The Lakes & Julian Alps

Walking sticks a must as many of the trails were very slippery with gravel and wet ground. An extra day in Bled is highly suggested as there is so much to see and other walks around the lake to explore. We walked up the trail to one of the Lake Bled viewpoints shown on the Bled map, which was well worth doing. All hotels were good, including Hotel Jezero. Although a bigger hotel, they had a wonderful breakfast and a great location. 

TIPS: Track the mileage carefully. And if from the US, convert to km. Encourage walkers to have at least one map holder for easy consulting of directions and to protect from rain. Remember - it's the journey as well as the destination. 

Although this was my first such hiking adventure, I felt well prepared for it. The hiking suggestions were good ones and the written notes highly accurate, although it goes without saying that they constantly need to be updated to account for changes. The accommodations were fine and the staffs were helpful, accessible, and friendly. A gem of a country, Slovenia has much to offer. It is, as it presents itself, "a safe and green" country. 

Slovenia is a beautiful country with some awe inspiring views across the Alps and some great, uncrowded and varied walks. May was a fantastic time to travel, with spring colours in the pastures, but snow still on the peaks and with warm spring sunshine. I suspect it may get very busy and probably too hot during peak summer months however. 

Outstanding walking holiday in a country that is so stunningly beautiful it takes your breath away!  This has been one of the best trips yet, incredible walks and scenery, lovely people and for a country that isn't very big, it's really impressive.  It is also one of the cleanest countries I have ever visited! Fabulous holiday, thank you very much for the excellent organisation .... looking forward to the next one! 

We hiked in mid May when the variety of flowers in the traditional hay meadows was at its height. With the backdrop of a scattering of snow on the mountains, it made for some amazing scenery. Swimming in Lake Bled also recommended! 

Our first organised walking holiday, generally an excellent experience.

Yet another wonderful holiday with Inntravel. Solvenia is such a beautiful country and so green, with superb scenery. It also struck me as to how clean it is - saw absolutely no rubbish lying around and hardly a rubbish bin anywhere - the locals are taught to take their rubbish home. The walking routes were amazing and I couldn't get over all the wild flowers in some of the mountain meadows - especially the Primula candleabra and the Helleborus around Kranjsa Gora - so beautiful. In particular I really enjoyed the walk from Ribcev Laz to Slap Savic and from Ribcev Laz to Bled. Bled is so beautiful and it is so worth while upgrading to Vila Bled - what a setting. I had a lovely meal in Restaurant Sova Bled - ate upstairs with great views out over the Lake - great atmosphere. I imagine that Bled will get very busy in high season. The hotels were all very welcoming but I would recommend in the evening eating out when staying at the Hotel Jerezo. To round my holiday off I spent 2 nights in Ljubljana. Such a lovely capital and so beautiful with the river running through the centre. You could sit for hours with a coffee or drink in one of the many outdoor cafes and just watch the world go by. Hope to return to Slovenia sometime in the not too distant future to see more of this stunning country. Thank you again Inntravel for another great holiday - travelling by myself I have so much confidence in the way you organise your holidays. Your instructions are excellent and all the information you give is what is required to go towards an amazing experience - thank you.

INNTRAVEL NOTE: This customer combined our walk The Lakes & Julian Alps with our Ljubljana City add-on

This was a truly wonderful holiday. The hiking in Kranjska Gora in particular was just breathtaking. Each of the three locations had beautiful scenery and also lovely cozy restaurants for evening meals. I would highly recommend Foksner when staying at Lake Bohinj and the pizza at Hotel Kostnik in Kranjska Gora. In Bled, the food at Vila Preseren is wonderful and the portions are very generous! The hike to Slap Slavika from Lake Bohinj was a real highlight and I would recommend going early to avoid the crowds. I wouldn't hesitate to recommend this holiday!

Excellent walks in a stunning beautiful country.  Everyone we met was charming and helpful.

[INNTRAVEL NOTE: These customers did both our Lakes and Julian Alps and Across the Istrian Peninsula holidays.]
Thank you again Inntravel. With the pandemic it was a challenge to organize trips with changes from year to year and sometimes week to week. We appreciate your efforts and look forward to booking more adventures in the future.

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The thing I liked most was the variety in the walks with something different but interesting every day. I would recommend spending more time in the Srednja Vas to Stara Fuzina area on day 3 then cut short the walk as suggested as a possibility as the part that is missed can be covered on day 4. I am very pleased that I chose the Mostnica Gorge on day 4, this was a lovely walk and left plenty of time to spend at the lake in the afternoon.

This is the second holiday with Inntravel and everything was once again thoroughly enjoyable. Great choice of walks.

We loved the trip and strongly recommend it. Slovenia is a beautiful country and not yet overrun with tourists. Ljubljana is a very pretty small city. The Julian Alps are stunning. The lakes are gorgeous and the countryside is beautiful. And our walks were great.

