My visit to the the Plitvice Lakes National Park was part of my trip through Croatia as I was moving from Zagreb to Split. My first thought was that this could be included at the end of my Zagreb blog however, I felt that wouldn’t have done this amazing location justice. So here’s a post of its own to showcase this beautiful, picturesque place that it is a must see when you’re visiting Croatia.
Why I headed to Plitvice Lakes
Why would you not? I think just seeing a few pictures of this wonderful place would be enough to persuade anyone to take a wander around this national park. With the array of lakes, plethora of waterfalls and the picturesque nature wherever you look, only further emphasised by the wooden paths over the water, makes this a place that I simply couldn’t out upon!
What I Thought of Plitvice Lakes National Park
This place is phenomenal! The water clarity is mind blowing, the scenery is breathtaking and it’s a truly amazing place for you to walk around, take it all in and forget about the outside world out there.
Should You Cover It?
You’re be absolutely ridiculous to not to. You have to go. That’s it, nothing more to say.
Day 3 – Wednesday, 9 Aug
My aim for the day was ultimately to end up in Split, taking the well connected and acclaimed coach service in Croatia that can get you anywhere you need to go in the nation. Thankfully for me, en route was the location of today’s blog: Plitvice Lakes National Park. This is a spectacular location that I felt was a must see and thankfully for me, the timings and everything work out, whilst the national park is actually set up exactly for this reason.
Taking an early coach out of Zagreb in the morning, I headed south to the lakes. Being a recognised stop on this route, I wasn’t the only one doing this to make sure I saw this landmark. My plan was to stop off and spend a few hours wandering around the national park, making the most of it and taking in the sights in the sunshine beaming down. I would then get back on the coach that I’d booked for later on and continue to heard south to Split, arriving in evening.
You may be wondering what I did with my bag whilst I was here. Well, you’ll be glad to know that this place is set up for the sort of plan that I had. The reception has a key for a baggage store, where you can lock your stuff away if you’ve bought a ticket. The only catch it obviously, this room isn’t particular monitored so you leave your items at your own risk so I made sure to take anything valuable with me.
Tickets to be able to go around the national park are just 300 kn in the peak season (June to September), reducing to 180 kn in May and October, and 80 kn for the rest of the year, and gives you all the access you need, including the ability to utilise the boats to get a different perspective. At the reception, they give you a map which shows you a variety of routes depending on the amount of time you have available so that you can make the most of your time. Obviously, you can rush and see if all but my personal advice is you wouldn’t want to rush around this place.
Thankfully, I had plenty of time on my side so made sure to take the long route that covered everything here. I stocked up on some refreshments to take with me, made sure I was all set and topped up with suncream before I followed the map and started on my adventure into the national park.
The first part of the route wasn’t particularly exciting, following a typical trail you’d find in any national park. This lead though to seeing the first picturesque shot as the lake at the top of the national park suddenly opens out to your left as you start walking along one of the many wooden slatted paths over the water. Then as the reeds cleared next to me, I saw the true clarity of the water here, exposing the numerous fish swimming around, simply took my breath away! The clarity of the water, when comparing it to other bodies of water I’d encountered was a running theme, as well as the many beautiful views and landscapes carved into the limestone by Mother Nature.
As I have maybe mentioned a few times, there are plenty of locations that leave you the opportunity to give you some picturesque shots for you to remember your time here. Some of these spots even include the ability to go to the top of or underneath some of the waterfalls to get that shot that you want. As I scan through the pictures that I have from my time there, I feel like there were so many more opportunities that I could have used to get some amazing pictures.
One thing to note from my time here was the fact that due to the tight walkways and the popularity of the national park, there were a few occasions of having to queue for a significant amount of time, such as when boarding the boat to take us across the lakes to the other side. This queue though is definitely worth it. Why you ask? That’s because you get to see the park from a very different perspective as you cruise over the water as well making sure that you can see everything here, taking you straight across to the other side or else it would take you a few hours just to walk one way and back again.
Unfortunately for me, by the time I’d found some of the true highlights at the end of national park, such as the tallest waterfall, Veliki Slap standing at 78m tall, it was time to rush back to the other end, ready to collect my belongings and get on my coach out of here. It’s at the far end fo the national park where the biggest waterfalls and limestone cliffs encase the majestic lakes. This area was one of my favourite parts to see. You’ll be glad to know that when I returned, all my belongings were exactly where I left them though I did have a certain level of fear that I’d come back to find no bag at all!
Overall though, an amazing day was complete and now I was on to the next destination of Split, where things were about to get a little crazy with nights of partying, more national parks, sunsets, sunrises and cliff jumping amongst the usual activities. So be sure to check out this next blogs I’m sure you won’t be disappointed. The views as I travelled south and then along the coast as the sunset just topped things off.
Things That I Missed
There’s only one thing that I think I missed whilst I was here and that was not having more time to walk around this beautiful location and gaining a few more pictures, ideally with a better camera to truly capture the beauty. That is it.
For me, the pure beauty of Plitvice Lakes left me with no other choice than writing a blog on its own showcasing some of the photos that I took in this wonderful place as well as detailing why I think you must head there. The place is simply stunning and a perfect location to spend a day away wandering around the lakes. It’s a very pleasant and quiet place to relax at, clear your mind and get away from the craziness of some of the other locations you’ll find yourself in Croatia.
Hopefully reading this only wets your appetite to visit this beautiful place and see everything in person! Whilst you’re on the blog, please feel free to check out some of the other posts either from those suggested or using the category tabs at the top of the page to check out out what else is on offer. Be sure as well to use the links to my social media pages to follow the blog and be one of the first to hear about my posts as they come out.
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