LITTLE LAKE BLED GUIDE
Definitely rent a wooden boat at Lake Bled! There are a few different companies you can rent from around the lake. We rented from a boat shed just a tiny bit east from the start of Osojnica. It was only 12 euro for an hour which is plenty of time to row to the small church on the island in the middle & back.
Wearing: Gorman Moth Moon marle tee | Boohoo India denim pinafore dress | owl bag picked up from a market in Split, Croatia | Nike Roshe Run trainers in grey (similar white ones here) | Fossil original boyfriend chronograph watch in navy
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With Slovenia being such a small country, there are so many easy day trip options out from the capital, Ljubljana. There's castles, caves, beachside towns, the alps, lakes and beautiful national parks all no more than two hours away. As Tom & I only had enough time to fit in one trip, we decided to visit Lake Bled. Lake Bled is possibly the most popular option as it is only about 30 minutes away by car and about an hour away by the public bus which is so easy to catch (about 7 euro one way) - just head to the main bus station in Ljubljana - they leave quite often.We like to travel slow too, so we decided to turn what is normally a day trip into an overnight stay at a treehouse resort (more on that next!) nearby. It turned out to be a great idea because on the day we arrived at Bled, it was storming and rainy almost non-stop until dusk, keeping us indoors for most of the day and making us prioritise what we wanted to do at Bled the most so that we could fit it all in the next day as well.So despite the fresh overnight rain and dark dark clouds looming above us all morning, we decided that the thing we wanted to do most was hiking up mountains in slippery conditions..There are quite a number of small mountains surrounding Lake Bled which you hike up. Two of the more popular hikes are Ojstrica and Mala Osojnica which are located on the south-west-ish side of the lake. The one I really wanted to do was Ojstrica because the rugged cliff edge view was probably the view I loved most out of all the other views I had seen from all the other hikes. However, after seeing some confusing information (some people got confused between Ojstrica and Osojnica because they sound similar) we ended up doing the Mala Osojnica hike instead, only to stumble upon Ojstrica magically on our route down.
OJSTRICA HIKE & VIEW
The bench & rugged cliff viewpoint at Ojstrica
If you're looking for any of the views seen above - the bench, the cliff, and a front facing view of Lake Bled, then you should do the Ojstrica hike. Whilst it might look like it's quite high up, it's actually easily accessible and only takes about 30 mins. Look for the sign off the main road around Bled pointing to Ojstrica and follow it up. It will be a wide path up for half of the time and then followed by a switchback path up some rocky terrain before you get up here. If you only have time to visit one lookout point in Lake Bled, or want to get the best value out of your hiking efforts (haha), then I would personally recommend you to just visit Ojstrica. It's much shorter and personally I thought it was a nicer view than Osojnica as you weren't as high up so you could still see the church on the island clearly. But if you're looking for something bigger.. then try the Osojnica hikes.
MALA OSOJNICA / VELIKA OSOJNICA HIKE & VIEW
Velika Osojnica's postcard popular view
We actually climbed Mala Osojnica first (and found Ojstrica on our way down). I think there are two routes up and down to the Osojnica lookout points. For us, we started at a sign that led us through a narrow dirt path through lots of bushes and trees, before heading onto a steep zig-zagged uphill climb, including ropes and a delightful set of long long stairs up to the first lookout (Mala Osojnica). Mala Osojnica is the lower lookout point with the black metal wired fence - I didn't take any pictures here because no matter how I framed it the fence got in the way & plus we were determined to make it up to the top! From then on, you can continue following the painted tree markings to find Velika Osojnica which is the highest point on the Osojnica trail. This is where you find the view of Lake Bled which you often see on postcards sold around here. The entire climb to Velika Osojnica took us maybe 1.5 hours - 2 hours one way. Whilst it's definitely steep and much longer than Ojstrica, it is not all that bad and probably wouldn't take as long - we took it super slow as it was slippery and wet (#bettersafethanfallingofftheedgeofacliff!).Do let me know if you head to Lake Bled and do the same hike :-)Photography: Thomas Debono & I
