Lake Bled holds the only natural island in all of Slovenia — a single rock crowned by a church and its slender bell tower. The lake itself was carved by an Ice Age glacier and then warmed by thermal springs rising along its northern shore, an odd pairing that leaves this alpine water mild enough to swim through the summer. On the island, the Church of the Assumption was first recorded in the 11th century and later rebuilt in baroque style; a stone stairway of 99 steps, laid in 1655, climbs from the landing straight to its door. Higher still, on a cliff 130 metres above the shore, stands Bled Castle — first mentioned in 1011 and the oldest in the country — keeping watch over the whole scene.
Dawn is the hour to catch it: the wind drops, the surface turns to a flawless mirror, and the island, the surrounding peaks, and a pink sky all double on the water. For centuries visitors have crossed to the island in a pletna, a flat-bottomed wooden boat rowed standing by a single oarsman, letting the church tower grow slowly closer. You climb the 99 steps, pull the rope three times to ring the church's wishing bell, and drift back to shore. A footpath rings the entire 6-kilometre lake in about two hours, opening a fresh view of the island and the Julian Alps at every bend, and a slice of Bled cream cake waits at the finish. For the widest view of all, steep trails climb the wooded Osojnica hills above the western shore to the scene every visitor carries home.