September 2019: I visited Slovenia via Italy via a direct overnight bus from Venice, Italy to Ljubljana. I initially had planned to have two days in Slovenia and rent a car to drive to the northern mountains near the border of Italy, along the Isonzo Front, where concrete bunkers line the mountainside, vestiges of some of the bloodiest battles of World War I. But unfortunately, my flight from Ljubljana was cancelled because the airline, the national carrier of Slovenia Adria Airways, went bankrupt. As a result, I had to cut my Slovenia trip short by a day and re-route my flight back home via Air France through, Zagreb, Croatia. This meant I would need I needed to take another bus to Zagreb from Ljubljana to catch my flight to Paris. With only 1/2 day in Slovenia, I took a bus from Ljubljana to Lake Bled and spent my time there.
About Slovenia
Slovenia is a mountainous Slovene speaking country that became an independent nation in 1991. Slovenia has a long history of being part of larger empires. Before independence it was part of communist Yugoslavia and before that the Austria Hungary Empire. In its early years of independence, it was attacked by the Yugoslavian Army from Serbia, but it did not see the heavy fighting in the Balkan wars that its neighbors, Bosnia and Kosovo did. It was heart breaking to only spend 1/2 a day in Slovenia. It is a magically stunning place that is very easy for the independent traveler to explore. The country is full of adventure travel potential with its mountains, castles, World War I and II sites, caves and river rapids. I will definitely be back.
Map of Slovenia
Lake Bled is an easy to reach destination from Ljubljana being only 35 miles away. It is the quintessential tourist attraction of Slovenia and looks like a scene out of a fairy tale. My friend Jimmie and I arrived at 5am in the morning by bus, since we took the night bus from Venice. We were dropped off on the main road a few miles from the lake and from there we walked to the lake and waited for the sun rise. There wasn’t much of a sunrise because it was raining, but we made the best of our visit and walked around the lake and climbed up to the 1000-year-old clifftop castle -Bled Castle.
Little Island with an old church on it in the middle of Lake Bled
Lake Bled
Lake Bled
Bled Castle
Swan in front of Bled Castle
Old Church
Swan