If you are planning a trip to Slovenia and a visit to lake Bled you have most probably seen this picture:
This is perhaps the most famous bench in the whole of Slovenia. And no wonder – it offers one of the most stunning views to lake Bled we can ever imagine and attracts tons of photographers every single day.
Because we struggled finding it the last time we were there, I decided to put this little piece together to help you find it quick and easy.
How to get to The Bench on lake Bled
Lake Bled is surrounded by several hills and it seems that each one has someting special about it. Before we manage to find the correct route, we got the wrong hill and only realized it after about 40 minutes of climbing. After seeing two different benches (which were not The Bench) we got to a hill and then we saw it. It was sitting there, 500-600 meters away from us. The only problem was that we had to go down and then up again… And we did.
The beginning of the path that will take you to the bench on lake Bled starts on the left side of camping Bled (which looks absolutely lovely). The “hike” is really not a big deal. Although the path is really steep, it only takes about 15-20 minutes to arrive at The Bench. And that, if you’re walking slowly and not stressing yourself.
Few tips
The signs
Watch the signs. Apparently, Slovenians have decided to make it as simple as possible, so watch the shape of the signs. If the shape of the sign is a pine tree, then you’ll end up at a very large pine tree. Or looking for a bench that’s not there.
The sign you need to see so you know you’re on the right path is this one:
It is not a marked path, but…
…even so, it is still quite logical. If you don’t use navigation and you begin the path to The Bench you’ll soon arrive at a crossroad where the path meets a dirty road. Continue right. After another few minutes you’ll have to take the right path again, but luckily, this location is marked with a sign. It looks like this:
A little more sweating and you’re there. And this is your view:
We hope you have a sunny day with blue skies and fluffy white clouds. We were not that lucky (as you can see from the shots) but it was still worth every single step and every drop of sweat.
8 replies on “How to get to the famous bench near lake Bled”
Hello,
Thank you for this inspiration! I went to find the bench because of this post/ these photos. Just some tips for other people looking for the bench with a view:
With your back to the lake/ facing the campsite, “The beginning of the path that will take you to the bench on lake Bled starts on the left side of camping Bled”.
The signs look different now (June 2023) so you can ignore the photos of them. The viewpoint is signposted though, so it is still easy enough to find.
Wear covered shoes! There is some scrambling over rocks at the end, nothing major, but I wouldn’t advise wearing sandals in summer to do this walk! 90% is fine with sandals but I recommend wearing covered in shoes for the last bit.
In June 2023 it cost €7 per hour to park in the car park beside Lake Bled that is mentioned above.
Hello
I will travel to Ljubljana in Slovenia september 2019 with my work and we usually visit one new country every year. Found your site with some good advice of what to see there and visit Bled and also the higher mountains north of Bled is something i will try to visit.
Tried to find how to get there without renting a car but it was sites with bad translating, do you know if it is possible to get there by bus or train?
Thanks for a good page.
Cheers
Henke
Hi Henke and thank you for stopping by! Yes, getting to Bled via train is actually extremely easy and doesn’t cost much. When we travelled from Ljubljana it was only like an hour and a half I believe and about €5 per person. I don’t remember what website we used to get tickets so I won’t be able to direct you, but even if you just pop by the train station you’ll be able to get a ticket and see the timetable. In Ljubljana everything is nearby so going to the train station won’t take much of your time 🙂
Hello Nina
Thanks a lot for the answer, i just ask at the hotel how to get the tickets.
Must take time to get north because i train for some mountain ultras and it would be perfect to run around Bled and the even higher mountains around there.
Cheers 🙂
Is there a parking nearby please?
Absolutely – the parking of camping Bled is 100m from the starting of the hiking path. I believe it was something like 5 euros for half a day.
A bench with the most stunning view of Lake Bled. Very nice article.
I was there this year but it was after snowing, so the road was … little bit dangerous. But its worth of it 😀