The Lakes of Slovenia: Bled, Bohinj & the Seven Lakes Valley

The Valley of the Triglav Lakes: Slovenia's alpine jewel

Now for the reason this article exists. High above Bohinj, folded into the limestone heart of Triglav National Park, runs the Valley of the Triglav Lakes — Dolina Triglavskih jezer, better known in English as the Seven Lakes Valley. It stretches about eight kilometres, climbing from Črno jezero (Black Lake, 1,294 m) to the barren upper basins near 1,900 m, each lake a different colour: black-green under the cliffs, milky turquoise in the open karst. The name undersells it — count the seasonal pools and tarns and there are around ten, though several dry up in late summer, which is how "seven" stuck.

There is no road, no cable car and no day-trip shortcut that does it justice. That is precisely the point — and precisely why the two huts inside the valley matter so much.

Getting in

The classic approach from the Bohinj side starts at Koča pri Savici and climbs the Komarča cliff — a steep, cabled but well-secured path — to Črno jezero, continuing to the heart of the valley in four to five hours total. A gentler alternative climbs from the Planina Blato road-head above Stara Fužina via alpine pastures, at similar overall time. From the west, the shortest way in is from Zadnjica in the Trenta valley, about four hours to the valley's head. Whichever way you enter, you arrive too late in the day to see it properly and get out again. So don't get out.

Sleep at Double Lake: Koča pri Triglavskih jezerih

Koča pri Triglavskih Jezerih (1,685 m) stands directly beside Dvojno jezero, the Double Lake, in the middle of the valley. It is one of the most atmospheric hut locations in the Alps: the lake is literally outside the dining-room window. The hut is staffed roughly from mid-June to the end of September or early October, and it books out fast in August — reserve ahead. Waking here means walking the upper valley in morning light, hours before the first day-hikers arrive from Komna.

The head of the valley: Zasavska koča na Prehodavcih

At the valley's northern head, Zasavska Koča na Prehodavcih (2,071 m) perches on the Prehodavci saddle above the highest lakes. It's a small hut — around 39 beds, staffed from early July to the end of September — with a raw, treeless, top-of-the-world feel completely different from the sheltered Double Lake. Link the two and you have a perfect two-night traverse: Savica → Double Lake → Prehodavci → down to Trenta, walking the entire valley lake by lake. Many hikers extend it toward Triglav itself via Vodnikov Dom na Velem Polju — our hut-to-hut guide to climbing Triglav covers that route in full.

One rule matters here: swimming in the Triglav Lakes is strictly forbidden. All the high mountain lakes lie in the park's strictest protection zone; they are fragile, nutrient-poor ecosystems, and bathing (dogs included) is an offence — see the Triglav National Park bathing rules. Look, photograph, sleep beside them — don't swim.

The Krn Lakes: the quiet western answer

On the Soča side of the Julian Alps, beneath 2,244 m Mount Krn, lies Krnsko jezero — at roughly 1,390 m the largest high-mountain lake in Slovenia, some 400 m long and 17 m deep, with the smaller Dupeljsko jezero nearby. It sees a fraction of the Seven Lakes Valley's traffic. The usual approach climbs from the Lepena valley (a seasonal shuttle bus runs from Bovec in high summer) in around two to two and a half hours.

Ten minutes from the water stands Planinski Dom pri Krnskih Jezerih (1,385 m), a large, friendly hut that makes the lake an evening destination rather than a lunch stop. Stay overnight and you can climb Krn itself at dawn — the summit views run from the Adriatic to Triglav — through terrain scattered with sobering First World War remains from the Isonzo Front. As at the Triglav Lakes, swimming is prohibited.

Two more worth a detour: Jasna and Zelenci

Lake Jasna, just outside Kranjska Gora at the foot of the Vršič Pass road, is actually a pair of small man-made lakes at the confluence of the Velika and Mala Pišnica streams, guarded by a bronze ibex statue. It's a 20-minute stroll from town — a photo stop, not a hike. Ten minutes' drive further west, the Zelenci nature reserve protects the emerald spring of the Sava Dolinka river: a shallow, impossibly green pool that holds a constant ~6°C and never freezes, crossed by boardwalks. Neither needs more than an hour, but both are genuinely beautiful and slot easily into a drive between Bled and the Soča valley.

Practicalities: swimming, parking, buses and timing

• Swimming: Bled is the warm one (up to ~26°C in summer); Bohinj is a few degrees cooler but wilder and less crowded. Every lake above them — Triglav Lakes, Krn, Zelenci — is off-limits for bathing.
• Getting there: Regular buses link Ljubljana with Bled and continue to Bohinj (Ribčev Laz), so the two big lakes are easy car-free. Bled's lakeside parking is paid and fills early in July–August; at Bohinj, seasonal shuttle buses connect Ribčev Laz with Stara Fužina and the Savica trailhead, sparing you the parking scramble.
• Timing: The high lakes are snow-free roughly late June to early October; the valley huts keep matching seasons, and a few lower huts stay open later — see our guide to Alpine huts open in October. Book August weekends well ahead.
• What to bring: Hut nights need little more than a sheet liner, cash and a headtorch — our hut packing list covers it.

The lake trip nobody else is taking

Here is the itinerary the listicles won't give you: a day and a swim at Bled, a night above it at Lipanca; two days around Bohinj with cake at the Mostnica waterfall and sunset from Vogar; then three days through the Seven Lakes Valley, sleeping at Double Lake and Prehodavci, descending to Trenta and finishing at the Krn Lakes. Every night beside water, every dawn without crowds. If that sounds like your kind of trip, start with our complete guide to hiking in Slovenia — and book the huts before August does it for you.