Russell

We're planning a visit next summer either to one of the Slovenian lakes or the Woerthersee in southern Austria, then moving on to Llubjana and ending up in Venice. We've collected a limited amount of information on the Slovenian lakes and need opinions on which would be the best choice: Lake Bled, Lake Bohinj or the Woerthersee. We would prefer decent (not necessarily top shelf) accommodations, tasty regional food, and a distinctly attractive setting. We define the latter as something comparable to (though obviously not the same as) the Swiss lakes such as those abutting Lucerne or Interlaken. In addition to comments pro or con any of these areas, specific suggestions for hotels, restaurants or notable highlights would also be appreciated. Many thanks.

Patrick

I can't offer much help, but we too are planning a few days at Bled (highly recommended over the other lakes by friends, but I'm not sure specifically why), and a few days in Ljubjana, before going to Trieste. I too am interested in lodging ideas for all three of these places. We happened to see part of a Rick Steeves video on Bled and Ljubjana, but didn't catch many specifics -- not that I care too much for his suggestions, anyway. But the area looked spectacular.

Annie

I went to Lake Bled on my honeymoon 15 years ago. It's a beautiful place, very peaceful. We went in May which also seemed to be the "wedding season" there too! There's a church on an island in the middle of the lake and gondolas to take you across. Its a tradition that the bride has to ring the bell to ensure a long and happy marriage. My husband decided to row across. We argued all the way there about where to moor the boat - but I rang the bell + we're still married!! On Saturdays, the place was full of local wedding parties and gondoliers. We went on some spectacular walks up into the mountains and into a gorge. We took a bus trip to Lake Bohinj and walked from one end of the lake to the waterfall at the other end. We also went up the mountain in a cable car - accompanied by the German choir which we encountered at the waterfall - all very surreal! <BR>Lake Bled is a really pretty place and you can easily walk around the lake in a few hours. There are a few bars and cafes which break up the walk. We stayed in the Kompas Hotel which was very comfortable. (But this WAS 15 years ago!) <BR> <BR>Fron Lake Bled, we went on a few trips using local bus services. We went to Lake Bohinj, Ljubljana and across into Italy. <BR> <BR>Lake Bohinj seemed to be more "spread out". From what I can remember, its far larger than Lake Bled and we were glad that we chose to stay in Lake Bled and visited Lake Bohinj - and not the other way around. <BR> <BR> <BR>Have a great trip <BR> <BR>Anne <BR>