Town walk · Lake Bled, Bled · Slovenia
Arnold Rikli
1823–1906 · a real person
a brisk, teasing Swiss water-doctor of 1900, fond of cold mornings and suspicious of pastry
Read what Arnold Rikli says
My name is Arnold Rikli. I came from Switzerland with a strange idea: that sun, air and cold water heal better than any pill. For fifty years this lake was my clinic, and my patients told me a story I could never finish. A bell, they said, was meant for the island church, and it never arrived. Walk the whole lake with me, gather the pieces, and tell me where it lies.
Lake Bled · 8 stops · 4.5 km
about 89 min walking, 32 min listening at the stops — going inside is extra · Tap a stop on the map for a preview.
Where it takes you
1 / 6
Best time to walk: Early morning or late afternoon; the lakeside path is hot and crowded at midday, and the island church closes at dusk.
2 h · 4.5 km · 8 stops · medium
You’re walking this one before anyone at Walk & Tell has. If something looks wrong, tap Report at any stop — we’ll fix it for everyone after you.
About 2.2 km of this route is by boat, not on foot — you’ll need a ticket and the boat’s timetable. The rest is walking.
Partly shadedBest time to walk: Early morning or late afternoon; the lakeside path is hot and crowded at midday, and the island church closes at dusk.
The walk
A single line around Lake Bled, from the water's edge below the castle rock all the way to the western lookouts. The guide is Arnold Rikli, the Swiss naturopath who turned a quiet Carniolan village into a health resort with sun, air and cold water. Between the pletna boats, the island church and the hills, he tells the legend of a bell that never reached the island. The walk ends high above the water, where the whole lake lies underneath you.
Start here
61 Grajska cesta, Bled
Begin on the lakeside promenade at the eastern end of Lake Bled, below the castle rock, where the paths meet the water.
Directions