Vintgar Gorge
May 9, 2017 in
Slovenia
We hope you enjoy watching the short video we filmed at the gorge here: https://youtu.be/E07Tu4R88rQ
One of the things that shocked us when we arrived at Camping Bled was the number of GB vans. We'd parked up in between two who turned out to be British, the next day two English people, Wendy and Mary, travelling together in their own vans parked nearby and a Scottish person (we didn't catch her name) came over for a chat while we were sitting outside. She'd just returned from a walk through the nearby Vintgar Gorge and told us all about it.
The next day, buoyed up with enthusiasm, we picked the lads up from the small train station near their apartment and headed off in the van to the gorge. At 4km away from Bled we could have walked but a lot of it was uphill and we wanted to be able to enjoy our time in the gorge without having to worry about being exhausted by the time we got back.
We pulled up in the free car park, opposite half a dozen old modified cars with GB plates. There was a €5 pp entry charge with a sign stating this went on the upkeep of the gorge. By the time we'd walked the 2 miles of well maintained boardwalk and bridges, we could see the money was well spent and the fee a reasonable one.
The Radovna river cut a deep course through the steep, rocky gorge. It was so steep that the boardwalk had been built on the side of the near vertical banks, for a significant portion of the walk. The noise of the rushing water was ever present as it flowed over shallow rapids, squeezed through deep pinch points and tumbled down waterfalls of varying heights and widths. The weather had turned colder and the sky was overcast much of the time, but in the spells where the sun came out and shone into the gorge,the light was filtered through the Spring Beech forest foliage. It took on a gorgeous golden-green hue that was reflected by the surface of the river. The water was so clear that in the deeper sections, the colour penetrated to the pale karst bed.
The wildlife was great too. Birds sang at the top of their voices to be heard over the river's roar. We watched Grey Wagtails hopping around at the water's edge and Dippers diving and swimming underwater, before emerging to chew on a tasty morsel. Spotted fish rested and recuperated in eddies, ready to continue their journey upstream.
Our journey down Vintgar Gorge ended with the stunning and powerful 16m high Sum Waterfall. We crossed over a bridge at the head of the fall before descending a steep woodland track to the plunge pool, where we were splattered with the spray.
Making the most of Ali and Tom's last night in the apartment we returned there for a warming curry. It was too cold to sit out on the balcony but the dining room was comfortable enough and had an even better view of Lake Bled.Read more
Yeah agreed. Prob not as nice in winter. Which country u in for summer??
We are leaving here in a week and travelling up to Sweden and Norway for midsummer!
Oh fab. Look forward to those pics xx
Ooh will you be there for the midsummer celebrations?! I was reading a book a while ago that described the festivities and it sounds lovely! Lots of flowers and bonfires :) X
We are hoping to be in the Arctic Circle for the summer solstice. Hopefully we'll be able to join in with some celebrating!