hiking, swimming and there is even a toboggan ride down a steep hill!
There are also some excellent less energetic activities to do like the horse carriage ride around the lake and there is also a road train that regularly circles the lake which we highly recommend if you have difficulty walking or maybe an older relative in your party..
And of course you must try Slovenia's national cream cake, the "Crem Schnitta" here at the lakeside cafe with stunning vista overlooking the lake and in the shadow of the castle.
Bled is one of the very few places in Slovenia that can seem a little busy with tourists in the peak mid summer, but even then there are places to chill out and relax in peace and quiet by the lake. Just tweaking your visit to later in the afternoon or at different times of the year should also sort this minor problem out!
This lake is beautiful in ALL seasons though.. we have seen it in every month of the year and can you imagine how it looks here in late summer or when the golden leaves are dropping from the trees or in spring when the new buds are leafing?
We have also seen the lake in the white of winter.. wow.. and if you think how lucky little old Slovenia is to have this world class lake as our pin up for tourism..then read on.. it's just that there is an even more beautiful lake just down the road from Bled!!!
Lake Bohinj..
We didn't or in fact couldn't believe there is a better lake than Bled, not just in the same country, but only 25 mins further down the road.. but there is!
We had been lots of times to Bled before we finally went off with a friend who had kept banging on about how beautiful Lake Bohinj was.. well, he was right!
There is huge anticipation upon leaving the beauty of Bled and driving into the Alps along a lovely quiet road that sometimes meets up with the idyllic train line that rides next to another crystal clear river.
The mountains get much bigger so you have to peer under the sun vizor to see the tops of them and if you are lucky, you will also know about the right turn up the hill, just over halfway to Bohinj, which drops you into another side valley that is even more beautiful than the one you just left along the main road.. (to find this valley, navigate to the road that leads to "Stara Fuzina")
This side valley is filled with lovely little villages, where the road is so narrow it feels like a series of driveways, with all those rolling rocky green mountains and wooden hayracks..if you miss it on the way to the lake, make sure you go via Stara Fuzina back to Bled on the way home, so you do see it.
And then you see the church on the bridge at the start of the lake.. a completely different lake to Bled.. and you might start thinking.. well maybe they have got a point here!
Many people prefer hanging out at this bigger more natural beauty that is Lake Bohinj, (1 hour 20 from the Lodge). Here you can walk up to view a stunning waterfall, swim in the crystal clear water, jump on the lake passenger boat, or take a cable car up to the Vogel mountain hotel, James Bond style! .
A fact that not many people know is that Agatha Christie once took a holiday in a cottage overlooking lake Bohinj, but we are certain she did not use the lake for inspiration in any of her books as when asked by a local reporter.. she said.. it was so beautiful here, she could not think of murder or dark plots! (Native English speakers might have more of an idea EXACTLY what the great lady might have been inferring to the reporter on her hard earned holiday)!
Bohinj is almost 3 times bigger than Bled and so it takes a lot more walking around.. if you start from the stunning bridge then there is a path by the road alongside the lake with lots of viewpoints across, but once you get to the wooden pier at the end, the way back is along a narrow path next to the sheer mountain sides on the other side of the lake with skrie and rocks slipping down the slopes.. it is phenominal.
The wooden pier is also the starting point of a much longer walk to the Bohinj waterfall, Slap Savica if you prefer and if you enjoy hiking then do take the cable car to the top of the mountain and walk around Mt Vogel (1,922m) for spectacular views down to the lake and the Alps.
our TWO THIRDS Rule!..
So maybe now you would believe us if we told you about our little rule of thumb for advice about spending your time at these two lakes.. so we say if you have three units, so 3 hours, 3 days or 3 weeks, then make sure 2 of them are at Bohinj and 1 of them is at Bled and you won't go far wrong!
So when we combine a day trip to both lakes we usually head straight past Bled to Bohinj and then come back in the later afternoon to get our Crem Schnitta and stroll at Bled.
There are surprisingly few restaurants in this lake region that we consider are worth you spending your hard earned money in, so if you want somewhere great to go eat or hang out after your day out at the lakes then do check out our article on "the best place to eat at Bled.. Radovlica!"
And big as it is, Bohinj is not the largest natural lake in Green Slovenia.. well at least not all year round.. Slovenia also has a huge network of Disappearing Lakes that magically appear in the winter and disappear in the summer.. we even have the biggest disappearing lake in Europe here at Cerknica, (25 mins from the Lodge), which is much bigger than Bohinj and there is so much to tell you about these special lakes that you can find out more in our Disappearing Lakes section!
There are lots and lots of very lovely man made Lakes around Slovenia.. many offering a decent swim or a great hike or even a pleasure boat cruise!
the Soca Lake..(Most na Soci)..
It is almost ridiculously unfair to other countries in Europe, but Green Slovenia has yet another world class lake.. this one takes it's amazing turquoise water from the most beautiful river in Europe, the Soca.. and this lake is called "Most na Soca".. (the lake at Soca Bridge) and you just won't believe how fantastic the colour is!
Even better, there is a wonderful paddle steamer that can cruise you up and down this lake and for us it is one of the best secret surprises in all Green Slovenia, cos you also get to meet one of Slovenia's best characters, the joyful Captain Dejan, who accompanies you on this most beautiful stretch of water..
