Slovenia with young kids

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Has anyone been to Slovenia with young kids? I was thinking of going next summer and my kids will be 7 and 5. I've read Lake Bled is a good place to go? Is is very hot during July?

Last year we went to the north of Poland which we loved but the weather was mixed and the green Algae in the Baltic meant that there were a couple of days that we couldn't swim in the sea which was disappointing.

Things we would want from a holiday are;

Swimming outside preferably with a beach
Forests and/or mountains/walking routes
Playparks
Kids activities
Somewhere that you can spend money without worrying

We would probably prefer an Airbnb or apartment rather than a hotel. Any tips would be gratefully welcomed!

We spent some time in Slovenia in 2022 when our kids were 7 and 10, fabulous holiday. There is not much in the way of beaches around Lake Bled, but there are places you can swim. Lots of fab walks like Vingter gorge, and around the lake etc. The Skocjan caves are fabulous too. We went late August/early September and it was pleasantly warm rather than steaming hot. We didn't go to the coast, I suspect it would have been hotter near the coast. We stayed at Penzion Berc in Bled, they had a 2 storey family room both beds upstairs.

Amazing place! We went last year with dc aged 11 and 14 so a bit older but what a beautiful, clean and scenic country. The roads are easy to drive on and the tap water is crystal clear. We went in July/August and it was really hot though. We loved lake bled and swimming there was gorgeous. Also white water rafting in soca valley was amazing and they do trips that are appropriate for younger kids. I would 100% recommend

July can be hot (this year it was very hot) in Bled but it can also be relatively cool, more like UK summer. Can also be a lot of thunderstorms, but generally late afternoon /evening for a day or two, then it clears up and gets sunny again. It also tends to be cool in the evenings, even during hot weather.

Bled is lovely for small children, it's really safe and the road around the lake is perfect for bikes and scooters.

You have to pay to use the main swimming beach and it does get busy, but it's worth it because you have all the facilities there (toilets, changing rooms, café, slide, sandpits etc) but you can come and go using the same ticket all day, so the trick is to go early when it's quiet, go for lunch/chill somewhere across the middle of the day and then go back after 4pm when most of the tourists who have been there all day are going home.

Bled is increasingly popular though. July and August is very full of tourists, but most of them only come for a day or 2 and are fixated on ticking off the same 4 or 5 well known attractions. If you stay for a week or more, you will find a lot more places that most people miss.

If you want somewhere more peaceful and don't mind being a bus journey/bike ride to Bled, Radoljvica is close by and really pretty, Bohinjska Bela is utterly gorgeous...

We’ve stayed at some stunning campsites with our dc:

Rivercamping Bled - only 2km from Bled. We hired bikes and didn’t use the car for our entire stay.

Camping Sobec and Camping Menina - I can’t remember much about these two, except that they were very beautiful and had enough to do onsite.

Terme Catez - not the prettiest, but the best for swimming and very near to Ljubljana. We stayed here for the first few nights as our flight landed late and it was a very short transfer.

Overall the standard of accommodation was very high in all of these parks.

I took my 7 and 9 year old there myself we had the best time, hired a car, stayed in different places all over Slovenia and it was superb, so much great things to do.

We went in August - it was very hot. As someone up thread said, you do have to pay to use the main beach in Bled but there are facilities including a slide, lots of diving platforms, playgrounds etc. You can go in the water at other sections (which we did) but no facilities etc. We went white water rafting, zipwiring, tobaganning down the slope. Loads to do. We also spent some time in Ljubljana which was lovely. We went to predjama castle and postojna caves - they were brilliant. However, we were surprised how expensive things were - just to warn you. We had a fab time though - one of our best holidays.

@Verite1 thatvus interesting re cost, I had the (false) perception it would be relatively cheap!

Thanks for this, it is so helpful to hear. Would you be able to give an example of some of the prices there?

What was the temperature range when you were there?

What were the tents like or did you take your own? Was it very hot when you were there?

What website did you use to find your accommodation? We would have to go in July due to other commitments but September would be lovely!

What kind of temperatures did it get to this year? I am so worried that we will book it and then DC won't be able to cope with the heat. I think 30° is their absolute max but comfortable around 23-27°

We were there this year with slightly older teens and it was lovely. We swam at lake bohinj a couple of times which was lovely. Yes things weren’t cheap - main courses in restaurants about €28-30, bottle of wine €25 or so.

We stayed here which was amazing! https://www.airbnb.co.uk/rooms/1057151534529560776?unique_share_id=df1a709d-bb99-4b20-b9d4-e6bae54cc792&viralityEntryPoint=1&s=76

We booked quite last minute, booked 13th August to check-in on 29th August. I booked direct but I must have found the accomodation on booking.com and then checked to see if booking direct with the hotel was cheaper. This is a common strategy of mine.

