This Slovenia hiking guided focuses on hikes to some great view points in Bled and Bohinj, covering only a small amount of what Slovenia has on offer. Lake Bled is a great base for your time in Slovenia and has great transport connections. If you're keen for more difficult or multi day hikes head further into the mountains of Triglav National Park.
Lake Bled
Around Lake Bled there are numerous hikes, we’d research these and looked at best viewpoints to decide which ones we’d like to see for ourselves. The hikes vary in length and difficulty, they are all signposted but some are harder to spot than others as you’ll find out. Also, we were aware some have very similar names, we were tricked by this, may I recommend maybe writing the spelling down.
Straza Hill
Our first hike we opted for Straza Hill. We hiked up to our first view of Lake Bled from above, the hike was easy yet not very busy until you approached the top of the hill, where there is food and activities on offer, including a mountain coaster. We took some photos and headed back down via the chairlift.
Ojstrica and Osojnica Mala
Next up, we continued round Lake Bled, to the opposite side for a different view, we were on the lookout for the trailhead of Ojstrica, a very popular spot. Like I mentioned before some hikes have very similar names. We thought we’d found it, but as the hike route continued the route was not very clear, we passed a few people on the way, and they said you’ll get there soon and assured us it was Ojstrica. We came to some steep steps towards the top, after that there were no more signs. We opted to turn right across a grassy hill, at that point it started thundering, despite the heat of the sun and clear blue skies so far. Was it an omen? The path disappeared that way so, we were left with no choice but to turn around before heading back down the steps, we took a left at the top, not soon after we reached a view point. It wasn’t Ojstrica, but it was better than any of us could have imagined. It turned out to be Mala Osojnica, and was absolutely stunning, especially at this height, you could see the Karavanke Mountain range behind. On reflection, this had to be the best view of Lake Bled, we got from the whole trip, at 685m it is 70 metres higher than Ojstrica, and to top it off we were the only ones around. Moral of the story; Buy a map? Write down the spelling of a hike name? Carry more water? If the hike says it's meant to be easy and it's not, you are probably on the wrong hike? Don’t get lost? The best views are the ones you stumble upon accidentally? Yer, that's probably it.
The other side of the viewpoint the sign posts emerged again, we descended through the forest for a while and as it opened up we found a much more crowded but still impressive view point, this was the Ojstrica viewpoint we’d seen in the photos. This is a better spot for photos of you, as theres no railing like at Mala Osojnica or trees to block the view. We found out there’s a circular loop that includes both these views points in one hike or theres a much quicker route to just Ojstrica, maybe the original sign post did say both, we will never know. After all that, having hiked for longer than expected, we’d all nearly run out of water and went straight in search of somewhere to fill out bottles up, then for a dip in the lake to cool off.
Upon returning I read up again on this hike, it turns out that the footpath to Ojstrica is unmarked and from there it is then common to loop to Mala Osojnica, however, this then requires descending the steep metal steps at the top, and for this reason many return the way they came, so it is often recommend to do the loop in reverse anyway, who knew. I would describe Ojstrica as an easy hike but if combine the 2 due to the steep ascent or descent, a moderate hike.
Castle
Bled Castle is perched on a cliff overlooking Lake Bled, opt to hike up to its grounds then enter the forest behind, as you near the edge there's several hidden cut throughs to look over Lake Bled from an entirely different angle once again.
Bohinj
(Song credit - Lewis Mokler, Skybound)
Bohinj is located in Triglav National Park with an abundance of hikes at your disposal. Take a gentle stroll around Lake Bohinj, it’s an easy flat walk around the whole lake, covering about 7.5 miles, theres some great viewpoints and beaches to stop for breaks and take in the views.
We diverted from the route around Bohinj to hike up to Savica waterfall (3 euro entry fee), a must see with a crystal clear pool at the bottom and a view at the top looking back at the valley. It's also one of the largest waterfalls in Slovenia. There's 2 ways to reach Savica, the easier route from Savica parking lot or follow signs from the lakeside village of Ukanc. We chose the latter, it will take you between 2-3 hours to reach the waterfall from the trailhead, and it may look like you’re going the wrong way at points but keep following the occasional sign and you’ll get there. The hike from Ukanc to the base is graded moderate in difficulty. Once you arrive at the entry point prepare for steep incline of 500 steps to reach the best view of the falls and valley behind you. The latter part of the hike is graded moderate to difficult due to its steep incline.
Descending back down, we continued to follow the loop round the lake until we reached the base of the cable car. If there's a cable car you can guarantee I’ll find it, at 20 euro return, we headed up (Check they're opening and closing times before heading to Bohinj). There are loads of signposted trails of varying difficulty and length from the summit and great views over the Julian Alps including mount Triglav. Beware of the cable cars opening times. We relaxed at the top, did a short signposted loop and caught the cable car back down, we were absolutely exhausted after walking more than 20 miles.
For more of what I got up to in Slovenia check out 'A week in Slovenia'.