Altenmarkt Im Pongau to Lake Bled

Day 8 Austria to Slovenia

Altenmarkt Im Pongau, Austria to Lake Bled, Slovenia

Our 3 hour drive took us over the border into Slovenia. We had to buy a different toll box, which was quite a lot cheaper than the Austrian version. They are both valid for 2 years so we are going to keep hold of them rather than return them….just in case .

There are a lot of tunnels on this road, thank goodness as otherwise we would still be climbing and descending through the Alps.

I waited patiently for the normal EU sign to appear, that would show we had crossed into Slovenia but there wasn’t one so had to make do with a Bled sign as we neared our destination.

There are only a couple of campsites beside Lake Bled and a couple of Aires, both are relatively priced the same. As we are members of ACSI we got a very good discount which included the electric and the dog. We have paid €30 a night and plan to stay here a couple of nights to give our lovely leader a rest . To get to the campsite we had to drive around the edge of the lake, so had wonderful views of the sun shining on the still water.

How nice it was to get the chairs out and sit in the very warm sunshine finally.

Once we were sorted we went off to walk the 6km around the lake. It’s quite lovely, there are pontoons for summer water sports, small water parks with a pool for the little ones and a water slide that dumps you in the lake plus cafes, bars and ice cream , all accessed by a well maintained path.

There is also a very hairy toboggan ride on a hill opposite the lake, I know Ellie has done it and it looks like great fun, let me know if you ever have a go as we have chickened out .

Until you get to the town you only see a few residential properties, some on the lake side and some on the road side. We think the lake side ones were official residences for VIPs.

Meg met a couple of really friendly dogs who were allowed off their leads to play with her. It was a bit hairy as they were chasing each other at full pelt, going up and down the lake’s bank which was very steep. At any moment we expected to hear a splash and Meg come back shaking the water off but somehow she managed to escape that. The dogs’ owners were Slovenian and spoke very good English, so we had a little chat with them about where else to go in Slovenia. Funnily enough they walked the lake in the opposite directions so we had that awkward ‘hello again’ moment with the dogs remembering each other straight away

We treated ourselves to an ice-cream and sat on a bench watching the world go by . On this occasion we walked past the town. The lady at the campsite reception told us that all the shops are closed on a Sunday so we may venture in tomorrow.

We also passed the entrance to the castle. It looks great on the poster and from the lake, so think we’ll definitely do the 15 mins steep ascent for what we hope will be magnificent views.

Bled has the only island in Slovenia on which stands a church. You can hire a boat to row yourself or take a boat taxi, but they don’t take dogs so we’ll just enjoy the view from the banks.

As you walk around the perimeter you are blessed with so many fabulous views, especially when it captures the island church, the castle and the snow capped Alps, wow!

I apologise now for the similar pics but just wow