After spending time at the magical Lake Bled, my awesome guide Grega from Hike and Bike and I continued to Bohinj, which is about 30 minutes drive away.

Many people, maybe most of them, go to Slovenia for Lake Bled, and they don’t explore the area around it. That is a mistake. 

Many people go to Slovenia for Lake Bled, and they don’t explore the area around it.

Now, don’t get me wrong. I absolutely LOVE Lake Bled; no question there, and you should definitely visit for sure. However, compared to Bohinj it is more crowded and honestly not as authentic. Plus, Bohinj is the place for outdoors activities such as hiking, biking, paragliding and waterfall trekking, with beautiful scenery, snow-capped mountain top views and reflective lakes as background.

If you’re in the area and have time, I hope you do make it to Bohinj. It’s worth the trip.

Driving Through Fairyland

The drive from Bled to Bohinj takes approximately 30 minutes or so, and it took us through some really gorgeous mountain scenery and nature. Just before Bohinj, we passed this magical forest that had large rocks lying around. We stopped for a few minutes and I walked into the woods.

“This is where the fairies live,” Grega said.

I stood still between the trees, mostly shaded with filtered sunlight, and looked around me. 

Glints of light appeared in the canopy, on the shimmer of waxy leafs. These shimmers, sparkles, flashes of lights, could these be the fairies he was talking about?

Biking Around Lake Bohinj

Arriving in Bohinj instantly made me feel like staying for a month. It was that serene.

Bohinj (after Boh, the Slovenian word for “God”) is a valley enclosed by the Lower Bohinj Mountains and the Triglav mountain range. It’s divided into the Higher and Lower valley, and there are 24 small villages there. Bohinj is probably known mostly for its glacial lake, which is popular for swimming and other water sports.

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Hiking and Biking at Lake Bohinj, Slovenia

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 Lake Bohinj, Ukanc, Radovljica, Slovenia

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Fun Paragliding Over Bled Lake

Fun Rafting in Slovenia

See? Amazing, right?

Any visitor to Slovenia will inevitably come across legends, statues or images of the golden-horned Zlatorog. Legend tells about this mythical mountain goat who lived on the Triglav Mountain, guarding a secret treasure. It was shot by a greedy hunter who was after the treasure, but the dying Zlatorog ate a flower which revived it. After that, it killed the hunter and destroyed the garden. Since then it left the area, never to return.

Hiking To Savica Waterfall

Despite its small size, Slovenia has no more than 300 waterfalls!! Three hundred. Can you believe that? As a devoted waterfall fan I sure couldn’t. I know I’ve said this a million times already, but Slovenia just keeps taking my breath away!

The hike to the waterfall is not hard, it’s a bit steep, but those in good shape shouldn’t have a problem. It takes about 20 minutes to the top, but unfortunately you cannot get to the base of the falls. You see it from about 50 metres away.

At The End Of The World

The magnificent Savica Waterfall cuts deep into a gorge 60 metres below and ends in Sava River, as seen below. Sava runs through Ukanc which is at the end of Lake Bohinj and in Slovene means the end of the world.

Slovenian Traditions

As we drove through the landscape, we came past these hayracks, which are the trademark of the Slovenian cultural landscape. Farmers are usually very proud of their hayracks, and their specific construction reveals the owner’s attitude to it. They are used for drying grain sheaves, clover, hay, grass and more, and they are seen throughout the fields and meadows in Slovenia.

For lunch, we continued to Srednja, which is a small village in the middle of Bohinj. And guess what that means in Slovenian?

Of course…the middle village.

I love how town names almost always have a deeper meaning here in Slovenia. Nothing is left to chance.

Before heading back to the glamping site in Bled, we passed this monument.

Mount Triglav is Slovenia’s highest mountain, and it’s a matter of national pride for Slovenians to summit the mountain at least once in their lives. This monument stands in front of Triglav and is a memorial to the first ascend in 1778, made by a group of four local men.

I asked Grega if he had climbed the mountain. “Of course,” he said. “Everyone has.”

Many thanks to Spirit Slovenia for generously hosting me in Slovenia, and thanks Grega from Hike & Bike for a super fun and active day. As always, all opinions and thoughts are my own, regardless of who is footing the bill.