Hi everyone,
Late April trip. Current plan:
• 4 nights Piran
• 3 nights Trieste
• 3 nights Radovljica
• 3 nights Ljubljana (already booked)
Radovljica was planned as a base for Lake Bled and possibly Lake Bohinj.
I’m now wondering if we should skip staying in Radovljica and just go straight from Trieste to Ljubljana, using Ljubljana as our base for Bled/Bohinj instead.
For those who’ve stayed in Radovljica — is it worth 3 nights? Or would you simplify and base only in Ljubljana?
Thanks,
AJ
We stayed in Ljubljana one night and then went to Lake Bled for two nights, and found Lake Bohinj to be entirely skippable.
See, I would entirely disagree with the idea that Bohinj is skippable - not just the lake itself, but the walk to the waterfall, Mt Vogel, Pokljuka, the dairy museum (ok, I like cheese)... Though it is a very outdoor destination, so I can see why it wouldn't offer something for everyone.
That being said, I still think it's worth staying closer to Bled than Ljubljana as any time you gain by not changing hotels will be lost in the back-and-forth. Radovljica deserves a day itself, and even if you only do the absolute tourist hotspots in Bled and Bohinj, you'd need a day and a half unless you really enjoy rushing.
Put it this way - on my first trip to Slovenia, I somehow managed the following in one day: early bus Ljubljana-Bled before 7am, walk to Vintgar Gorge (the bus wasn't running), queue then walk through Vintgar Gorge, hike back to Bled via St Catherine, wolf down a snack, get the bus to Bohinj, walk Ribcev Lav to Stara Fuzina, have a swim, take photos around the bridge, grab a sandwich, get the bus back to Ljubljana a bit after 5pm, then catch the tail end of Open Kitchen for dinner.
It was lots of fun, but I was an absolute zombie by the end of it and lost much of the following morning to total exhaustion (luckily the long brunch that was all I managed was relaxing!). Chopping the transport off either end would have been a far wiser choice. And there was no universe in which I would have got on another bus just to visit Radovljica that trip!
(We had previously stayed overnight in Bled, but I couldn't fit Vintgar and Bohinj into the same day as a Bled island pletna trip, hike up to the castle, a dip in the lake, a cream cake break and a walk around to the other end of the lake, and thus had regrets.)
In other words, I'd recommend sticking with multiple bases.
Agree that Lake Bohinj is much better than Lake Bled because Lake Bohinj is actually inside Triglav National Park. Lake Bled is not and this is probably why Bled is
overdeveloped and overcrowded.
Ribcev Laz makes for a good base town at Lake Bohinj.
Radovljica is a tiny town and we used it as a base--didn't spend much time in the town itself. Ribcev Laz is another great suggestion for expIoring the Lake Bohinj/Lake Bled areas. I agree with the other responses. Lake Bled is over-rated and we only spent one hour there. If you like hiking, there are many gorgeous areas north of Ljubliana too, such as the Logar Valley. I suggest that you pinpoint what you plan to do, map it out, and choose one or two hubs accordingly. You might want to spend the whole time in Ljubliana if you prefer exploring cities to hiking.
I don't remember if anyone has mentioned that you need a vignette to drive on many roads in Slovenia. I believe that your rental car will have one if you rent in Slovenia. We rented in Croatia and I easily added it online before we entered Slovenia. We were pulled over by police when we exited a road and I'm sure they checked to see if we were in the system.
I'm going to pile in with those who like Bohinj better than Bled, but I am also one who has a high affinity for nature activities. Radovljica was a stop on my 25-day trek through Slovenia, but not an overnight base. I really enjoyed the small town and would happily base there over Bled, though I'm more partial to the Bohinj area.
To give you ideas, here's the trip report for m 25-day trip, including a stream-lined overview with what I did each day: https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/trip-reports/25-days-in-slovenia
I'd also personally stay in Ribčev Laz if I were in the area, but that's mainly because I want to be able to swim and hike more or less from my doorstep, and I don't drive. It has its limitations - there's not that many places to stay (and many have minimum night requirements), and if you think Radovljica has little nightlife or few restaurants and non-hiking activities, well, it's a raging metropolis compared to Ribčev Laz!
But Radovljica is definitely a very nice alternative to Bled if you want a town base. (There's also a chocolate festival in April.)
So sorry I meant to say thanks for all your advice!