Bled is crazy busy imo. It’s was €4.50 for one ice cream a few weeks ago at bled.

Lake Bohinj and the soca valley area is far nicer. I would stay there for one week, then head to Austrian lakes in Carinthia. Theres lots of activities in that part Austria for kids that age. Ice cream €2.10 in comparison

Temperatures in Slovenia and Southern Austria are generally Hot in July. This year is was 34-36 degrees almost daily in July. With no rain at all. Both locations are hot in summer.

This year it was mid-high 30s for most of July and August, but, as with much of Europe this year, this is absolutely not typical. I have lived in Bled for 16 years and never had a summer like that before.

Re the prices - it's like anywhere: tourist attractions in areas like Bled, Bohinj etc are similar or slightly cheaper than touristy towns in the UK. Restaurants, ice cream etc is expensive if you go to the obvious tourist ones. If you go a few streets back from the lake, or better still to a less touristy part of Slovenia (Koroska and Dolenjska for example, are also beautiful regions, and so much cheaper than Gorenjska - the north west where Bled, Bohinj, Kranjska Gora are). Eg, a basic coffee in a lakeside restaurant in Bled can easily be 4.50€. If you go to one of the small bars (Lovski Dom behind the castle, Planincek beside the fire station, or Rok Bar under the ice hockey hall, it's more like 2.20€. If you go to Radoljvica, again, not in the main square, 1.80€...)

A beautiful place to live! How do you find it in the summer with how busy it gets? We stayed in Bled and could see the traffic coming in/out in the mornings and afternoon and it was heaving! Is it nice in autumn/winter?

I can’t remember exact costs, but I was also expecting it to be cheaper and it wasn’t. Restaurants were expensive and so were activities. It was very high 20s when we were there. We still loved it though.

Didn’t stay in a tent at all - they were all lodges/chalets.

The summers are really busy (and getting busier each year) but most people in Bled make at least part of their income from it, so although it is annoying, it makes sense to just suck it up.

Outside of the summer season it's obviously a lot more relaxing.

Also, the vast majority of the tourists only stay 48 hours or less, and only go to Vintgar Gorge, the castle, the island, the viewpoint at Ojstrica and out the road to Bohinj (which also gets very crowded) but there are many other lovely places right here which everyone misses.

The traffic jam to and from the highway is a nightmare. There is a pattern to it though - mostly, it's busy getting into Bled in the morning and early afternoon, and busy going out in the early evening... So, we take that into account and use it as little as possible. Plus there are some secret workarounds we sometimes use. A park and ride would improve things massively, I hope now that they have started doing a park and ride for Vintgar Gorge, they will do it for Bled as a whole. The main problem is, the majority of tourists want to bring their own vehicle, and not only is the road too small, there also isn't enough parking when they get here.

Fabulous place. I did a day trip from Ljubljana and planning to go back for a longer stay. Loads to do for younger children. They’ll love the rowing boats and you should be able to take them out in 2 person kayaks

We had a wonderful holiday in Slovenia and had a great week in a self catering apartment at https://www.lipizzanerlodge.com/

The owners were so knowledgeable and helpful

It is a beautiful country

I can't give you any up to date advice, but when DD was 4 (30 years ago) we tried Bled for a holiday as DH had been to a conference there and thought it would be good for a family holiday. It was such a huge success with all of us that we went back every summer for another 5 years! There was so much to see and do and we all loved it there. We have many very happy memories of our holidays in Bled. I hope you will also be able to make happy memories for your family.

This is sooooo heartwarming ❤️

We went this August with DC aged 11 & 9. They described it as the best holiday ever! (And they’ve had some amazing holidays!)
I would recommend Izola if you want to stay by the coast for a few days, it was a really family friendly resort. Pebbles rather than sand though so bring water shoes!
Bovec for water activities, we did canyoning plus lots of jumping into the freezing soca river!
Lake Jasna was a good way to break up the drive to Lake Bohinj (Bled is too busy in my opinion)
We also finished in Terme Catez eurocamp which seemed a bit full on after the peace of the rest of Slovenia but the kids enjoyed a few days of the pool & a ‘normal’ holiday!
It was expensive. I’d book air bnb’s now to try and get them cheaper. I waited until Feb and the prices were eye watering for fairly average/basic accommodation. We tried to self cater as much as possible to save money. Best thing is wine is dirt cheap…, glass for a €1, yes please!!!