Lake Bled

If you search the subforum, you will find differing views on how long to spend in Bled
and how to get there.

I will offer that the answer to your question depends in part on what you're doing after
that and how you get there.

Bled is easily doable as a day trip via bus or train. Spending a night may make sense if
it gets you along the way to your next destination (e.g., Vrsic Pass via car). But if you plan
to spend the rest of your time in Ljubljana and then take train or bus onwards, then I see
no need to spend a night in Bled.

Also, time of year matters, and you don't say when you are going. Rooms in Bled can be
expensive in high season.

I will be there in late Sept.

I spent two nights there once and then on two separate occasions I’ve visited Lake Bled just for a few hours. All three situations were equally satisfying. I chose to not take a boat ride and to not visit the Pilgrimage Church of the Assumption of Mary (an approximately two hour round trip event). Walking around the lake, enjoying the incredible views and visiting Bled Castle were my interests. All including the boat trip can be completed in a full day trip from Ljubljana if desired.

I would just stay in Ljubljana. I felt like a day trip in Bled was plenty. Absolutely resist the temptation to take the boat ride to the island. It’s kind of a big nothing and takes up a lot of time. Highly recommend the summer bobsled track, it’s a crazy one! You don’t need to rent a car either, there’s pretty regular bus service between Ljubljana and Bled.

I would do a day trip, but I also like to minimize lodging changes. I feel like I lose quite a bit of time when I'm changing lodging from one place to another.

We stayed in Ljubljana last year and did a day trip to Lake Bled with our car rental. The ride on the pletna boat was definitely a highlight and was only 18 euros. It was such a quiet and relaxing ride across the turquoise water, and the oarsman gave us a nice history of the island and family tradition of being an oarsman. The 99 steps up to the church wasn’t hard, and the view from up there was worth the climb. Another must is you have to have the iconic Bled Cream Cake. It was so good I ate it as slowly as I could to savor it and make it last long.

Lake Bled is very easy to visit as a day trip from Ljubljana and as others have mentioned you don't need a car. When we went we did it by train. We went in winter so the boats weren't running but the walk around the lake was beautiful. As mentioned above, the cream cake is definitely a highlight.

I imagine the cream cake in Slovenia is like catnip to Cats.

You could easily do it as a day trip. There's car rental next to the train station if you want to drive.
A boat trip is pretty awesome, IMO. I wouldn't skip that. In addition, there's a sommerrodlebahn overlooking Bled, there's the Vogel Cable Car, there's lakeside lunch.