Disclaimer: all the bar and restaurant names are based off of my shit memory and lots of Google map searching if I didn’t write it down. I didn’t write a name in any of my blog posts unless I was at least 95% confident that it was correct to try and avoid steering anyone in the wrong direction.

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Day 6: Budapest to Lake Bled, Slovenia to Ljubljana, Slovenia

We have an exciting day ahead! It was time to go to a new country: Slovenia. Another country that wasn’t on my radar at all until I booked this trip, but my oh my, as soon as I started looking into it, I’m sure glad I was going!

Circle of Life made its way through the speakers and we had arrived at Lake Bled. You can see a million, perfect, high resolution, and crystal-clear pictures of Lake Bled and think wow that sure is beautiful. No. PICTURES WILL NEVER DO THIS MAGICAL PLACE JUSTICE. Kamil, our driver, parked the bus on the top of a hill near Lake Bled. We all hopped off and walked down the hill towards the most beautiful, blue water I had ever seen in my entire life. It didn’t even feel real. To make it more like a dream, there was a castle sitting atop a hill across the lake. This place was something out of a fairytale.

A few people decided to go for a swim, but I decided to just revel in the beauty of Lake Bled. I had Doug take about 10,000 photos of me, and I can’t even lie, you can see the happiness right on my face. The energy this place gave my spirit was unreal.  

After staring in awe at the lake and taking all of our photos. We climbed back up the hill a bit and sat down at a restaurant called Panorama that overlooked the lake. There I was introduced to Bled cream cake (or Kremsnita), which is exactly what it sounds like: cream cake. There is a flaky crust on the top and bottom and the middle is filled with a delicious custard and whipped cream. It is light and deliciously satisfying! The perfect treat for the perfect view.

After everyone who went for a swim dried off, and the rest of us finished our cakes it was time to get back to the bus. Our time in Lake Bled had come to an end, and it was time to head into Ljubljana, which is the capital of Slovenia. This was another fairytale town, which isn’t surprising since it is still Slovenia we’re talking about here. There was magic in the air here, and you could feel it. There was music in the streets, smiling faces everywhere, dragons pictured on everything, and yet another castle on a hill. Cue: Ed Sheeran’s “Castle on the hill” for all of Slovenia.

A few of us immediately decided we wanted to visit Ljubljana Castle. You can get up to the castle in one of two ways: (1) walk, or (2) take the funicular, which for anyone who doesn’t know is like a little cable car. We chose the funicular, because well, we are lazy. It was really cool, albeit kind of scary, to ride up and see the city below you as you rose up further and further towards the castle. It is approximately 230 feet to get from the bottom of the city to the castle, so the ride takes a few minutes.

Once you arrive, you are dropped off right inside the castle. MAGICAL. Did I say that already, because I can’t emphasis it enough. I felt like I was in a movie. There were dragon sculptures throughout the castle, and even a pair of dragon wings painted on the wall. *snap* the perfect Instagram picture here. You have seen your fair share of angel wing Instagram posts but have you see DRAGON wings? I couldn’t resist.

We snapped a few more pictures around the interior of the castle and then made our way to the top, outside, which had the most beautiful view of the city and the mountains in the distance. I couldn’t get enough. Inside the castle walls, there was a courtyard, with restaurant seating, and room to roam around and enjoy being in a freaking fairytale castle.

Our stomachs decided it was time for dinner, so we all left the castle and went back into town to find a restaurant that could accommodate us all. We had a pretty big group even though we had all split up when we got the Ljubljana, I think there were about 12-15 of us looking for dinner. There were a few mini groups that all went to the castle at the same time, and we kind of just became one large group. We ended up at Sokol or Gostilna Sokol Ljubljana. The weather was so perfect that day, we all decided we would like to sit in the outdoor seating and enjoy the fresh air. The food was divine. If you didn’t already know, I have a weak stomach and I do not digest red meat very well, which sucks because I love red meat. Doug ordered a steak dish, which I was drooling over. Not that I didn’t enjoy my vegetable risotto, but his just looked SO yummy. He insisted that I try a bite, and I figured what was one bite. Well, I didn’t get sick so that was great, AND it was so delicious, I’m so happy I didn’t pass up tasting it. 

For the rest of the night, we wandered around this magical city. Eating gelato, having a few cocktails, and listening to the music being preformed at some outdoor restaurants. The time had come for us to head to our accommodations for the night, but none of us were really ready to come down from the high of roaming the streets of Ljubljana. We got back to the hotel/hostel, I don’t even know what to call it, and settled in. Then, basically everyone on the Contiki tour hung out outside and drank and socialized for a few more hours.

Our hotel/hostel was a bunch of mini condos almost just sans kitchens. They were really cute, and it was a nice change of pace from the typical hostel/hotel feel. They were nice and spacious, and we were all close to each other rather than being spread out over different levels of the hostels. With everyone hanging around outside, it was a nice change of pace to all be together, relaxing and having a good time, rather than all spread out throughout a club or a bar of different bars for that matter.

Ljubljana, Slovenia notes:

Where we stayed: Ljubljana Resort Hotel & Camp
Where we ate:
Bled Cake: Panorama
Dinner: Gostilna Sokol
Free Time Add-ons: N/A

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Continue reading my journey throughout my entire Contiki series!

Contiki Series
Part I: Why Contiki? Day 1 & 2: Vienna, Austria
Part II: Day 2: Auschwitz, Poland
Part III: Day 2 & 3: Krakow, Poland
Part IV: Day 4: Banska Bystrica, Slovakia and Budapest, Hungary
Part V: Day 6: Lake Bled & Ljubljana, Slovenia
Part VI: Day 7: Venice, Italy
Part VII: Day 8 & 9: Rome, Italy