Radovljica

A painted-facade old town 10 minutes from Bled: Slovenia's capital of beekeeping, gingerbread and chocolate.

The old town Bled visitors miss

Ten minutes from Lake Bled, Radovljica lines its Linhart Square with fresco-painted Gothic and Baroque facades — one of Slovenia's best-preserved old centres, set on a terrace above the Sava. Most Bled visitors drive straight past: all the better for you.

Slovenia's beekeeping capital

Slovenia has more beekeepers per capita than any other European country, and Radovljica is its showcase: the Beekeeping Museum tells the story of the Carniolan bee, traditional AŽ hives and the panjske končnice — naive painted beehive panels found nowhere else in the world. You can paint your own in the region's craft workshops.

Gingerbread and chocolate

The Lectar workshop has been shaping Slovenia's iconic red gingerbread hearts for generations — you visit right above the ovens. In spring, the chocolate festival takes over the lanes; the rest of the year, the chocolatiers on the square are reason enough to come.

Linhart, frescoes and a terrace over the Sava

The main square bears the name of Anton Tomaž Linhart, father of Slovenian theatre, born here in 1756 — his birth house still stands on it. Around it, frescoed manors, vaulted passages and the old walls end in a terrace above the Sava valley, facing the Jelovica plateau: one of Upper Carniola's prettiest urban balconies, strangely spared by the crowds.

Getting there

Regular buses and trains from Ljubljana and Bled; by car, Radovljica makes a smart base for Bled, Bohinj and the surrounding valleys, with calmer and better-priced places to stay than on the lakeshore.