Bled Castle, a thousand years on the rock above the lake

A thousand years of history

The story starts in 1004, when the German king Henry II granted the Bled estate to Bishop Albuin of Brixen. At the time there was only a Romanesque tower inside a wall. The bishops built the first castle around 1011 for defence, but never lived there, so it had no lavish rooms.

Towers, walls and a moat with a drawbridge, now filled in, were added in the Middle Ages. Earthquakes in 1511 and 1690 did serious damage, and in 1947 a fire gutted the interior. Between 1951 and 1961 the people of Bled restored it and opened it to visitors. The castle has a double layout, a fortified core for the stewards and an outer ward with the walls and servants’ quarters, and it’s decorated with coats of arms painted in fresco or carved in stone.

What to see at Bled Castle

The museum in the upper courtyard tells the story of Bled, its culture and its people. Beside it is the 16th-century Gothic chapel, dedicated to the bishops St Albuin and St Ingenuin, with illusionist Baroque frescoes from the late 17th century. Henry II and his wife Cunigunde appear at the altar, the same donors you’ll see in the church on Bled Island.

The lower courtyard has a well up to 12 metres deep cut into the rock, the Stolp gallery with monthly exhibitions, a room devoted to Arnold Rikli, father of health tourism in Bled, and the castle beehouse. Since 2011 the castle has also grown a cutting of Maribor’s vine, over 400 years old and the oldest in the world.

The print works, cellar and restaurant

The castle print works opened in 1999 in the old servants’ quarters. They show you how printing was done by hand and you can print your own souvenir certificate. By the entrance a plaque recalls Primož Trubar, who wrote the first books in Slovene and came to the castle in June 1561.

A little higher up is the cellar, where you can choose from more than twenty Dornberg wines, bottle your own and seal it with wax. The castle restaurant is run by the Jezeršek company, opens every day of the year and serves modern takes on traditional dishes. For more choice down in town, see restaurants in Bled.

If you are staying the night, see the best hotel deals in Bled for your dates: the well-placed rooms go fast.

Opening hours, tickets and saving money

The castle is open every day of the year, Sundays and holidays included, with longer hours from April to October. Prices and the hours of each service are in the tables. You can get in until half an hour before closing, and hours may change on special event days.

Standard tickets are sold online and discounted ones only at the ticket office. To save money, remember that with two adults one child up to 14 goes free, and that the Julian Alps Guest Card takes 10% off. In summer the courtyards host the Medieval Days, with knights showing how people lived in the Middle Ages.

How I’d visit

My plan would be to walk up from the centre late in the afternoon, take the museum and chapel slowly, stop at the print works and finish on the terrace as the light drops over the lake. If you’d rather earn the view than pay for it, the Ojstrica viewpoint across the lake is free and the photo is just as good.

So you do not lose the morning at the ticket office, browse tickets and tours in Bled Castle on GetYourGuide.

If you are staying the night, see the best hotel deals in Bled for your dates: the well-placed rooms go fast.