Weekend in Lake Bled?

Old Dec 5th, 2013, 08:51 PM
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Weekend in Lake Bled?

We are planning to drive Northern Croatia and Slovenia next May, prior to embarking on a cruise which departs from Venice. The most favoured driving itinerary has us at Lake Bled on a weekend. Is that a good idea, or do locals (from Ljubljana etc) pour into Bled on a weekend?

Initially I drew some comfort from the fact that the ferry timetable out to Bled Island is more limited on a Sunday. I asumed this might mean Sunday is not such a busy day after all. But then, that's not necessarily right, is it? Perhaps it's just a case of religious observance being more important than catering to the demands of tourism!

Could anyone advise us on this? Should we rearrange our itinerary to avoid Bled on a weekend? Or doesn't it matter?

Many thanks...
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Old Dec 5th, 2013, 09:05 PM
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We were in Slovenia in the summer and did a day trip to Lake Bled. We, unfortunately, did not time in well and headed there on a Sunday. It was very busy with locals and tourists. It was still lovely to see, just crowded. If we did it again, we would not go there on the weekend.
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Old Dec 5th, 2013, 10:10 PM
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I believe (and am sure that others will correct me) that high season probably won't start until June, so you might not be completely swamped in May. And when I was there, I had the sense that pletna (the boats that ply the lake) took off more-or-less as soon as full -- but maybe things have changed or my recollection could be faulty. Also keep in mind that there are many other things to do in Lake Bled -- explore the castle, walk around the lake, visit the stunning nearby Vintgar Gorge, take a quick drive to Lake Bohinj....

Still, given that it is a Sunday -- and perhaps one of the last Sundays before the tourists pack in -- i suspect that you are correct in thinking that it could get busy with people coming in from Ljubljana, so if you do decide to go, you would probably do well to book well in advance!

BTW, Ljubljana itself is IMO quite a gem -- do consider spending a day or so there.
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Old Dec 7th, 2013, 12:52 PM
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Thanks for those thoughts. Looks like I'll have to rework our itinerary to avoid Bled on a Sunday. Trouble is, I'm working backwards from a cruise embarkation date, and Bled falls on a Sunday whichever way round I do the itinerary! I can only avoid it by staying longer (or shorter) somewhere, or adding (or deleting) somewhere.

The draft at the moment looks like:
Treviso (1 night)
Ljubljana (2 nights)
Lake Bled (2 nights)
Zagreb (2 nights)
Plitvice Lakes (1 night)
Opatija (2 nights)
Rovinj (3 nights)
Trieste (2 nights)
Venice & cruise embarkation

Points to mention:
1-night Treviso is about having flown into Venice after a 32-hour flight (with stops), collecting a car, and not wanting to drive too far in what we expect will be a jet-lagged condition! We'll have a day and a half in Venice before the cruise, and we've been there before, and Treviso (also known to us) is a good start-point only 30 mins drive from Venice airport.
Venice embarkation is fixed for a Thursday. Our start date is flexible, however, as we haven't booked our airfares yet.
I'm nervous about reversing the itinerary because of the longer drive from Ljubljana to link up with the cruise. And anyway, Bled still falls on a (different) Sunday.
You'll notice some obvious Croation highlights (Split, Dubrovnik) are missing; that's because the cruise calls at these places.
I could reverse the order of Bled & Ljubljana, but I was trying to alternate experiences: city, nature retreat, city, nature retreat, etc.

Can anyone suggest other ways of varying this itinerary? A good place that I've missed that's not too far away, or one that I've scheduled too long for perhaps? For example, does Zagreb merit 2 nights?

Thanks for any ideas...
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Old Dec 7th, 2013, 01:39 PM
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If you want to avoid the weekend in Bled, I'd just drive from Treviso to Bled and then on to Ljubljana. That would presumably reduce your driving time to Zagreb too. LJubljana is a long way from a big city so I wouldn't worry about mixing it up. There was also a Sunday craft/jewellery/scarves/etc market in Ljubljana on the Sunday we were there.

Also, when we were there in May this year, there was no timetable for the row boats out to the island. You just accept a ride from one of the boats and they go when they have enough customers.
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Old Dec 7th, 2013, 01:49 PM
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It all depends on your interests! FWIW, here are my thoughts about some places that you might considering adjust:

I enjoyed 3 nights = close to 3 very full days in Zagreb. Bear in mind, though, that I really enjoy museums and Zagreb has quite a few that I thought well worth visiting. If you a aren't particularly interested in visiting museums, a day or two could suit your needs.