Overall it was a fantastic holiday, with amazing scenery and excellent food and walks. We were lucky with good weather for all the walking days.

Very good drink/meal stop in Zasip, Gostilna Kurej, down hill from Shrine. Traditional local pear dessert available - Prga Struklji.

Really enjoyed the farmhouse cafe in Mlino, near Bled. Run by three generations of ladies in the same family. Saw the black kitchen in the farm house. We stopped for a drink while passing through and then returned for a drinks and their own “farm house platter“ of cured meats and cheeses on the second evening.

We arranged our own transport from Trieste airport, and extended our trip by one night before and after staying in/near Gorizia. We took the train from Nova Goricia to Jesenice, which offered some great views of the valleys and mountains.

Villa Bled was a great experience. The Angel [in Ljubljana] was excellent. Food and wine in Slovenia was a highlight. Walking was okay as well!

INNTRAVEL NOTE: These customers combined our walk The Lakes & Julian Alps with our Ljubljana City add-on

Definitely allow two days to explore Ljubljana.

Avoid mid Summer especially Bled which was gridlocked apparently.

This was our first time visiting Slovenia and we found the country stunningly beautiful, and the people warm, friendly and helpful.

We enjoyed our hike tremendously. While we expected days 1 and 2 to be challenging, we were quite surprised to find that day 3 was actually the most challenging day for us. That was partly due to the fact that we were caught in a thunder storm and were delayed as we had to take shelter from lightning and only reached our next destination (Bohinj) just before dark. The asphalt roads and stony/rocky  paths to Srednja Vas was also tough and slow going. We found the last portion of the route from Ribno through Selo to Bled not very inspiring or scenic, made worse by it being a very hot, energy-sapping day. Having said that, it did not take away from our overall experience. Lake Bled was a sight for sore eyes and our spirits soared at its sight.

We found the walking notes detailed and very helpful. 

With regard to accomodation - Hotel Allegro, Hotel Miklic and Vila Bled were superb and the staff fantastic. All our transfers by Taxi Jager were seamless and our driver, Milan Stare, was always punctual, friendly and his service was excellent. 

We would recommend the trip and will certainly be travelling with you again!

I very much enjoyed this trip - Slovenia is beautiful. The walking was not difficult and the route notes very detailed and helpful. I particularly liked swimming in the lakes. Hotel Kotnik and Preseren were fine and quite comfortable, although service was occasionally rather lacking. However, Hotel Jezero was less satisfactory. There I had extremely limited mobile coverage in my room and the wifi hardly worked, and the reception were brusque and helpful about that, implying it was my problem. None of the hotels had kettles in the rooms which we understand is usual for Slovenia.

A tip for others is that the on the walk up to the Mostnica Gorge from Bohinj , not to expect to get free water refills. In both restaurants it said the tap water was not drinkable and you have to buy bottled water for a refill. Also the restaurant of Voje just before the waterfall was astonishingly expensive - but since there were no prices up, we had just assumed it would be the same as other places - and the food was not good. It felt like quite a con! 

Ljubljana is well worth a visit. We had a late flight back on the last day so spent it wandering round the city which was lovely.

The Julien Alps were breathtaking and the walks around Kranjska Gora utterly memorable. They were really well signed, good tracks and the reward of some great mountain huts. We got a real sense of the pride and enjoyment that the Slovenes take in their natural environment. Despite the awful Hotel Jezero, swimming in Lake Bohinj was a real highlight. The water was so clear and clean and the sense of people just enjoying life and the pleasures of their area was very strong. We had a memorable meal on a damp night in a pension in Stara Fuzina. With some enterprise they have an outdoor, but covered, eating area from where you look down onto the lake. So atmospheric with the low cloud and rising mist. We ate at a little bar in the sun overlooking the lake on our second night here and equally wonderful. Lake Bled touristy, but a day in Ljubljana well worth it. Best ice cream ever at Vigo there... try the mango and cardamon frozen yogurt.

It was really nice that most other walkers were Slovenians who also enjoyed their countryside, so that one did not feel like an invader. 

Slovenia is a beautiful country and it was good to have the three different areas to explore. The beauty of Lake Bled makes up for the crowds and if you do the gorge walk early in the morning, it's busy but tolerable and definitely worth seeing. Our favourite walk was up Mount Vogel from the top of the cable car in Lake Bohinj. Narrow paths with steep drops in places but the views are spectacular. [This was not an Inntravel route.] Lots of good, reasonably priced places to eat - except for at Lake Bohinj. We asked at the tourist office and caught the bus to Bohinja Bostrica where we had a good meal. A great holiday!

