Triglav National Park

A day-trip from Ljubljana to Bled or Bohinj covers a single valley. Two days lets you do the full Bohinj/Bled side properly — Bohinj Lake, Vogel cable car, Savica Waterfall, Vintgar Gorge. Three days covers both sides via the Vršič Pass, including Bovec for Soča rafting and Kobarid for the WWI museum. Climbing Mt Triglav itself adds another 2 days minimum (2-day summit attempt with mountain hut overnight).

No — typically open mid-May to late October only, weather-dependent. The 50 hairpin bends and 1,611 m altitude make winter closure inevitable; even in shoulder season, snowfalls can close the pass for days. Outside that window, the only way between the Bohinj and Soča sides is via the Italian autostrada (a 2.5-hour detour through Tarvisio).

Legally yes, but it's a serious mountain — 2,864 m, glacier remnants on the upper sections, exposed via ferrata-style steel cables for the final hundreds of metres of summit ridge. Most non-locals hire a guide (€250–400 for 2-day overnight from a mountain hut). The two-day route from Vrata or Krma valleys is the standard; one-day attempts are gruelling and weather-dependent. Don't attempt outside July–September unless experienced in winter alpine conditions.

Bled/Bohinj is the forested-alpine face — turquoise lakes, traditional hayracks, hut-to-hut walking, more crowds. Soča/Bovec is the emerald-river adventure face — white-water rafting, canyoning, paragliding, more dramatic limestone gorges, fewer tourists, WWI history. If you can only see one and you want lakes/hikes, choose Bled side; if you want adventure sports or the Soča's famous blue water, choose Soča.

The river is the most intense turquoise between Kobarid and Tolmin in summer when it's slightly low — the Velika Korita ("Great Gorge") near Bovec is the classic photo spot, with a wooden footbridge over impossibly blue water. The Soča Trail (Soška pot) is a marked path along the entire upper river. Light matters: midday sun saturates the colour; cloudy days look greener-grey. After heavy rain it goes milky.

Limited. Hourly buses connect Bled, Bohinjska Bistrica, and Bohinj village; less frequent service to Vogel, Vrata, and Krma trailheads. The Soča side has buses Bovec–Kobarid–Tolmin–Most na Soči but they run 3–5 times per day. There's no bus over the Vršič Pass. Renting a car from Ljubljana is the standard way to do the full park properly; for a single valley, buses suffice.