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I was lying on my back on a paddleboard in the middle of Lake Bohinj with my eyes shut, listening to six women breathe.
I’d told them it would take 5 minutes. It ran closer to 10, because when I opened my eyes, nobody had moved. They were flat out on their boards with their arms trailing in the water and I’m fairly sure a couple of them had fallen asleep. I let it run. Then I had to wake them up, because the boards were due back.
That’s Lake Bohinj. It’s the lake where nobody’s in a hurry.
I spent 10 days in Slovenia in July on a women’s adventure trip, and we based at Lake Bled like most people do. Lake Bohinj is 30 minutes further west, deeper into Triglav National Park, and it’s the one I’d send you to first.
Which brings us to the question everybody types into Google before they book. Lake Bled or Bohinj? I’ll get to that. (Difficult choice btw as both are wonderful)
Bohinj is Slovenia’s largest permanent lake, and it sits inside Triglav National Park, which means the mountains come right down to the water on three sides. From the surface you get the whole bowl at once, peaks and forest stacked up around a lake that goes glass-flat the moment the wind drops.
It’s about 30 minutes by car from Lake Bled on a pretty road. There’s a bus that takes roughly the same time, with tickets somewhere between €3 and €14 depending on the route you take.
If you love adventure, you can also bike from Lake Bled to Lake Bohinj. There is a 28-kilometre-long continuous cycling connection between Lake Bled and Lake Bohinj. Most of the route is separated from motor traffic and runs alongside the Sava Bohinjka River, passing through one of the most beautiful natural landscapes in Slovenia. You could rent an ebike, and/or cycle there and catch the bus back (or vice versa). They can transport bikes! Here is a package that includes ebike rental and bus)
The lake was not busy while we were there… In July. So, unlike many other European destinations. If it’s tranquility, adventure, and outdoor beauty you want, you’ve got it here. It’s the place that will cause your doctor to say on your return home, “What have you been doing differently?”
Paddleboarding is the right way to see Bohinj lake, and I’d say that even if I didn’t already love it. It’s my favorite thing to do on any water anywhere. It’s the most peaceful way I know to be somewhere.
We rented from Super Duper, and the thing that makes them worth booking is that they bring the boards to you. They deliver to three points around the lake: St John’s Bridge at the eastern end, the Pit Stop at Naklova glava on the south shore, and Ukanc at the far western end. You can start at one and finish at another, which no other rental on the lake seems to offer. Minimum rental is 2 hours.
We met them at the Pit Stop, a little wooden shack on the edge of the water with a few tables outside. We had a coffee before we launched. My flat white looked like it was going to be excellent and then wasn’t quite. Order an Americano.
One practical warning. Use the bathroom before you get there. The portable toilet at the Pit Stop was grim.
The Pit Stop is also a popular swimming beach. It was quiet when we arrived and much busier by the time we came off the water a couple of hours later, so come early if swimming is the point of your day.
We paddled across to a quieter bay on the far side. The surface there went completely still. Every so often one of the old wooden sightseeing boats would go past with a handful of tourists on it, and a group of kayakers came through, and that was the entire traffic of the morning. We paddled, sat on the boards and talked, and some practiced yoga and headstands on the boards. And a few of us dived off the boards to enjoy a refreshing swim in the cooler waters. That was also one of my favorite parts.
After all of that fun, the quieter bay is where we stopped and floated, and where I led the meditation.
I’ve been using an “I am” practice for years, the one I picked up from Dr. Wayne Dyer. You choose the thing you want to be. Strong. Calm. Brave. Then you breathe it in, say it, and breathe out “I am that.” We had the Mount Triglav hike the next day, and several of the women told me afterwards that they’d held onto their word the whole way up the mountain.
Six women on paddleboards in the middle of an alpine lake, saying quiet things to themselves about who they wanted to be. Then not getting up. This is what a Your Limitless Adventures trip actually looks like
Their local tip, which I’d take next time: paddle from St John’s Bridge all the way down to Ukanc at the far end, then walk back along the lakeside trail. Stop and swim when you feel like it. A whole slow day on the lake instead of 2 hours.
Savica sits at the western end of Lake Bohinj, past Ukanc, and it’s an easy add-on to a Bohinj day. We actually did it after lunch at Bled, which works too, though Bohinj is the more natural pairing because it’s right there.
