The European city with lakeside castles, thermal baths and insanely cheap food

FEASTING on a five-course meal in a stunning castle with a view over Slovenia’s famously beautiful Lake Bled, for less than £50, is very, very tasty value for money.

There can be few places in Europe that compare to 16th-century Bled Castle for the food and view you get for your tourist money.

Getty – Contributor

The stunning 17th-century Church of the Assumption crowning Bled Island[/caption]

Rex

To get to Lake Bled is easy — just a 40-minute drive after flying into Slovenian capital Ljubljana.

So just two hours after landing at the airport, I’ve checked into Garni Hotel Berc, a rustic, pine-clad delight that looks a bit like a ski chalet.

Lake Bled is Slovenia’s pin-up for tourism, kick-started in 1855 by a Swiss doctor who spotted the beauty spot’s potential and opened thermal baths there.

It has superb accommodation options, from pension-style hotels to grander resorts — still relatively inexpensive — and fine restaurants.

But above all, it is wonderfully easy on the eye with its magical jade-green waters — and the 17th century Church of the Assumption crowning Bled Island.

Captains of wooden flat- bottomed punts, known as a pletnas, tout for business and I hop on one to make the crossing to ring the church’s wishing bell — consecrated by the Pope.

Slovenians, however, give Lake Bled a miss.

They favour quieter Lake Bohinj, 16 miles to the south-west, which is Slovenia’s biggest body of inland water.

So it is not to be missed while at Lake Bled.

The drive there is lovely, through the thick wooded hills of the Triglav National Park, where campsites and small hotels make great stop-offs.

It’s a very different scene to Lake Bled, wonderfully tranquil, but with few facilities — all at water’s edge.

I can’t wait to take the plunge into water that hovers at 27C in summer and has a Blue Flag for its cleanliness.

And I’ve only the company of the occasional frisky fish as I break the lake’s mirror-like surface.

I catch the Vogel cable car for a 1,540-metre ascent high above the lake.

At the top is a ski resort, with 22 miles of runs during winter, accessible to skiers of all standards.

Come summer, walking trails afford views over the lake and the Julian Alps, which separate Slovenia from neighbouring Austria.

Mountain goat

One memorable day, I hike from the hamlet of Ukanc through a beech forest to the Savica Restaurant for a lunch of trout with parsley potatoes.

“Watch out for bears,” is the parting advice from my waiter, as Slovenians love nothing more than teasing foreign tourists about the dangers that lurk within their forests.

Legend also tells of Zlatorog, a fabled evil ibex — wild mountain goat with long, thick ridged horns — that won’t think twice about tossing you over a precipice.

Thankfully, bear sightings are rare, and we didn’t run into Zlatorog.

In fact, you’re much more likely to encounter a mountain hare.

But all I come across is brilliantly coloured butterflies as I climb the moss-covered steps to the Savica Waterfall, an impressive cascade standing 78 metres proud.

But lovely as Bohinj is, I do enjoy the gentle buzz of Lake Bled — and a walk around the five-mile perimeter is a great start to the day, pausing for coffee to watch the Olympic rowing team train, cutting slick lines across the water.

Futuro

The Garni Hotel Berc, a rustic, pine-clad delight that looks a bit like a ski chalet[/caption]

But with walking trails also leading up into hills, I try the newly opened Ojstrica path on the west bank where a short but steep climb delivers me to a fabulous viewpoint for looking out over the lake.

Vintgar Gorge lies just a few miles out of town, where a 1,600-metre wooden walkway is suspended above the rapids of the ice-blue Radovna River.

But capacity is limited, so advance booking is essential.

By night, with views to romantic Bled Island, I dine well and cheaply at waterside eateries such as the lovely Park Restaurant, where a hearty bowl of pasta costs on average £6.50, and washes down nicely with a glass of Slovenian Merlot.

It was the perfect place to watch ducks line up in roosting rows, as the sun slips behind Bled Castle.

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