Ljubljana Joze Pucnik Airport (IATA code LJU), located near the village of Brnik, 21 miles southeast of Bled, is the main point of entry for tourists flying into Slovenia. It is the busiest airport in the country, with 1.8 million passengers served in 2018. It is the home airport for Slovenia`s flag carrier, Adria Airways.

Arriva Alpetour (www.arriva.si/en) offers buses from Ljubljana Airport to Bled, with a brief stop at Bled Union. Fares are €8 to/from Bled. Buses leave the airport six times each weekday, at 9:05 a.m., 10:05 a.m., 12:05 p.m., 1:05 p.m., 4:05 p.m., and 5:05 p.m. and the ride takes approximately 30 minutes. (There is a more limited schedule on weekends, running in the morning and early afternoon only.) Taxis queue outside Bled bus station; cab drivers charge in the neighborhood of €10-€15, depending on luggage and number of people, to any hotel in Bled.

A taxi queue is located outside Ljubljana Airport`s arrivals terminal; you will find that a cab to Bled will cost between €60 and €100 depending on the number of people in your party and the number of pieces of luggage handled.

Driving directions to Bled: Turn left onto Route 104, which runs in front of Joze Pucnik Airport. Drive for approximately 45 minutes (22 miles) and take the third exit for Lesce/Lesce-Bled, heading to Bled/Lesce on Highway 209. This road eventually becomes Ljubljanska cesta, which takes you into the center of Bled.

Lesce-Bled train station is located 2.5 miles east of Bled in the town of Lesce. Most people arriving from Klagenfurt in Austria, or from Ljubljana, will arrive in Bled through this station. The taxi companies charge between €10-€15 to take travelers between any two points in the immediate area of Bled, including Lesce. The price differential depends on the number of people in your party (a smaller party may mean a smaller fare), as well as the number of pieces of baggage handled by the driver. You will find a taxi rank in front of the station.

People arriving from Villach and passing through Jesenice may arrive in Bled via Lake Bled train station (called Bled Jezero in Slovene). This station is situated just off the northwestern corner of Lake Bled. Again, fares will range between €10-€15 from the taxi rank at the station to any point in the immediate area of Lake Bled, including most tourist hotels.

There is no public transportation per se. Local transport options do exist, however, and many of them are inexpensive. Here are a few of those options.

Tourist Train: A tourist train (actually an automobile pulling tram cars, designed to look like a locomotive)stops at various points around Lake Bled every day between June and September. The train makes a lap once every 45 minutes from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. In May and October, the tourist train runs on weekends every 45 minutes between 10 a.m. and 5 p.m. Note: The tourist train may be canceled without notice in May and October if it is raining or snowing. For more information on the tourist train, you can contact the Infocenter Triglavska Roza Bled. (Ljubljanska cesta 27, Bled, +386 (0)4 578 02 05)

Pletna: If you are spending time on the lake, the most popular way to get around is by pletna, a local boat that is similar in appearance to a gondola. You will find many pletna operators around Lake Bled; the Boat Association Pletna Bled operates a 16-seater pletna with an electric motor, ferrying people from Cafe Park at Park Hotel to Bled Island every hour on the hour from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. between the months of May and September. Return trips from Bled Island leave every hour on the :20, from 11:20 a.m. to 5:20 p.m. (The last group of tourists leave the island at 6 p.m.) The electric pletna also operates outside of summer on a more limited schedule. Round-trip tickets are priced at €15 and can be purchased directly from the pletna operator.

Fijaker: Carriages (fijakers) are a time-honored tradition in Bled. Not wanting the open carriages to die off in the age of cars and fast trains, the Coachmen Fijaker Association maintains the carriages, and its members drive them. The carriages depart from the corner of Cesta svobode and Presernova cesta. For more information, visit www.fijaker-bled.si. (Website in Slovene.)

Hop-on, Hop-off Bus: A hop-on, hop-off bus circuit runs between Lake Bohinj and Pokljuka Gorge on Saturdays and Sundays from late June to mid-September, stopping at various points inside Triglav National Park. This bus route runs three times each day, with the first bus leaving Lake Bohinj at 6:53 a.m. and the last one wrapping up its route at 5:20 p.m. You can read more about the hop-on, hop-off bus and the Bohinj Mobility Guest Card, which entitles cardholders to complimentary rides on the bus, at www.bohinj.si. (Website in Slovene and English.)

Taxis will be found at most tourist destinations around Bled. If you find yourself wanting to explore Triglav National Park or the lakes, valleys and waterfalls around Bled, it is best to have your hotel call a cab and reserve one for you. If you want to be picked up at the end of the day to return to your hotel, be sure to have your hotel mention this when reserving, in addition to the time you would like to be picked up.

Five local taxi companies operate in Bled and the surrounding area. Unlike in many other areas, the taxis in Bled usually charge by destination and not per-mile distance. For example, taxis usually charge between €10 and €15 to get to any destination in Bled, depending on how many people are in your party. Expect to pay €40-€50 to see the waterfalls around Black Lake, €35-€45 to Lake Bohinj and areas in central Triglav National Park, and €15-€20 to Vintgar Gorge.

There are a number of pay parking lots in and around Lake Bled; they are operated by the local government in Bled and the fee to park ranges between €2 and €3 an hour. You may find that there is parking at your hotel in Bled; inquire during the booking process and find out if there is a fee to utilize the parking lot at your hotel. To view a map of parking lots around Lake Bled, visit www.bled.si/en/how-to-get-here.

