I’ve been wanting a winter holiday for a while so back in October i booked a flight to Ljubljana, Slovenia for the 2nd January. The appeal of Slovenia at the time was that I knew nothing of the country and i enjoyed people saying “Ljubljana? where the heck is that??”. Lake Bled has also been a sight to see on my bucket list for quite a while so I was excited to go!.
I was staying at the Tresor Hostel (great location but bad rooms) which was really easy to get to from the bus station and on my night of arrival I headed to town in search of a cheap eat and to get some bearing of the city. It was a nice surprise that in the square was a big concert going on which mostly performed Disney classics. Has to be said that I think Ljubljana would win a Christmas light display competition!
Day 1: Took a walking tour of the city which explained the history of the main square, the Triple, Dragon and Butchers bridges and the churches.
After the tour I went up to the castle which is a pretty brisk walk or you can take the funicular. Didn’t pay for ticket entry but walked in and still got up to the viewing platform and cafe.
I then went to Tivoli Park which is beautifully landscaped and I got pretty lost following the trails around the hills on the far side of the park but it was a great walk.
Day 2: Getting the bus to Bled from Ljubljana is really easy, it runs every hour on the hour from the main bus station. I left at 9 and arrived at about 10:30.
It was a glorious day and the sun was shining so I went up to the castle which is another quite steep walk but doesn’t take long. Entry is 10euros but its probably worth it for the panoramic view of the lake and theres a little museum and restaurant up there.
I stopped at a cafe to re-energise and ordered the classic Slovenian layer cake as a treat. Its made with layers of pastry, apple and cream and what looks like chocolate but is actually poppy seeds which taste really weird and is a pretty cruel deception.
Unsatisfied, I then walked around the lake which took about an hour and half at a slow pace but gives you a really different view of all the sights.
you can hire row boats to the island with the church from many stations around the lake but I needed a break from my rowing so really enjoyed my walk.
Waited around a bit for my bus back to the city (they run every hour on the half hour) but when back i relaxed a little and then headed to a local restaurant to sample traditional food. I went to the place that was recommended by my hostel but it was full of taxidermy birds of prey and anyone who knows me know that completely freaks me out so I left.
The place next door didn’t have any dead birds in it (i looked through the window for quite a while making sure) so went in and enjoyed Kranjska sausage, Lasko beer and a creme cake. The waiter got a pretty good tip because he held a conversation with me about Irish rugby and we had a great chat about Slovenian sport.
So my time in Slovenia was short but full and I had a great time!
Ciao for now x
Life of Boyd 