Classroom lesson · Lake Bled · 🇸🇮 Slovenia

Lake Bled

A picture-postcard lake with a tiny island in the middle

Photo · Wikimedia Commons

What is it?

Lake Bled is an alpine lake in the Julian Alps with a tiny island in the middle and a castle perched on a cliff above. People row wooden boats out to ring the church bell on the island.

Tell me more

Lake Bled sits at 475 metres above sea level, surrounded by mountains and forest. The lake is small enough to walk all the way around in about an hour and a half.

Right in the middle is Bled Island - the only natural island in the whole of Slovenia. You can reach it by traditional 'pletna' boats, which are rowed standing up by a single oarsman.

Above the lake, Bled Castle has stood on a 130-metre cliff for over a thousand years. From the castle walls you can see the whole lake spread out below.

In the classroom

Walk your class through this in 15 minutes.

Talk together

Discussion prompts

01What would it feel like to row a heavy boat out to an island?
02If you had to ring a bell on a small island, what wish would you make?
03Why might a castle be built on a cliff above a lake?

Try this

Classroom activity

Draw a tiny island in the middle of your own pretend lake. Add a bell, a path, and something only YOU would put there.

Lake Bled

Walk your class through this in 15 minutes.

Discussion prompts

Classroom activity

Other things that make Slovenia special

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