Last Updated on February 9, 2024
Lake Bled is located in Slovenia, about an hour northwest of Ljubljana, the capital city. Lake Bled is a glacial picture perfect lake. It is in the town that bears the same name. Despite being in town, the lake is clear, clean, free of debris and is a popular destination for water activities, especially during the summer.
This short blog talks about one of the three viewpoints of Lake Bled so you can be more informed on your quest to take that Instagram shot of this picture perfect lake framed by mountains in the backdrop.
Time of Visit: August 2023
The Viewpoints
Though you can take pictures of the church on the island in the middle of the lake, the mountains and Bled castle from shore, a photo taken from a high vantage point is much nicer. A high vantage point though means you will have to huff and puff to get there.
There are three viewpoints that visitors can choose from to take their prized photos. These are Ojstrica, Mala Osojnica and Velika Osojnica. Fortunately, the trailheads to each of these viewpoints are in the same location.
Ojstrica is the shortest in terms of hiking time at 20 minutes. Mala Osojnica is estimated to take 30 minutes while Velika Osojnica is the longest at 45 minutes. All hiking durations are for a one way trip. Having only enough time and energy to do one hike as we arrived in Bled in the afternoon, we eliminated Velika Osojnica because it was the longest and the longer hike did not appeal to us.
We debated between Ojstrica or Mala Osojnica. On Google Maps, Ojstrica seems to be further from the trailhead than Mala Osojnica. We interpreted this as Mala Osojnica involving more elevation gain or had a steeper ascent by virtue of taking longer at a shorter distance. Because we did a 10.5 hour hike the day before, our legs basically chose Ojstrica.
Ojstrica Viewpoint
Ojstrica’s trail started off at a gradual incline on packed dirt and stone. It is actually the access road to a house a couple of hundred feet from the lake’s perimeter road. Once you pass the house on the left, the trail becomes steeper and has more fist to basketball sized rocks.
The trail somewhat levels off after 15 minutes of ascending. Make sure to raise your head and look to the right or you might miss the trail and trail marker to Ojstrica and inadvertently continue on to Velika Osojnica. The trail then becomes steeper on the final climb to the viewpoint. You may have to use the cables and some iron steps anchored to the rocks to get to the top.
Once on top, you will be rewarded with a wonderful view of the lake and the mountain backdrop. There is even a bench to help you comfortably soak in the beauty in front of you.
Trailheads Location
The trailheads are located at the lake’s southwest corner.
Where to Park
There are many paid parking lots around the lake. There is even one right by the designated swimming beach at the west end of the lake by the Restavracija Zaka Camping Bled restaurant.
We came from the village of Srednja Vas which is to the west of Bled. Just before entering Bled town proper, there is a small parking area on the right side of the road. It has limited space, probably enough for 10 or so vehicles. It was full so we decided to park at Pristava (shown on Google Maps) which is the first paid public parking lot along the road. Its entrance is on the left.
Pristava charges 4 Euros per hour. Behind the parking lot gate arm is a traffic light that has two lights, red and green. Green indicates there is available space while red means it is full. If the red light is illuminated, you will have to wait for a car to leave before the ticket machine spits out a ticket and the entry arm to raise.
The lake is only about a 10 minute walk from the Pristava parking lot and the trailheads another 5 minutes or so.
Going through Bled can be slow at times. We left the parking lot just after 7 PM and headed west (away from town). The line of cars going into town (going east) must have been three or four kilometers long. So, if you are going to pick a parking lot, don’t forget to consider the traffic you may encounter on the way out.
Summary
Lake Bled is a fabulous destination. This is the only lake we have been to in a developed area where we did not see any trash floating in the water despite being heavily used. It is clear, clean and very inviting to take a swim, paddle a boat or just relax.
Of course you may want to take that all important photo of the lake and the mountains in the background. Probably one of the best places to take such photos is from one or all three viewpoints. The viewpoints can only be reached by foot and with some effort due to the elevation gain.
We took our memorable pictures from the Ojstrica viewpoint which has the shortest time to hike. It was well worth the effort as it provided a fabulous view from a high vantage point. At Ojstrica, the mountain background is more to the left than directly behind the island. Mala Osojnica viewpoint may offer a better photo as the mountain background lies more behind the island. However, Mala Osojnica takes longer to hike and involves some stairs based on videos we saw on YouTube and pictures on Google Maps. Regardless of which viewpoint you go to, you will take home photos worth sharing and a beautiful image that is hard to forget.