Bled Island: Tickets, the Boat and the 99 Steps

Reaching Bled Island takes two payments, one for the boat and one for the church, and neither covers the other. The island is the only true island in Slovenia, and the two boats that serve it land at the same steps, so price and timetable decide which one you take. The rest is a stair of 99 stones, a bell with a wish attached and a short walk back to the boat.

Which ticket for Bled Island

The island ticket for an adult is €12. It opens the church with its wishing bell, the bell tower and the exhibition in the Provost's House. Children up to 15, students and seniors pay less, and a family ticket exists; the table shows who pays which rate.

The boat is a separate purchase. The pletna costs €20 return for an adult and €10 for a child aged 4 to 12, while the Bled Boat Line charges €16 for an adult. The verdict is short: take the pletna for the ride itself, because the hand-rowed boat is half the reason to come, and take the line when the lower fare matters more than the tradition.

Island hours change by month: May–Sep 8:30–19, Apr and Oct 8:30–18, Mar 8:30–17, Jan, Feb, Nov and Dec Mon–Thu 8:30–16 and Fri–Sun 8:30–17.

The pletna is a wooden boat rowed by hand, with the oarsman standing, and its design goes back to about 1590. There are 23 of them on the lake, and the pletnar's job passes from father to child. A boat leaves when it is full, from piers such as Kazina and Mlino, two of the four on the shore. In May to September it runs from 10 to 19, in April and October from 10 to 18, and from November to March from 10 to 15.

The Bled Boat Line is a wooden electric boat that sails between the pier below Café Park and the island. From May to September it leaves at 10, 11, 12, 13, 15, 16, 17 and 18, with the last return at 19:00, and in strong wind or bad weather it stays in port. Its pier below Café Park gives a second place to board, away from the pletna piers, and the line suits anyone who would rather not wait for a pletna to fill up.

2 daysThe two-day plan makes the island the first job of the morning, once the first boat has left at 10.Bled in 2 days →

Through the island in order

From the landing, 99 stone steps climb to the church, a baroque staircase from the middle of the 17th century. By custom a groom carries his bride up all 99 if they marry here. The church is dedicated to the Assumption of Mary. The first church built of masonry on the island dates from 1142, and a Gothic rebuilding followed in 1465.

Inside, the frescoes of the presbytery come from the 15th century, and the main altar was made in 1747. An earthquake in 1509 shook the building, and the baroque stair came after it. The wishing bell is the thing most visitors come to ring, and it hangs in the church that the island ticket opens. Through glass in the church you see 124 graves from the 9th to the 11th century. The panoramic bell tower and the exhibition in the Provost's House belong to the same ticket, and a pagan goddess of life and fertility is tied to the island too.

The Potičnica and the island off-peak

At the Potičnica the potica comes with different fillings, and the tarragon one is the best known. It makes an easy rest between the church and the walk back to the boat, and the island is small enough that the slice and the view from the steps fit into the same pause. In winter the pletna runs from 10 to 15 while the island stays open until 4 or 5 pm, so the boat sets the length of the visit, and the island hours in the note under the table matter less than the boat's hours.

When you are short on time

The time you have on the island is set by the boat, because the last departure can come before the island closes. When the clock runs down, cut in this order.

• Skip the Potičnica and its potica.
• Skip the bell tower.
• Keep the church and the wishing bell.
• Plan the return by the boat's timetable, since it can end before the island's hours do.

MistakesThe page on common mistakes lists the two prices and the hours that catch visitors out.Mistakes everyone makes in Bled →