1535 meters above Lake Bohinj, Slovenia

After spending the morning in Bled by the beautiful lake, we decided to take a bus to another lake that we’d heard was just as beautiful or even more – Lake Bohinj. There, we ended up getting as high as 1535 meters above sea level!

Lake Bohinj is a glacial lake covering 318 hectares and is the largest lake in Slovenia. It’s located in the Bohinj Valley in the Julian Alps and is part of the Triglav National Park. The lake is known for having extremely clear waters and thus has some spectacular reflections of the surrounding mountains on windstill days. Lucky for us, that day was extremely mild, so we got to see and enjoy those famous reflections.

We caught a bus from Bled to Ukanc, a little village by the western banks of Lake Bohinj. The ride was short and took us through the most amazing landscape of snow-covered mountains and tiny countryside villages.

The last few minutes of the bus ride were by the side of the lake. My jaw literally dropped when we first spotted the lake and the mountains reflecting beautifully in it. It was so beautiful, unlike anything I’ve ever seen before.

We got off in Ukanc and walked down to the lake, and then decided that we also wanted to see the lake with its beautiful reflections from above.

High above Lake Bohinj, there is a large ski resort, Vogel Ski Resort, which has 22 kilometres of ski slopes, 8 kilometres cross country skiing tracks and a snowboard park.

Vogel can be reached by gondola that takes you all the way from the foot of the mountain and 1535 meters up to the ski resort. Despite the expensive ticket price of 15 euros each, we decided that it was an opportunity we couldn’t miss. Well, I guess it was more me who wanted to go, as I’m a height junkie, but I honestly think my mum enjoyed it too!

So up we went, up with the gondola to the top of Slovenia.

The ride up only took about 5 minutes, and didn’t give us the best views as the gondola was very crowded. Unfortunately, there was a lot of mist on the mountain, so we couldn’t see much of a view up there either.

Still, it was a fun experience to see Vogel and the skiing community. I’ve never tried to ski, but I’ve always wanted to go on a skiing holiday, as it looks like such a cozy and fun community to be part of. Also, skiing looks like a lot of fun – I just hope I won’t break my leg (or legs!) 😉

On the way back down on the gondola, my mum and I made sure to stand first in the queue and stood right at the front and had magnificent views of the lake once we were below the fog.

Although incredibly expensive, the gondola ride was definitely a worthwhile experience. I only wish that the weather had been better, so we could’ve seen the view from the top!

We walked several kilometres along the side of the lake to the Ribčev Laz village, from where we wanted to catch a bus back to Ljubljana. We had amazing views all the way, but there were too many cars on the road to fully enjoy it. It’s unfortunate that Bohinj doesn’t have a great walking path away from the road like Bled does, although I believe the other side of the lake would be much more tranquil.

We ended up walking over 20 km that day (including our visit to Bled the same day). Our feet were killing us by the end of the day, so getting back to Ljubljana was godsent. We went to a lovely restaurant by the river to have our tea and then headed back to the hotel for an evening of relaxation and Bridget Jones.

How to get to Lake Bohinj from Ljubljana

• Catch a bus from Avtobusna postaja Ljubljana, leaving from platform 7. The ticket costs about 8 euros per person.
• You can also catch a bus from Lake Bled to Lake Bohinj from the bus station in Bled, which costs about 4 euros per person.
• The bus to Bohinj from Ljubljana takes about two hours. There are two stations on either end of the lake, Bohinj Jezero in Ribčev Laz and Bohinj Zlatorog in Ukanc, which is a few hundred meters from the gondola station.
• Take a gondola up to Vogel Ski Resort (especially if the weather is clear)! The cost is 15 euros per person and it runs approximately every 30 minutes until 6 PM.
• To get home, reverse the above itinerary.