I did not like Opatija at all. I believe it is the only place I have ever visited to which I have had such a strongly negative reaction. I enjoyed one night in nearby Lovran (which I enjoyed) with enough time to walk around that little town and time to walk the Lungomare to Opatija. (As I recall, I reached Lovran in the late afternoon and left the next morning.)

Other places in the area to consider: Varazdin and/or Cakovec. Rab or one of the other islands in the Kvarner Gulf. I assume you plan on visiting Porec and Pula and hill towns from Rovinj? Other parts of Slovenia? I trust you have a really good guide book or two that provide reasonably comprehensive coverage to help you identify options.

One other thought: I personally try not to drive for at least 1.5 days after even a single 8 or 10 hour flight. Have you explored options for using a train or bus for the first few days?
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Old Dec 7th, 2013, 02:04 PM
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Actually, i should have said about Opatija that it is the only place I have ever visited that elicited a negative reaction at all, and it was a strongly negative one.
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Old Dec 7th, 2013, 02:47 PM
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Yes, a few like kja really like Zagreb - but it seems the majority - including me - do not much care for it. It's not a bad city at all, but it wasn't a place I found exciting or that interesting - whereas I found Ljubljana delightful. It's hard for us to know how you'll feel about it. I wound up with two nights in Zagreb partly out of logistics (left Ljubljana by train late afternoon; had one full day in Zagreb, pick up rental car early following morning). By the end of that full day I was more than done there.

When driving between Bled and Ljubljana, consider taking the scenic route instead of just taking the expressway. Consider stopping for a few hours at the lovely little town of Skofja Loka which is about 30 minutes from Ljubljana. The drive between Ljubljana and Skofja Loka is dull, but the drive from Skofja Loka and Bled is full of little towns, churches, monuments, and breathtaking vistas. It looks scary on a map with a lot of somewhat narrow, hilly roads, but I had no trouble with it.

Consider stopping for a few hours in Piran, Slovenia on the drive back up to Trieste - not much of a detour. Lovely seaside town. You'll have to park in a lot just outside the town and walk in but it's a small town, easy walk in. You can walk up to the remains of the former town walls and get a great view down on the town.

I also found driving in Slovenia a breeze - I didn't even have a GPS or a great map, just a tourist map and some pre-printed Google Map directions from town to town. I followed directional signs to the next towns and never really got lost.

Click on my name/handle to read my trip reports (one trip focused on Slovenia, one focused on Croatia).
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Old Dec 7th, 2013, 02:48 PM
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As for Lake Bled itself: I agree that it might not quite be high season in May so may not be that busy even on a weekend.
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Old Dec 7th, 2013, 08:39 PM
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Thanks everyone...lots of food for thought here.

Yes, we certainly plan on visiting Porec and some hill towns (plus Novigrad) either from Rovinj or en route to Trieste. Also Pula. And our cruise stops a whole day in Koper, which should give us time to visit Piran then.

Comments noted about Opatija. Lovran is quite close, so maybe a good alternative. Mainly what we want is a base from which to visit Hum, Roc, and Buzet.

Yes, maybe I should forget the "alternate experiences" thing and reverse the order of Bled and Ljubljana. The latter's Sunday market sounds good. And yes, we had intended doing the scenic route between the two, one way at least, so it's good to have that idea confirmed.

We enjoy some museums, plus history, walking, markets, and some dining/drinking at night (low-key with ambience, rather than noisy nightclub stuff!). Zagreb sounds interesting in this regagard.

My OH has been researching Zadar, a town I had included in earlier plans but had dropped because of time constraints. She's quite keen - worth extending the trip another day or two for?
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Old Dec 7th, 2013, 09:28 PM
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If your goal is to see Hum, Roc, and Buzet, note that they are within reasonable day-trip distance from Rovinj, particularly if combined with Motovun and some of Istria's other hill towns. If you really want to stay closer, you might consider spending a night in Pazin.

If you go to Zagreb, and can arrange it, a tour of the national archives (Drzavni Arhiv) is well worth considering -- its history is unique and it has some stunning features that can't be seen except by tour. It's also well worth seeing from the outside and is very near the city's lovely botanical gardens.

