So, on Wednesday morning we left our wonderful vineyard stopover at 10.40 to make our way to Lake Boshinj via a famous viewpoint for the Soča river and the Kozjak waterfalls nearby. We parked at a designated car park (P4N#120543) and walked up to the waterfalls. On the way we passed the viewpoint which is in the middle of a wooden suspension bridge. Amazing view but not sure I’d want to be on the bridge with a lot of other people.

We continued up to the falls passing only a few people so, when we got there, we had the place to ourselves.

We decided to drive the scenic route to Lake Bohinj which took us longer than we thought but through wonderful scenery. We had decided to stay in a campsite as it’s not permitted to stay anywhere else in the Mount Triglav National Park overnight. We arrived at Camp Zlatorog Bohinj (P4N#23128) around 17.00 and as there are no designated plots we could decide for ourselves where to park for the next couple of nights. We managed to bag one right by the lake. Perfect.

The next morning, Thursday April 11, we walked from the campsite to the Savica Waterfalls around 3km away – uphill and with 500 steps at the end. Then we decided to walk around the lake to the eastern end to catch the panoramic boat back to the campsite. All in all over 8.5 miles walking in gloriously hot weather. The cold beer at the end was extremely welcome!

Friday morning was another hot, sunny day so we took the cable car up the mountain behind us to the top of Mount Vogel (part of the Julian Alps) where there was still snow and people were skiing on the last day of the ski season. An amazing breakfast at the top with views of Mount Triglav.

As the campsite wasn’t busy, they were very relaxed what time we left so it ended up being well after midday. We needed to make our way to Lake Bled to meet up with our neighbours, Stuart and Wendy, who were making their way south in their van, Hetty. It was a long journey and took all of 30 minutes!

Lake Bled is much more commercialised than Lake Bohinj but also much prettier. In fact, it’s one of the picture postcard sights of Slovenia. As you are only allowed to park during the day around Lake Bled, we opted to spend a couple of nights at the campsite that is on the western end away from the town with a glorious view across the lake (P4N#9328).

Once we were set up, we had lunch in the sunshine to await Hetty’s arrival. Wendy and Stuart had driven from Italy via Austria and then Italy again to avoid the motorways and, after four days of constant travelling, arrived a wee bit tired so we had dinner at the campsite restaurant, which overlooked the lake.

Saturday morning was another brilliantly sunny day with hardly a cloud in the sky so we hired bikes to cycle around the lake and take in the sights. Stuart and Wendy have fold up Brompton bikes and the four of us set off. It should have only taken us 30 minutes to complete the circuit but we had to stop for the obligatory coffee and Bled cake, although Liz passed on the coffee and went straight for an expresso martini!

In the afternoon, we hired a pletna, flat bottomed boat to take us to the church on the island in the middle of the lake. You only get 45 minutes on the island which is more than long enough to eat an ice cream. The right to use these boats dated back to 1740 when Empress Maria Theresa gave the farmers with poorly cultivated land permission to supplement their living. The Empress was instrumental in reforming serfdom across the Hapsburg Empire so they had their own land to farm.

Back to the vans for an early BBQ and sat outside chatting until bedtime. We had been enjoying our time here so much that we decided to stay another night as the weather was going to change dramatically on Monday/Tuesday.

So, on Sunday morning, we walked up to the Castle that overlooked the lake , which was harder and longer than it looked on the map. Back to the vans for lunch and the rest of the afternoon. Liz decided it was time to get the paddle board out despite the water temperature of the lake being only 10°C. Another BBQ and a very pleasant evening together before the parting of the ways on Monday morning.

Wendy and Liz got up very early to see the sunrise across the lake. Stuart and I stayed in our respective beds but they did see a spectacular sunrise. We have absolutely loved Slovenia and can’t believe that the last ten days in this wonderful country have gone so fast.

Miles driven since last post: 112

Miles travelled this trip: 3,624

Tolls: €0