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BLED |
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There's no denying that the lake resort of BLED has all the right
ingredients to make up a memorable visit - a placid mirror lake with a
romantic island, a fairy-tale castle high on a bluff, leafy lakeside
lanes and a backdrop of snow-tipped mountains. As such it's worth a day
of anyone's time, and one advantage of the tourist trade is that
everything is efficiently packaged. In summer the lake, fed by warm-water
springs that take the water temperature up to 76°F, forms the setting
for a whole host of water sports - major rowing contests are held here
throughout summer - and in winter the surface becomes a giant skating
rink.
Paths run uphill from Bled's bus station to Bled Castle (daily: April-Oct
8am-7pm; Nov-Mar 9am-4pm; 600SIT) - now a pricey restaurant with a fine
view and a very ordinary museum, its only surprise a small sixteenth-century
chapel.
During the day a constant relay of stretched gondolas leaves from below
the Park Hotel , the bathing resort below the castle and Mlino, towards
the western end of the lake, ferrying tourists back and forth to Bled's
picturesque island (1700SIT return). With an early start (and by renting
your own rowing boat or canoe from the same places as the gondolas) you
can beat them to it. Crowning the island, the Baroque-decorated Church
of Sv Marika Bozja is the last in a line of churches on a spot that's
long held religious significance: under the present building are remains
of early graves and, below the north chapel, a pre-Roman temple. In
summer months it's feasible to swim from the western end of the lake to
the island, but remember to bring some light clothes in a watertight bag
if you want to get into the church. During winter, under the snug muffle
of alpine snow, you can walk or skate across.
The main attraction in the outlying hills is the Vintgar Gorge (mid-May
to September daily 8am-7pm; SIT400), 5km north of town, an impressive
defile accessed by a wooden walkway. To get there, head northwest out of
Bled on the Vintgar road (just up from the bus station), turning right
on the outskirts of town towards the villages of Gmajna and Zasip. Head
uphill through Zasip to the hilltop chapel of Sv Katarina (where you can
savour an excellent view back towards the lake), before picking up a
path through the forest to the gorge entrance. If that's too taxing,
then a daily bus runs from Hotel Jelovica to the gorge between mid-June
and September.
The helpful tourist office , down behind the Park Hotel at Cesta svobode
15 (July & Aug daily 8am-10pm, June & Sept Mon-Sat 8am-8pm, Sun
10am-6pm; rest of year Mon-Sat 9am-5pm, Sun 9am-2pm; tel 04/574-1122 ,
www.bled.si ) hands out maps and brochures although private rooms are
available through Kompas, in the shopping centre at Ljubljanska 4 (Mon-Sat
8am-7pm, Sun 8am-noon & 4-7pm; tel 04/574-1515 , www.kompas-bled.si ),
or Globtour further up at no. 7 (Mon-Fri 8am-7pm, Sat & Sun 8am-noon &
4-7pm; tel 04/574-1821).
There's an outstanding HI hostel (tel 04/574-5250, mlino@siol.net ;
£10-15/$16-24/¬18-27) just above the bus station at Grajska 17, and some
reasonable pensions - the smallish Pletna at Cesta svobode 37 (tel
04/574-3702; £10-15/$16-24/¬18-27); the Mlino , further along at no. 45
(tel 04/574-1404; £10-15/$16-24/¬18-27); and the Alp , 2km west of town
along the lakeside road at Cankarjeva 20a (tel 04/534-1616;
£15-20/$24-32/¬27-36). The nearest campsite , Zaka (tel 04/575-2000) is
beautifully placed, sheltered at the western end of the lake amid the
pines and with its own stretch of beach; catch a bus towards Bohinj and
ask to be set down near the access road.
One downside of the all-embracing tourist industry around here is that
there are few cheap places to eat - the best places to look are in the
hillside area between Bled's bus station and castle. Gostilna Pri
Planincu , Grajska 8, offers solid Slovene home cooking, while Pizzeria
Portobello on Rikljeva is probably the best of the Italian places. For a
treat, the highly regarded Okarina , Rikljeva 9, offers traditional
Slovene meals for around 5000-6000SIT per person.
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