Zadar is definitely worth considering, depending on your interests. Unlike most places that I saw along coastal Croatia, it is NOT driven by tourism. (The other primary exception is Split; Sibenik might fall in that category, too.) It is a university town, and has the feel of one -- a clear youthful presence and the kinds of shops and cafes that make sense in that context. IMO, it is not the most charming of Croatia's cities, so those whose primary goal is to find well restored old towns filled with cafes and shops catering to tourists are not likely to be very pleased with it. OTOH, Zadar has some wonderfully memorable churches, including its cathedral, the ancient St. Donat's, and St. Mary's (which might not be open to visitors, but its collection of priceless gold and silver works has regular open hours). Zadar also has a few other museums that I thought well worth visiting. Among Zadar's most wonderful features are its Sea Organ and Greeting to the Sun, which are best seen around dusk. The biggest difficulty with Zadar, at least when I was there, is that there really aren't any accommodations right in the basically pedestrian-only Old Town, so you have to stay some distance away and then either take a bus or walk to the old sections. Getting to and around Zadar can mean a LOT of walking. I enjoyed it; from what I can tell, not everyone does.

If you haven't already seen it, you might find some useful info on restaurants in the report I filed after my trip to the area -- just click on my name to find it.
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Old Dec 7th, 2013, 09:30 PM
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And BTW, if you add Zadar, you'll want to do so after the Plitvice Lakes and before Istria - at least if you keep to your current rough itinerary.
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Old Dec 9th, 2013, 02:05 PM
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Yes, Zadar is added back in. I'm intrigued about the negative thoughts on Opatija: what was it exactly? The people? The architecture? Or just the general feel of the place? (I've had similar experiences in a couple of places I've been to)!

My own impression from reading about Opatija is that it's one of those "yesterday's resort" places: out-dated elegance, but still possessing an old, faded charm about it.

Obviously you would describe it differently. But how, exactly?
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Old Dec 9th, 2013, 04:46 PM
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I found Opatija filled with the worst of "resort" town attributes. It seemed to me to be a wall-to-wall conglomeration of overpriced hotels and restaurants, many that seemed to be in a contest with their neighbors to see who could blare the worst music at the loudest volume. The sidewalks were filled with crowds of ill-dressed fashionista wanna-bes who had to shout to be heard over said cacophony and, in all too many instances, apparently thought that the best way to spend a vacation was to start drinking heavily as early in the day as possible. In addition to basic tourist-oriented merchandise and some high-end stuff, storefronts displays seemed devoted to really tacky, trashy stuff. Although there were glimpses of interesting buildings, the main street seemed mostly glaring neon and modern facades. Some of the newer hotels do little (IMO) other than block the views of the more interesting older ones.

I found the contrast to Lovran -- which really did still possess the out-dated elegance and charm that I had expected to find in the area -- striking.

Some important caveats: It is entirely possible that my experience was not representative -- in fact, I hope so! I only spent a few hours in Opatija on a Saturday evening in early June, 2009. I did thoroughly enjoy a brief visit to the Villa Angiolina.
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Old Dec 11th, 2013, 12:16 PM
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Thanks kja....Lovran sounds more like what I expected of Opatija. Maybe we'll stop a night there....or maybe we'll just keep on driving!

Incidentally we've pretty much decided now to reverse our itineray, which means the leg we are talking about will be Rovinj to Zadar. A long way to do in one hit, so if not Lovran, maybe Pazin? Or Senj? (Neither sound very inspiring from the websites I've read).
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Old Dec 11th, 2013, 04:00 PM
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I just posted on your other thread, but I'll add just a few comments here:

From what you've said, I think you would enjoy Lovran. It is different than the other places you'll be visiting and the Lungomare really is worth walking. If you go there, try to time your trip so you avoid rush hour in Rijeka -- I was stalled there in traffic for an hour or more.

I had planned to stop in Pazin, but think Lovran would round out your experience in the area a bit more. Pazin is more typical of Istria. If you take the expressways, your trip from Zadar to Lovran should (I think) be just a bit over 3 hours. (I had stopped in Rab, so a stop in Senj made more sense for me.)

BTW, you might also want to make a very brief stop in Nin -- its a tiny little fishing village with what I believe is the oldest church in Croatia. It wouldn't help break up your trip, since it's so close to Zadar, but it is an interesting little place.
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