It’s that time again, a time to take a look back on an amazing year and recap the best of the best.  We’re going to kick things off with my favorite destination of 2015: Bled, Slovenia.

a building on an island with a mountain in the background

Lake Bled

Bled is in the northwest part of Slovenia, a small country just south of Austria.  If you’re in western Austria already (visiting Hallstatt or my favorite little village of St. Gilgen) it’s an easy drive south into Slovenia.  The roads are great and Bled is a great overnight stop, either to see Bled itself or to see both Bled and Slovenia’s capital of Lublub Jubjlub Ljubljana (about 45 minutes away).  I like Slovenia because it feels much more foreign and unexplored than Austria despite being so close.  Lovely people too.

a body of water with a building on it

Lake Bled Panorama

Lake Bled on an island with a body of water

Lake Bled

There are no big chain hotels in Bled, but plenty of B&Bs and smaller hotels to fit almost any budget.  You can walk around the entire lake and I spend much of my time whenever I go to Bled doing just that.

a path next to a lake

Bled, Slovenia

The views around the lake during my visit in April were just wonderful.  Lots of wildlife and lots of people just out enjoying the cool weather and great scenery.

a man sitting on a bench next to a stroller

“Ahhhhhhhh”

a group of people rowing in a river

Some rowers

a group of people feeding a swan

GIMME SOME BREAD (in Slovenian)

I walked away from the town a bit towards the island to try and catch a sunset.  The sunset just ended up being hazy and massively bright so it wasn’t much good for pictures but I got some other great pictures that I’ve been very happy with.

a swan swimming in a lake

Swan in front of the Church of St. Martin

a church with a steeple on top of it

Church of St. Martin

a man taking a picture of himself in a mirror

Some random photographer dude

Bled’s castle sits high on a hilltop overlooking the lake.  It looks like it’s right out of the pages of history, except for the massive tower crane doing some renovations.

a castle on a cliff

Bled Castle

The town of Bled surrounds the lake with plenty of touristy restaurants to choose from.  It’s definitely a tourist stop but that shouldn’t steer you away.  There are lots of ways to get out of town a bit.  An early and frigid hike took me to a place called Osojnica, which has one of the best views of Lake Bled and Bled Island.  It’s one of many hikes that I’d recommend doing, the Julian Alps are such a beautiful area!

a small island in a lake surrounded by trees and mountains

Lake Bled, from Osojnica

This post isn’t designed to be a thorough and all-encompassing review of Bled, just sharing some pictures of places I’ve enjoyed seeing this year in hopes of giving you some ideas of your own!  If you want to go see Bled, I’m happy to answer any questions!

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