(Our strong advice is to book ahead and get there before lunch, (just 70 mins from the Lodge on the other side of the Alps from Bled) and do both the South and North trips of an hour each, so you can have the "Cap'ns Table lunch" on the way.
This lake was formed as a huge reservoir and connects the Tolminka river from beautiful Tolmin, with the Soca.. in fact the southern leg that goes under the fantastic bridge is a bit of the Soca that you can only really see from this unique paddle steamer!
Be honest.. did you think you might be able to cruise and have lunch on a stunning Slovenian lake, surrounded by Alpine mountains, that is nowhere near lakes Bled or Bohinj?!
Lake Jezersko..
And we found another of Slovenia's stunning lakes at the gateway to the Kamnik Alps. Lake Jezersko (1 hour 20 mins) is either a place to go directly for a day's alpine hiking or a lovely place to stop off at on a larger loop, but try to fit it into your schedule if you can.
We have had guests drive up to the lake and go for a loop hike into the mountains, returning for a bite to eat at the lovely restaurant by the lake.. wow.
Velenje Lake..
This huge main lake of three here was created when part of the massive Velenje coal mine was collapsed and the result is a water paradise that pretty much only the local people know about!
But if you wanted a swim or do some water sports on the way to the Logar Valley, or when visiting Velenje or many of the other attractions around here, then Velenje lake could be a very quiet alternative for you!
For us Velenje is a town of huge contrasts, industry and beautiful hills.. fantastic castle and fantastic coal mine museum and then here at the lake you have the lovely water with green hills on one side and a huge thermal power station on the other!
This is a great place for kids to jump in and have a swim and there are cafes too, but you could also find a nice quiet spot to have a picnic!
Ptuj Lake..
Another huge man made lake we found that has been adapted to create a waterfront, with a few cafes and a boardwalk, exploiting the Drava river is the Ptuj lake.
It's just outside Slovenia's oldest town , with a view up to the beautiful castle on top of the hill.
Mojstrana Lake..
It is hard to believe the Mojstrana lake is man made as it just looks so perfect. There is a wild goat (Gams) statue by lake side and this is mountain country near Kranska Gora, so if you have had a good hike in the hills, or maybe visited the nearby Pericnik waterfall, then you might want to have a dip here to cool off!
the Magical Mountain Ponds..
This is literally a left field tip, but where else to put a set of uberstunning 8,000 year old natural ponds on top of a mountain than our "Lakes" section!
Wow, you won't believe your eyes or your luck when you have hiked the 90 mins to a huge flat mountain top plateau covered in thick miniature pine trees, with a thin boardwalk and a network of magical black ponds, or "hunter's lakes"!
All this already on top of the 1,500m high Rogla mountain.. this is one of the best hikes in Green Slovenia for a Green reward at the end of it, but don't think about swimming here.. these amazing ponds are for the dragonflies and frogs!
Lago de Predil..
Just over the other side of a mountain pass to the Slovene Italian border is another absolutely stunning lake, the Lago de Predil. You could stop off at the wonderful Predil fortress high up on the Pass on the way here and see where the Austrian troops defending this castle were defeted by Napoleon's army as he swept through Europe.
The lake is long, lined with mountains and has white scrunchy sand at the end where the river feeds the freezing crystal clear water into this huge aqua basin.. and this would be where we recommend you spend the best part of your time at this lake to have an Italian lake experience!
Bloke Lake..
If our guests are near the this Bloke!.. the coldest plateau in Slovenia in the winter, but lovely and warm in the summer and a very unexplored natural part of Green Slovenia, then there is a full treasure chest of secret places around to explore, but if you fancy a swim then we recommend the Bloke lake (40 mins from the Lodge)..
So if you are visitng the lovely Snow Mountain Sneznik castle, Krizna Cross cave, Cerknica lake, the Tower of Torture at Ribnica, or maybe going bear watching later, then this lake is close by, but you can see that there is so much else to do around here it often falls off the to do list!
the Little Lake at the end of the Littlest River..
Just outside the Unesco protected Mercury Mine town of Idrija is the Bela Idrija (White Idrija) river, which is a great place for a swim on a hot day by the way.
But not so far along the turn off from the main road are a couple of parking spots and a wonky wooden bridge over the river..
This is where the shortest river in Slovenia pops up from a little lake and flows just 50m into the Bela Idrija river.. Cross the road and walk a little up the path to the steep rounded cliffs that surround this perfect circular lake like a Shakespearian stage and you have found what we call the Bela Idrija lake, (known on Google as the "Wild lake", but we think our name is better and also makes the lake easier to find)!
However this beatiful scene is marred by the tragic knowledge that an underground, underwater cave, longer than 500 metres leads down from the bottom of the lake and sadly accounted for one of Slovenia's top divers.. so don't swim here, there are plenty of places for a dip along the Bela Idrija!
the Strunjan lake..
A final mention for a lake you might not notice, but in another European country this one might have already been turned into a car park or a water splash lunar catastrophe! Well there is a scrubby old lake right next to one of the best and lovliest places to swim in Slovenia at Strunjan on the Mediterranean coast and it has been left just the way nature intended.. so there!
So now you see why we advise our guests to hang on until you get to the Lodge, so we can give you some of the options for swimming on your particular daily adventure.. and there are even more stunning lakes to be found here.. for example we still have lakes Kreda and Krn lake on our list to explore to name just a couple and we just cannot wait to tell you all about them!
French Connection en Slovenie
