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There's no denying that the lake resort of BLED has all the right ingredients to make up a memorable visit - a placid mirror lake with a romantic island, a fairy-tale castle high on a bluff, leafy lakeside lanes and a backdrop of snow-tipped mountains. As such it's worth a day of anyone's time, and one advantage of the tourist trade is that everything is efficiently packaged. In summer the lake, fed by warm-water springs that take the water temperature up to 76°F, forms the setting for a whole host of water sports - major rowing contests are held here throughout summer - and in winter the surface becomes a giant skating rink. Paths run uphill from Bled's bus station to Bled Castle (daily: April-Oct 8am-7pm; Nov-Mar 9am-4pm; 600SIT) - now a pricey restaurant with a fine view and a very ordinary museum, its only surprise a small sixteenth-century chapel. During the day a constant relay of stretched gondolas leaves from below the Park Hotel , the bathing resort below the castle and Mlino, towards the western end of the lake, ferrying tourists back and forth to Bled's picturesque island (1700SIT return). With an early start (and by renting your own rowing boat or canoe from the same places as the gondolas) you can beat them to it. Crowning the island, the Baroque-decorated Church of Sv Marika Bozja is the last in a line of churches on a spot that's long held religious significance: under the present building are remains of early graves and, below the north chapel, a pre-Roman temple. In summer months it's feasible to swim from the western end of the lake to the island, but remember to bring some light clothes in a watertight bag if you want to get into the church. During winter, under the snug muffle of alpine snow, you can walk or skate across. The main attraction in the outlying hills is the Vintgar Gorge (mid-May to September daily 8am-7pm; SIT400), 5km north of town, an impressive defile accessed by a wooden walkway. To get there, head northwest out of Bled on the Vintgar road (just up from the bus station), turning right on the outskirts of town towards the villages of Gmajna and Zasip. Head uphill through Zasip to the hilltop chapel of Sv Katarina (where you can savour an excellent view back towards the lake), before picking up a path through the forest to the gorge entrance. If that's too taxing, then a daily bus runs from Hotel Jelovica to the gorge between mid-June and September. The helpful tourist office , down behind the Park Hotel at Cesta svobode 15 (July & Aug daily 8am-10pm, June & Sept Mon-Sat 8am-8pm, Sun 10am-6pm; rest of year Mon-Sat 9am-5pm, Sun 9am-2pm; tel 04/574-1122 , www.bled.si ) hands out maps and brochures although private rooms are available through Kompas, in the shopping centre at Ljubljanska 4 (Mon-Sat 8am-7pm, Sun 8am-noon & 4-7pm; tel 04/574-1515 , www.kompas-bled.si ), or Globtour further up at no. 7 (Mon-Fri 8am-7pm, Sat & Sun 8am-noon & 4-7pm; tel 04/574-1821). There's an outstanding HI hostel (tel 04/574-5250, mlino@siol.net ; GBP10-15/$16-24/?18-27) just above the bus station at Grajska 17, and some reasonable pensions - the smallish Pletna at Cesta svobode 37 (tel 04/574-3702; GBP10-15/$16-24/?18-27); the Mlino , further along at no. 45 (tel 04/574-1404; GBP10-15/$16-24/?18-27); and the Alp , 2km west of town along the lakeside road at Cankarjeva 20a (tel 04/534-1616; GBP15-20/$24-32/?27-36). The nearest campsite , Zaka (tel 04/575-2000) is beautifully placed, sheltered at the western end of the lake amid the pines and with its own stretch of beach; catch a bus towards Bohinj and ask to be set down near the access road. One downside of the all-embracing tourist industry around here is that there are few cheap places to eat - the best places to look are in the hillside area between Bled's bus station and castle. Gostilna Pri Planincu , Grajska 8, offers solid Slovene home cooking, while Pizzeria Portobello on Rikljeva is probably the best of the Italian places. For a treat, the highly regarded Okarina , Rikljeva 9, offers traditional Slovene meals for around 5000-6000SIT per person.
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