Plitvice Lakes National Park

Waterfalls, who doesn’t love them?

But have you heard of a tier of waterfalls, cascading between sixteen (yes, you read it right) turquoise blue lakes. It is a spectacle to behold. Wooden pathways crisscross across the lakes, with waterfalls cascading down besides the paths from one lake to another. You start off at the bottom most lake usually, and walk your way (if you have time) to the top most lake while taking in the splendid views. But, don’t take my word for it, make your way to Plitvička Jezera (legit Croatian name, Jezera means lake) in Croatia and experience them for yourself. I had the fortune of visiting this gem of a national park on my whirlwind South Eastern Europe road trip which I will blog about later.

Croatia is of course known for its spectacular Dalmatian coastline and stunning coastal towns of Dubrovnik, Split, Trogir etc (made immensely popular by Game of Thrones), but I would strongly recommend spending a day to explore Plitvice and revel in the natural beauty it has to offer. You will not be disappointed.

The 16 lakes of Plitvice are split into 2 groups, the Upper (12) and Lower (4) lake systems. If you are short on time like I was, pick the lower lakes. There are two entrances, and 8 designated walking tours (self-guided) that help you explore the park. If you truly want to enjoy the whole park plan to devote at least 8 – 10 hours (depending on how many times you stop to take pictures!). I only had ~4 hours to spare so I decided to do loop B (3-4 hours, 4 km) that take you to the impressive Great Waterfall, loop around the lower lakes and includes an electric boat ride across the largest of the Plitvice lakes, Lake Kozjak. Take a bit of time just after you get off the boat to explore around, and veering off of route B to get a view of some of the upper lakes if you have time. After crossing the lake, there is a short bus ride which drops you off near the top of the east canyon and you can walk back to the No.1 entrance and enjoy the stunning views of the four lower lakes, Novakovića Brod, Kaluđerovac, Gavanovac and Milanovac. This is where many of the best shots of Plitvice are taken from. If you have time I would recommend doing the whole 18km loop H or K (they differ in the starting point only) which allows you to take in all 16 lakes.

Plitvice is a very serene place, but being a designated UNESCO world heritage site, it gets bucket loads of tourists usually doing a day trip from Zagreb on weekends. If you find yourself arriving at the same time as a pack of tourists do one of the routes, but in reverse. That way you won’t have to push and shove for room to walk on the narrow paths snaking around the park.

This place has some of the cleanest and clearest waters I’ve ever seen, and you can see the bottom of most lakes clearly. I went in the peak of summer when it’s most crowded though at its greenest. I’ve seen pictures of Plitvice in the fall and it looks spectacular as well. There is a strict rule to not go into the water and not touch it, please follow along so that the pristine nature of the park is maintained. It’s hard to believe such a place exists and pictures truly don’t do it justice. The phrase “see it to believe it” truly makes sense when you talk about Plitvice.

Logistics

Plitvice is easily reachable by car from Zagreb (2 hours) or Split/Trogir (2.5 hrs). I drove to the park from Piran in Slovenia, before heading to Trogir at night. Will cover my entire 10-day itinerary in a separate post. Numerous travel companies offer Plitvice as a day trip from Zagreb if you don’t have your own transportation.

Entrance to the park costs 180 Kuna in the peak season and between 55-110 Kuna in the shoulder and low season. Prices include the bus and boat rides within the park. I don’t believe they give maps of the different routes for free but you can take a picture of the map at the entrance or save it from their website beforehand. Oh and of course don’t forget your tripod and ND filter to capture the beauty of the park.

 

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