Lake Bled is entirely safe to visit. You should not encounter problems anywhere in the area, whether you are out and about during the day or at night. We recommend that if you are exploring the countryside or Triglav National Park, to return to your lodging before nightfall. Do not risk being stranded in an unfamiliar area in the dark.

The currency of Slovenia, like many European Union nations, is the Euro (symbolized as €). One Euro is broken up into 100 cents. Other currencies are not accepted anywhere in the country. Credit and debit cards are widely used in Slovenia and you will find most businesses accept them. U.S. dollars and travelers checks can be exchanged for Euros at banks and bureaux de change in Ljubljana, all other major cities, and most towns. Bank and currency bureau hours are usually 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. weekdays, with an hour break for lunch typically taken at noon or 1 p.m. ATMs are widely available in Slovenia; many of them do not charge fees themselves, but note that your home banking institution may charge a fee for withdrawing money abroad.

The Slovenians are perhaps some of the most multilingual people in Europe. To graduate high school in Slovenia, one must pass a proficiency test in the mother language (Slovene), English, and another foreign language (before independence from Yugoslavia that language was usually Russian, now many younger people speak German). In addition, a number of Slovenians can speak and understand Italian. Melania Trump, First Lady of the United States, is said to speak five languages fluently. This may sound impressive to Americans, but this is typical of many Slovenians.

With that said, you will probably not run into any issues while on your trip. You should be understood just fine if you speak English to someone. It is still courteous to learn some phrases in Slovene, such as yes/no (da, ne), the numbers from 1-10, please (prosim), thank you (hvala vam), greetings like "Good morning/Good day" (Dobro jutro/Dober dan), and "Do you speak English?" (Govoris anglesko?)

Slovenians are not typically direct communicators, but they are adaptable, so if they encounter someone from another country who might be more bombastic, they are good at adapting and altering their own behavior accordingly. This means you will probably make some fast friends in Lake Bled and all over the country. As far as customs or traditions are concerned, a gift is nice to give when entering someone`s home for the first time. Flowers or a bottle of wine are fine, the size of the gift or the color of the gift is immaterial, unlike in other Slavic nations. Be on time; Slovenians, like Germans and Austrians, are very prompt. Slovenians also like keeping business and pleasure separate, so don`t be offended if you are not on a first-name basis with some people right away or if you encounter a service industry worker who insists on being formal to you. (They want you to be formal with them as well.)

While Slovenia is still very much a Catholic nation, the number of people who do not go to church rises every year, and many people live secular lives. In many respects Slovenia is as socially easygoing as many other Western European nations, and far and away the most liberal of the former republics of Yugoslavia.

Slovenians love to eat, and you`ll find them snacking on various goodies in addition to the main meals of the day. Breakfast is light for many people, like toast, an egg, and coffee. This is eaten around 7 or 8 in the morning, before the workday begins for most people. Lunch is the biggest meal of the day, and it`s eaten as close to noontime as possible. Many businesses will close for an hour at this time. Lunch is served with a starter and a larger main dish which is supposed to keep you satisfied until dinner. Dinner is eaten late, but not as late as in Italy, Greece or other nations. It is acceptable to make dinner reservations between the hours of 7 and 9 p.m. Eating later has one advantage, fewer crowds to beat out for a table somewhere. Many restaurants in Lake Bled close by 11 p.m.

You will not find a wait at many restaurants in Lake Bled, but a few choice restaurants, such as the one located inside Bled Castle, do require reservations in advance.

Note: Anti-smoking laws in Slovenia prohibit smoking in restaurants. In bars and nightclubs, if smoking is to be allowed at all, there must be a separate, ventilated `smoking chamber` on the premises.

Bled is particularly well-known for its cream cakes. The recipe was perfected over 60 years ago by the former Park Hotel pastry chef Istvan Lukacevic. Over 200,000 cream cakes are consumed in Bled each year. Authentic cream cakes are made from butter dough, vanilla cream, and topped by whipped cream and icing sugar. The Park Hotel may be the birthplace of the Bled cream cake, but you will find that nearly every restaurant in the area serves the delicious dessert. To learn more about the Bled cream cake, visit www.sava-hotels-resorts.com/en/sava-hoteli-bled/gastronomy/the-original-bled-cream-cake.

In addition to the shops and stores which cater to locals in Bled, authentic Slovenian souvenirs can be purchased from the Bled Island Gift Shop adjacent to the Assumption of Mary Church, and the Triglavska roza gift shop located at Ljubljanska cesta 27. If you would like to purchase miniature models of pletnas, you can buy those at the Pletna Ethno Gallery, located at Cesta svobode 37. Check out the food and wine shops at Ljubljanska cesta 4 and Cesta svobode 15 for authentic gastronomic delights from Slovenia and from Lake Bled.

Many hotels and resorts offer bicycle rental services; inquire when you check in. In town, the most prominent bicycle rental shop is Outdoor-mania Bled (Cesta svobode 2, +386 (0)41 980 982, www.outdoor-mania.com). You won`t regret taking a bike ride in one of the most beautiful parts of Europe!

Note: Keep in mind that cycling MUST be done either on an official trail or road in Slovenia; it is the law. Bike lanes do not exist in Bled, but cyclists are welcome to share the street with cars. Traffic is light so there should be few issues.