Cheapest Way How to Get to Lake Bled From ANYWHERE!

How to get to Lake Bled – General Information

How do you get to the beautiful Lake Bled? There are plenty of options between buses, trains and renting a car. However some are significantly more expensive then others. Having searched for this answer myself on my visit, I opted a combination of the cheapest flight and transportation means.

In this post, I am going to provide you detailed instructions on how to get to the beautiful lakeside town of Bled. While the easiest way to get to Lake Bled is from Ljubljana, there are other options which I am going to show my route on my adventure in Slovenia.There are two main options for public transport, by bus and by train. One other option is to rent a car but this is generally more expensive if not traveling as a group.

Guide by City

Lake Bled Bus Station and Routes

The bus station in Bled is right in the heart of town, making this the most convenient stop for a lot of travelers, being close to most accommodations in the area. This played a part in the route that I chose to get here as well since I ended up arriving late at night. Therefore I only had a couple of minutes walk up the road to reach my accommodation.

The bus station also serves shuttles around the lake and have bus routes to places like Lake Bohinj and Vintgar Gorge making it very easy and accessible. The free shuttle buses have been introduced in 2024 and are a great way to explore the area.

Lake Bled Train Stations – Complete Information

While Lake Bled is technically served by 2 train stations, I did not catch a single train from either one. I found them to be rather inconvenient located outside of the actual village and having to catch another bus or worse, the more expensive taxi if arriving late at night.

These 2 train stations are: Lesce Bled and Bled Jezero. Lesce Bled is a bit further away from Bled and you need to catch a bus from the station to get you into Bled. Bled Jezero is around a 20-30 minute walk into Bled.

While a 20 minute walk does not sound bad if you choose to get here by train, there is a caveat. Bled Jezero does not serve the main routes down to Ljubljana and onto the major cities of Zagreb or Trieste. These are served by Lesce-Bled. Bled Jezero station is great to explore other parts of Slovenia such as Lake Bohinj

The only thing I miss about not having traveled by train in Slovenia is that the tracks are absolutely magnificent with stunning scenery. I experienced this a bit in my trip when traveling from Ljubljana to Zagreb but up in the north the scenery is more and more beautiful.

Here is a detailed map of the Slovenian train Network.

Lake Bled Airports – Which one to Travel to?

There are 3 major airports in which you can travel to reach Lake Bled, yes 3! Often people just travel to Slovenia through Ljubljana but this is a mistake. There are cheaper alternatives outside of the country and then travel in. Keep on reading and I am going to guide you how to get to Lake Bled from each airport mentioned here.

The 3 airports that you want to look flights for are:

• Ljubljana Airport (Obviously)
• Trieste Airport – My Choice
• Zagreb Airport

My choice was Trieste airport for a number of reasons. The major one was that I found the cheapest flights to Trieste Airport. It is a small airport but served with a cheap train into Trieste center for around €5. Then I found a Flixbus to Lake Bled for around €15 more on this in the Trieste section below. Having done this it also allowed me to spend a day exploring Trieste which was very enjoyable.

Zagreb Airport is also a fantastic choice but there were no direct trains or buses to Lake Bled at the time of writing and traveling there. However I traveled back to my country from Zagreb Airport having spent a day in the capital of Ljubljana.

How to Get to Lake Bled from Trieste

As I mentioned, this is the way I actually got to Lake Bled as this is the nearest airport which was available to me from my base in Malta and flights were really cheap via Ryanair.

By Train: There is no direct train to Bled from Trieste, there is however to Ljubljana, so you can get a train there, spend a day in Ljubljana and then continue on your journey to Bled by following the next section on how to get to Lake Bled from Ljubljana.

By Bus: Flixbus offers daily direct services to Bled from Trieste. They offer daily departure at 21:10 and arrives into Bled at around midnight. It costs around €10-€15 depending on the time booked and seasonality. Drop off is right at the heart of Bled town at the main bus stop area making this a convenient option of getting to Bled from Trieste.

