In researching a trip next September, I came upon the Cow's Ball and I really want to go.
Dumb question, is Ribcev Laz the same as Lake Bohinj? Where do the main events of the Ball take place? I couldn't tell by looking up the festival details. Ribcev Laz looks like a lovely place to stay.
Thanks, this is the first time I've posted on this forum.
Ribčev Laz is a small settlement on the eastern part of Bohinj
https://www.travel-slovenia.si/location/ribcev-laz/
Hope this helps
Ribcev Laz is a (small) municipality on the east side of Lake Bohinj. The only road into and out of the Lake Bohinj area runs through it.
I attended the Cows Ball in 2019. The festivities take place at Ukanc, the tiny village at the west end of Lake Bohinj. There is a small wooden bridge that is used to control entry to the festival area. I stayed at Villa Park B&B at Ukanc and loved it. It is located on the festival side of the bridge, and the owner gave all guests a free wristband to go to the Cows Ball. The festival was a 10 out of 10 event for me. I ate the best burger I have ever eaten there (fresh Bohinj beef and fresh Bohinj cheese hot off the grill).
If you are interested, my trip report for 25 days in Slovenia: https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/trip-reports/25-days-in-slovenia
Fantastic report, thanks! We have a good friend of Slovenian heritage and he's been telling us for years to go. Like you, we plan on doing tons of hiking. I will peruse your report in detail. Was your weather nice? We'll be in Slovenia around September 9-17, we are flying into Munich on Sept. 1 and I am musing over how many days to allot to Munich and Salzberg and how much to Slovenia, we will have a car the whole time. We need to be home by Sept. 20 at the latest.
I will review our budget and see if we can work in a night at the Villa Park B&B, looks lovely, but we may need to stay in Ribcev Laz. I see it isn't a long drive along the shore of the lake. Or we could walk!
I was in Slovenia Aug 23 through Sept 17. Weather was great. One rainy day. Comfortable temperatures with highs largely in the 70's.
My planning for the trip started as a 14-day trip through Slovenia, Croatia, and Bosnia & Herzegovina, but I found so much in Slovenia I wanted to see that I changed it to 14 days in Slovenia alone... then 14 days in the western half of Slovenia... then 25 days in the western half of Slovenia. Zero regret for spending so much time there.
I'm not sure what the parking situation for the Cows Ball is. It definitely is walkable from Ribcev Laz to Ukanc. I walked the path completely around the lake one afternoon (Ukanc to Ukanc). There is also a bus that has a few stops along the lake.
We attended the ball last year and had a great time. As mentioned, the food was good-we had ribs. It also helped that most of the announcements and introductions of the cows were delivered in English as well as Slovenian. I will offer a word of advice-stay as close to the festival as possible. We took the bus from Bled and it was standing room only. The driver skipped all his other stops on the way to Ukanc. I had never heard of the festival and didn't realize it attracted so many people. We ended leaving early than we wanted to for fear of having to wait hours to get a bus or being stuck in traffic.
I hope you are able to work it into your schedule.
See ya’ there, Dan2489! We just booked a room in Ukanc so that we can fully enjoy all the Cows Ball 2024 has to offer! My husband grew up on a farm and is really looking forward to the farm machinery. I can’t wait to see which cow is crowned Queen. I do recommend reading Dave’s trip report “25 Days in Slovenia “ on this forum, very helpful and his enthusiasm is contagious.
All this talk of the Cow's Ball makes me want to go again!