Overall, this was an absolutely superb holiday and we are already planning to return to Slovenia. Vila Bled was a particular highlight because the quality of accommodation was so high and our children loved swimming in, and rowing across, the lake. Ljubljana really impressed us as a city and we would recommend the ‘time machine‘ tour of the castle to any visitors - adults or children.

INNTRAVEL NOTE: These customers enjoyed our Ljubljana City add-on following our Lakes & Julian Alps self-guided walking holiday.

We thoroughly enjoyed this holiday, with a variety of beautiful scenery and walking. We especially enjoyed the walks from Lake Bohinj and would recommend using the boat service up and down the lake. Vila Bled was a memorable finale, a wonderfully relaxing hotel and setting. The private lido was a treat and breakfast and evening meals on the terrace overlooking the lake were bliss. Lake Bled is ridiculously picturesque. Hotel Miklic was very pleasant with super staff. We also had very good meals at Restaurant-Hotel Lipa in Kranjska Gora and Restaurant Sova, Lake Bled. Also do look out for the historic farmhouse cafe Dornk in Mlino, not far from Vila Bled; home made cordials, cider, beers etc and an incredibly friendly owner. Be prepared for some spectacular thunderstorms!

Great holiday - good to add extra day in each location to partake in other activities as well as walking. Walking was hard due to 34 degree heat needed to get out early in the morning and then chill in afternoons. Villa Bled was the highlight and wish we had ate more in hotel than overpriced and overhyped Sova restaurant. Look out for refreshment on walk to Bled - can recommend the cider and farmers plate together with wonderful hospitality at Izletniska Kmetija

After a very frustrating day of missed transfers and cancelled flights to Slovenia we eventually got to our hotel in Kranjska Gora. The staff at Hotel Miklic were absolutely great, and they made us feel very welcome. We did a lovely short walk to a beautiful pool and then the river walk to a mountain hut which was great. It was so hot that we missed out the Russian Chapel as the climb up to it is quite long and steep. We had an exceptional evening meal at the Skipass Restaurant. The transfer walk to Hotel Jezero was disappointing. The initial downhill stretch is nearly all gravel road with little view and became very hot and tedious. Once we got to the valley floor the meadows were lovely but with tarmac roads underfoot most of the way, we were glad to get to our destination. The room we were given at the Jezero was right on the main road with a concert happening that evening right across the road under our window, which was anticipated to run in to the small hours (the staff said 10:30 but this was certainly not the view of the taxi driver!) We decided not to stay, not even unpacking, and Inntravel was fantastic in arranging for us to transfer to Vila Bled at Lake Bled 2 days earlier than planned, at a price but worth every penny! The staff at Vila Bled were wonderful and we had a fantastic four days chilling and hiking the Vintgar Gorge (bus but worth it), walking round the lake, and swimming/rowing to the island for the best ice cream in Slovenia. So all in all a great holiday despite a few hiccups along the way.

We loved the hikes in Kranska Gora. The scenery was pristine, it was very quiet with little other foot traffic, and the paths took you to varied and beautiful backgrounds. We highly recommend upgrading to Hotel Miklic for a superb customer service experience! Overall the trip exceeded our expectations. The mountain huts are a must stop, make sure to carry cash so you can enjoy a beer or a homemade dessert during your walk. The locals were friendly and everyone spoke english at a high level and were helpful. We loved our holiday and can't wait to travel with in Inntravel again! 

This was a lovely holiday with spectacular views. We especially enjoyed the walking around Kranjska Gora, and the opportunities for lake swimming at Bohinj and Bled. Bled was very busy; the other locations were much quieter and also less expensive for food and drink. For dinner in Kranjska Gora, we really liked the Martinu - Slovenian specialities, lots of choice, friendly service and great ambience. At Lake Bohinj, the restaurant 300 yards up the road that is mentioned in the notes was excellent. At Bled, for the recommended restaurant option in the notes, we could not get through by phone so we emailed them to try and make a reservation, but the reply said it was fully booked. We walked past this restaurant on our last morning in Bled and the menu did look very nice. So I suggest if you think you want to eat there, maybe call in on your way into Bled on the transfer day, as the route goes past the restaurant, and see if you do better making a booking in person.

Our first time in Slovenia. We found it to be a very beautiful and welcoming country with friendly people, good scenery and hearty food! We struck a nice balance between walking and sightseeing. Only downside was doing it all in 30+ degree July heat, beyond anyone's control. The Ski Pass restaurant in Kranjska Gora was well worth a visit for its fixed price menu, good wines and friendly professional service, but surprisingly underpopulated. Ljubljana city break well worth adding on: Angel Hotel excellent with all day availability of a room with drinks and fruit to retreat to from heat. Vida Gostilna restaurant just up street from hotel had good food plus young & very friendly service.

INNTRAVEL NOTE: These customers enjoyed our Ljubljana City add-on following our Lakes and Julian Alps self-guided walking holiday.