It’s about a mile up to the viewing platform and roughly 550 steps through the trees. After the pizza we’d just eaten, that was the correct amount of penance. A double rainbow came out over the valley on our way up, which felt like being told we’d made the right call.
The waterfall itself is worth the climb. The river runs underground and comes straight out of the middle of the mountain wall, splits into two streams that fall in an A shape, and lands in a deep green pool so clear you can see the rocks and the sand on the bottom.
Every single one of us wanted to get in it. There’s a fence, and the fence means no. It’s a looking place.
The information panel at the top says the falls are high in negative ions. That made me laugh out loud, because the day before I’d had the whole group standing barefoot on the grass to soak up the earth’s negative ions and shake the jet lag out. The mountain agreed with me in writing. Stand there for a minute with your eyes closed anyway. Whatever it’s doing, it’s doing something.
Worth knowing: it’s inside Triglav National Park, so there’s a minimal entry fee and a separate parking fee. The steps are steep and get slippery, so it’s not a walk for anyone unsteady on their feet.
From the middle of the lake, we looked up and spotted a gondola running up the mountainside, which sent us all reaching for our phones to work out what it was.
It’s the Vogel cable car. It climbs to 1,535 m in under 5 minutes and puts you on a viewpoint looking straight back down over the whole Bohinj basin. In winter it’s a ski resort. In summer it’s a viewpoint with trails running out of it, and I believe you can eat lunch up there.
We didn’t have time. I’ve filed it under things I’d do first if I came back, and if you have a spare half day at Lake Bohinj I’d put it above almost anything else, because the perspective from up there is the one thing the lake can’t give you from the water.
The full loop around Lake Bohinj is about 11 km and it’s almost entirely flat, which surprised me for a place ringed by mountains. Give it 3 to 4 hours at a pace that lets you stop.
I’d combine it with the Super Duper tip above: paddle one way, walk back. That’s a full day and probably the best day you can have here.
For swimming, the beaches on the south shore near the Pit Stop are the easy option, with shallow shingle you can walk straight in from. Come in the morning if you want it quiet.
Restavracija Kramar, at the head of the lake in Stara Fužina. We came here straight off the water, and it was one of the better lunches of the trip. Local trout burgers, pizza, big salads, and a view worth sitting in.
I had a burrata salad with grilled chicken on top that I’m still thinking about, and the risotto and the burgers went down well with everyone else. Sunsets here are supposed to be excellent.
The Pit Stop, on the south shore, for a coffee before you get on the water. Skip the flat white.
My answer, after doing both in the same week:
Go to Bohinj if you want the nature. It’s quieter, it’s less developed, and it sits inside the national park, which gives you the trails and the water and the mountain access that Bled can’t. The lake never felt crowded. Savica is right there. Vogel is right there. You can paddle for 2 hours and see almost nobody.
Go to Bled if you want the town. More restaurants, more places to stay, more to do in the evening, and the island church and the castle, which are famous for a reason. Bled is easier if you’re traveling with people who want a coffee and a view rather than a full day outdoors. It’s also closer to Vintgar Gorge, while Bohinj is closer to Savica.
I loved Bohinj more. I’d send you there first.
The good news is you don’t have to pick. They’re 30 minutes apart and one base covers both.
Posts coming soon: Lake Bled: what’s worth your time and what isn’t and Vintgar Gorge, includng the part about getting back out that nobody warns you about. Subscribe to our travel newsletter so you don’t miss our travel updates and stories.
I’ve paddled on oceans and I’ve paddled on lakes and I keep doing it because it’s the only activity I know where the point is to slow down. You can’t rush a paddleboard. You stand on the water and the place has to come to you.
Bohinj gave me that, and then it gave me a bay quiet enough to put six women flat on their backs in the middle of an alpine lake in Slovenia, breathing. That’s the whole reason I’d send you here before Bled.
I went to Slovenia with Your Limitless Adventures, a women’s adventure travel company run by my friend Christina McEvoy. I’ve since become a trip leader with them, and I’m leading three:
→ What a Your Limitless Adventures trip is actually like
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Have you been to Bohinj, or is Bled the one on your list? Tell me in the comments. I want to know if anyone else picked the quiet one.
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