The Vintgar Gorge, Nature did it again

Nature is a mighty artist and certainly in Bled, the Vintgar Gorge is just one of the thousands of examples of masterpieces created and created every day. Have rocks as your canvas and water as you brush. The water in this case has a name – it is a river, the Radovna. The gorge slithers amidst the majestic walls of Hom and Boršt hills.

The gorge was discovered in 1891 and it was at the time, truly wild. In its truer natural form, humans were not allowed to contemplate its beauty – but as Bled began to develop, more than 500 bridges and galleries were built in 1893. With regulations in place, it was then opened to the public. The number of visitors increases every year – so be sure to book your tickets ahead of time and choose the earliest hour of the day.

To get to the Gorge, I went to Mamut offices, a tour agency in Slovenia. They organise quite a few cool activities, but I only had time for this one. The entrance fee to the gorge itself is €10, and you can get the tickets online (and should, as it sells out). However, if you don’t have a car, I’d definitely recommend using Mamut for ease of mind, as you can take their shuttle to the entrance of the forge and they’ll pick you up at the end of a route that ends in St. Katerina’s Church. I got the ticket for 9 a.m., the earliest I could, and it was already quite busy. I also noticed that if you take a car, you also have to pay a steep €10 price for parking! And there isn’t even a lot available… so do consider a shuttle.

The driver of the shuttle had an “Into the Wild” vibe. Long beard, barefoot, with an unclean look, seemingly living in some sort of cave in the mountains, it had a certain appeal to it. He also had great taste in music, playing some good rock playlists during the journey there – which is only about a 10-minute drive. As we started to approach, at the first sight of water he said proudly, “When you drink tap water in Bled, it comes from here”.

I didn’t have many expectations about the Gorge. In fact, this wasn’t even on my plans until the host at Vila Aplina recommended it. When I saw some photos online I could not believe they were real. Until I saw it. Such translucid, crystal clear waters that I thought I could never find in nature the way I found it in Vintgar. The blue you see in my photos – untouched. I did not add any colour, or any filters to enhance it. It is real.

The gorge is about 1.6 Km long and very easy for anyone of any age to do, due to wooden walkways with rails. And it does get busy. I was glad I had gone on the earliest ticket with Mamut, but the doors usually open at 8am, which would have been my chosen slot. I also visited on a Sunday so it was expected to be even busier than usual. Still, I could enjoy it, just didn’t have a lot of room to take all of the photos the way I wanted.

At the end of the trail, there is a little cafe where you can stop to rest for a bit. I took off following the signs pointing to St. Katarina’s church, where the shuttle would pick us up. The way up there is surrounded by the forest. It feels so good, I cannot explain. I was so in need of nature, of forest. Of reconnecting with it. Of that feeling that my feet were merging with the roots of the trees, the grounds of the soil. That my skin was caressed by the breeze, and that breeze was the calming whispers of the trees. It really did feel amazing.

And then I got to the finish point, at St. Catherine’s Church. This small church was built around 1400, and it was well known as a stop for pilgrims on St Catherine’s Day (25 November) when people from all over the country went on a pilgrimage along the God’s Trail to maintain aiming to maintain sanity. Nowadays we see a decrepit fresco at the entrance, but it seems this site is also known for a treasure that was excavated there in the 19th century. After Napoleon’s troops withdrew from Russia, a French general buried a military basket with money and jewels for the paid soldiers. The general ended up dying due to serious battle injuries in northern Italy and passed on this secret to a friend, who went to the site and excavated with the help of locals. well, what a good story to tell! It is so hard to imagine that such a humble place would hold a treasure, when it seems like the real treasure – the mountains, the views – are all around us, making everything else feel so small and insignificant.