Plitvice Lakes National Park

I’ve heard Plitvice (pleet-veet-seh) Lakes National Park described as Niagara Falls sliced into 16 terraced lakes with dozens of waterfalls laced together over miles of wooden boardwalks. The park is watery, dreamy and absolutely beautiful. After a couple nights at Lake Bled, Slovenia our western Balkan adventure took us over the border to Croatia to visit this nations’ first national park; Plitvice Lakes.

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We spent a total of three hours in the park, starting at Entrance #1, in the Upper Lakes section of the park. We opted to primarily follow route B with a few side treks. Our first glimpse at the park was the postcard like photo above. Stunning. We then made our way down a series of switchbacks to Veliki Slap-Big Waterfall . As the name suggests, Big Waterfall is the park’s largest at 250 feet. We then passed Kaluderovac Lake before we climbed through slippery Subljara Cave.

Upper Lakes

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After the cave, we walked along Gavanovac and Milanovac lakes counting fish in the vibrant teal waters surrounded at every turn by waterfalls spilling off every corner.

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We took a short break for bathrooms and an ice cream treat at the self service cafe near the shuttle bus stop. Then it was back down to the lakes to catch the shuttle boat across Lake Kozjak to the Lower Lakes.

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Lower Lakes

The Lower Lakes waterfalls are the most magnificent. A one-way loop trail surrounds the lower lakes taking you passed Veliki and Mali Prstavac-big and small falls. Being on the boardwalk near the falls you can hear and feel them as much as you can see them. At points on this trail, the water is rushing beneath the boardwalk and your literally strolling ‘through’ the waterfalls.

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The grand finale of the park did not disappoint. Having walked the Lower Lakes loop we took a small boat shuttle ride back to the bus stop and then walked with Entrance #1 where our car was parked.

Where to stay

• We were visiting Plitvice National Park as a stop over in route to Mostar, Bosnia Herzegovina. We opted to stay right outside the park entrance in the village of Rastovaca.
• Our apartment was booked on AirBnB and stayed at House Flora. Host Sandra was exceptional.

Where to eat

• We were in the mood for pizza and pasta so we chose to eat dinner at Restoran Gurman.
• Order the dessert. Or two.
• If we had more time in the area and weren’t already starving I would have driven further from our accommodations to Slunj to eat at the water perched restaurant, Pod Rastockim Krovom.

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Tips and Tricks

• Plitvice National Park is a VERY popular place. Over 3 million people visit Plitvice each year and surprisingly few are Americans. Timed entry tickets are HIGHLY recommended. You don’t want to travel to this fairly remote, inland location only to be turned away.

Our Western Balkan adventure took us to Lake Bled-Slovenia, Split, Dubrovnik, Mostar and Kotor. Click the links above for more details on those trips.

Happy Adventuring, Rochelle