My Kafkaesque life: Blejski grad/Bled castle, Slovenia

One of Slovenia's most beautiful castles

Bled catsle, Slovenia

The Bled castle (Blejski grad) on top of a cliff above the lake.

I wrote about Bled in my previous post, where you can read about our lovely stroll along Lake Bled's coast as well as trying the delicious kremna rezina. After we finished with that, we decided to go up to the castle. The only problem I had, was how to go there? I had fears that the road might be narrow and dangerous and that there's no parking space. So I asked a local and they told me it's no problem to go up there. They have enough parking spaces and he showed me the right way up. So we sat in the care and drove off. Since we parked close to the Parish church, we did not have a long way up to the castle.

✰ Brief history of Blejski grad/Bled castle

The castle was first mentioned in 1011 as Castellum Veldes (Veldes is the German name of Bled), which makes it the oldest mentioned castle in Slovenia. The year 2011 exactly 1000 years since the castle's first mention. That's pretty old for a castle, don't you think? The area around Bled was given to the Brixen diocese from the holy Roman emperor Henry II in 1004. The castle was owned by many different royals until the late 19 century, when it was sold to businessmen. From 1803 and 1838 and again after the World war II the castle was nationalized and was thoroughly renovated (1952-1961) and opened for tourism. The museum in the castle was renovated in 2008 (info source).

✰ Check the awesome Bled castle website for more info. It's really a great website.

We just followed the sign board with Blejski grad. The road up was steep, but not too steep. And the parking space is very big, probably big enough for 30-40 cars and even for buses. There are no worries, if you decide to drive there. Walking may take you a bit too long, better you find a way to ride a car.

The opening hours of the Bled castle and my girlfriend at the main gate.

Bled catsle, Slovenia

The castle looks small from afar, but it's pretty big when you're closer.

Bled catsle, Slovenia

We paid 7 eur per person to enter the castle and the museum fee is included.

Bled catsle, Slovenia

One of the reasons, why to go to the castle is the breathtaking view.

Bled catsle, Slovenia

The view of the town Bled.

The park and the Parish church.

The old fountain.

Bled catsle, Slovenia

I crowned my girlfriend as the Princess of Bled. How do you like that? :-P

Bled catsle, Slovenia

The castle has two levels. Here we're on the highest.

Bled catsle, Slovenia

And the most beautiful view can be seen from this platform.

Bled catsle, Slovenia

The lake in its full glory. Look at the colors.

A closeup of Bled island with the beautiful church of the Assumption of Mary.

My girlfriend made a video of the view:

✰ She caught attention

Compared to other tourists on the castle that day, my girlfriend looked really beautiful. And that caught some attention with two guys, who (according to my guess) were Russian and not only started at her, they seemed to have a very juicy conversation regarding her and probably her looks. Luckily I didn't understand, what they were saying, I just suggested to go to some other part of the castle. While I escorted my girl downstairs, they kept looking at her legs with no regards to my presence. I don't know what to think about such behavior. Should I be proud, that a bunch of ill-mannered fancied my girlfriend?

This part is a restaurant.

Bled catsle, Slovenia

And this is a museum in the castle, which is very nice. It will show you the history of Bled from the ice age to the middle ages and all the way to the present times. I really recommend you to see some of the things, it's really interesting. And the staff is very friendly, even if you have questions, they will gladly try to help you.

Bled catsle, Slovenia