My personal experience was quite good, the bus left on time. Make sure you have your passport with you as they do require your ID even though you are traveling between Schengen countries. The bus was a double decker one and it was relatively empty. It is a night bus and it continues on to other major cities in Europe so you will find people sleeping on the bus.

If you are in Trieste, then I would recommend to read our post on 10 Things To Do in Trieste – A Complete 1 Day Itinerary. This way you could fill in the time while waiting for the 21:10 bus and visit this great seaside city as well!

How to Get to Lake Bled from Ljubljana

There are two main options to get to Lake Bled from Ljubljana: by train and by bus. The costs are about the same and this is one of the few instances that I recommend to take a bus when there is a train option available.

By Bus: There are a number of bus operators that offer direct routes from Ljubljana to Lake Bled. The advantage this offers over the train is that you arrive straight into the town of Bled where the majority of accommodation is next to. The journey takes between 50-75 minutes depending on the operator and route taken. Buses are frequent and depart around every 20-30 minutes. Check all Bus timetables on the official Arriva website

By Train: If you want a scenic train ride then this is definitely worth it, the cost is about the same but it will take you longer to arrive. As highlighted at the beginning of the blog post there are two train stations that feed into Bled: Lesce-Bled and Bled Jezero.

Trains are only direct to Lesce Bled from Ljubljana which then causes a further bus ride from the train station into town. On the other hand trains take about 1 hour 40 minutes to reach Bled Jezero station, which is a 25-minute walk from the lake. Tickets cost around €6 to €7 for a one-way trip. While the journey takes a bit longer than the bus, the views are worth it.

Both train and bus options are cheap make sure that you check out Omio for your best option that fits into your schedule.

If you find yourself having some time to spare in Ljubljana, make sure to check out my guide on What to do in Ljubljana in 1 day here

How to Get to Lake Bled from Zagreb

Similarly to Trieste, Zagreb is also a cheap entry point to Slovenia, as budget airlines often fly into here. Although a bit further out than Trieste it doesn’t take much longer to arrive.

By Train: This is the most convenient option for arriving to Bled from Zagreb, with 2-3 daily trains from Zagreb station to Lesce-Bled at the time of writing. Make sure to get a ticket in advance as these tend to get booked up especially in peak season. From Lesce-Bled station catch a bus to the town center. The views from this train journey are scenic especially when taken during sunset times.

By Bus: There is no direct bus to Bled but there is one to Ljubljana. This journey takes around 2h 30m and buses depart frequently. You can check departure times here and then connect with another flixbus (the same one coming from Trieste) at around 11pm.

How to Get to Lake Bled from Venice

Another airport worth mentioning which is a favorite for budget airlines is Venice Treviso. Similarly if you are traveling from outside of Europe then you might also get into Venice Marco Polo. I have not been to Venice yet myself so I do not know how to make this route work. However, this is the route which MatchOnTheMap decided to choose when visiting Lake Bled. They like myself spotted a cheap flight to Venice Treviso and snatched it and made the most out of it. You can read more about their experience and journey on their post on How to Get to Lake Bled from Venice!

How to Get to Lake Bled from Graz

There is no easy way to get to Bled directly from Graz by public transport but I decided to include it in my blog post anyways for those that are traveling in Austria and want to head south to Slovenia

By Train: The direct option of getting into Bled by train from Austria is through Villach. From Graz, you need to change twice to reach Bled. I wouldn’t recommend this option unless you want to visit Villach as well.

By Bus: The most viable option on reaching Slovenia is by bus and yes you know it specifically Flixbus. They have a direct route to Ljubljana overnight or in the morning and takes around 2.5 hours. Here I would also suggest to take a breather and spend a day in the Slovenian capital and then continue on your way to Bled but the call is yours. You can refer back to the Ljubljana section for the details on this part of the journey. The total cost of the journey will amount to around €35.

There you have it, a complete guide on how to get to Lake Bled! I have tried to mention all major cities with airports nearby with viable routes into Lake Bled. If you are further out you can always make your way to one of these cities or check out train routes or bus routes available in your area.

Now that you found out how to get there, time to check out what to do in Lake Bled. Check out this post on a complete guide on how to spend 3 days in Lake Bled or other related posts below!

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