Bled's church-topped island in the middle of the lake might indeed be one of the most stunning spots in a country with no shortage of natural beauty. They say you can swim to it but we pay a boat operator 12 euros ($18.90) each to row us across with six others.
It should be serene — just the gentle sloshing of oars in water. But two women chat away and one's phone keeps beeping and there's a guy snapping photos and then our skipper's phone rings, and we drift as he talks. But block it all out and it's just the boat, the lake and the island — and back towards the shore, the equally stirring sight of a castle emerging from rocks high above the water.
The island's quaint Assumption of Mary Pilgrimage Church is at the top of 99 stairs and the location of a ritual that strikes terror in the hearts of Slovenian grooms: carrying their bride all the way up.
Apparently some do serious training in advance, something I decide is quite sensible after labouring up with just a backpack. All the while the bell in the small, 18th century baroque chapel clangs haphazardly as tourists yank its rope for good luck.
Back on the mainland, we climb the hill to the medieval castle and lean over the belly-high stone walls to drink in the view of the lake below. And then we realise we have three hours before we need to be back on a bus, during which time we intend seeing a gorge an hour's walk away.
Once we're there, any doubt that we should have bothered making the effort on a drizzly day disappears. The 1.6km boardwalk leads us into the verdant cavity alongside slippery rocks that rise up on both sides, crossing the stream that is first turquoise and then a deep bottle green.
At some point we come to a sandy bank beside a waterfall and the path forks. Other walkers pass us to the left, but there's an arrow on the right pointing back to Bled. With the clock ticking and the light fading, we set off. Up rocks, through springy undergrowth, we lose then find the rough path. We walk through a tract of pungent wild garlic growing rampant on the forest floor, a seasonal favourite on local menus.
We climb some more, but there seems to be no end to the trees — and I start to panic, just a little. Wild imagining ensues and I wonder about the bears someone told us inhabit these parts. Eventually the goat track turns to pebbles and then to bitumen, and we see Bled a couple of kilometres in the distance.
We tramp through pastures and a village of pastel-painted chalets, past cows and vegetable gardens and last year's corn drying in someone's yard. Finally, we reach the town - and the blessed bus. Gummy bears have never tasted so good.
CHECKLIST
Getting there: There are flights from a number of European centres to Ljubljana and direct train services from Venice, Vienna and Zagreb. Bled is about a 40-minute drive from Ljubljana.
