Plitvice Lakes National Park
Plitvice lakes, called Plitvička Jezera, is arguably Croatias most beautiful national park and a UNESCO world heritage site. There are 16 lakes, 12 upper and 4 lower, all joined by stunning waterfalls. Wooden boardwalks cascade across the lakes, creating a wonderful hiking trail. Despite the main attraction for most people being the lakes and waterfalls, surprisingly this (the lakes and waterfalls) make up only 1% of the park; the other 99% is forest that is also apart of the reserve! The whole park is extremely large at around 300km2. Located in central Croatia, it is the oldest and largest national park in the country.
For hiking through this natural beauty, you have eight options for routes (called 'programs') to take. These programs are A, B, C, E, F, H, K and K (yes, there are two K's! They are pretty much the same circular route, but start from different entrances. We'll get into that!). Each program varies in time and length, ranging from 2 hours and 3,500 m (2.2 mi) to 8 hours and 18,300 m (11.4 mi). Here is the link to the hiking program page of the official national park website to see distance and duration of each program. I took program C, which in my opinion is the best route for quality and quantity regarding the lakes and waterfalls. It took around 4 hours to complete the program and was a total of 8,000 m (5 mi).
There are two different entrances to the park; each program begins at/correlates to one of the two entrances. For program C, you have to park (or get off the bus) and begin the route at entrance 1 (the north entrance of the park - entrance 2 is the south entrance). Both of the entrances are on the same road, about 3 km apart. There are large parking lots at both entrances; parking costs a small fee - it depends on the season you arrive, but when I went during off-season in November it cost around $10 USD.
Coordinates and links:
-Entrance 1 (north entrance): 44°54'17.9''N 15°36'40.3''E
-Entrance 2 (south entrance): 44°52'58.5''N 15°37'25.2''E
I would highly recommend renting a car and driving there yourself. Sixt is a cheap and convenient car rental company with a lot of locations in many Croatian cities; we used this company multiple times during our two months in Croatia and never had any issues. If you want to take a bus, FlixBus is an easy and cheap way of transportation. It drops you off at either entrance to the park, however catching the bus to go back to your destination will be a bit tricky, since there is not really a bus station and they drop you off on the road next to the entrance.
Park distance from...
-Zadar: 1.5 hours
-Zagreb: 2 hrs
-Opatija: 2.5 hours
-Split: 3 hours
You can purchase tickets here on the national parks official website. It is recommended to purchase tickets in advance since you have to chose a time slot as there are limited tickets available per day and per time of day. If there are tickets available upon your arrival you can purchase them directly at the park, however during the summer season especially tickets are likely to sell out quickly, so definitely plan your trip to Plitvice in advance! Ticket prices range between 80 HRK to 300 HRK (per adult), depending on which month you arrive; the most expensive time to go is from June-September:
-Jan, Feb, March & Nov, Dec: 80 HRK (11.15 USD)
-April, May & October: 180 HRK (25.09 USD)
-June, July, August, September: 200-300 HRK (27.87 - 41.81 USD) (price varies based on time of day of arrival)
As I mentioned I went during off-season in November, so the price was 80 HRK per person! Tickets first include access to your selected entrance area. To purchase the tickets, you have to chose which entrance you are going to; you don't have to select which specific program you'd like to follow, just which entrance you will be beginning your tour at. However, you should of course pick your desired program in advance in order to correlate the entrance on your ticket to the entrance of the desired program.... To re-iterate, program C begins at entrance 1, so if you would like to do program C you would select entrance 1 when purchasing your tickets. You will not be allowed to enter at entrance 2 if you chose entrance 1 on your tickets, so chose wisely. Along with access to the selected entrance area, tickets also include any electric boat rides and panoramic train rides that are along your programs hiking route. You should also note that some parts of the park will close the further you are into off-season; during the winter season, a lot of the upper lakes are closed due to weather, effecting which programs you are able to tour.
Program C is circular; you start with a hike through the lower lakes and waterfalls, take an electric boat ride across one of the lakes, continue your hike through the upper lakes and waterfalls, and take a 'panoramic train ride' back to where you started! The national park calls it a panoramic train ride, but honestly it is pretty much just a large bus with big windows that goes mostly through the forest back to the entrance! Program C takes you along the trail that has the largest and prettiest waterfalls, including "Veliki Slap" (which translates to the great waterfall; it is the largest waterfall in the park at 78m high) and "Mali Prštavac", along with many smaller waterfalls and many different lakes.
The park sells snacks, drinks and lunch at the both of the park entrances and inside the park where the electric boat is located (there is a bathroom there as well) but it is pretty pricy. I would recommend carrying a mini backpack and packing your own water, lunch and/or snacks! The electric boat runs every 15-30 minutes, so you can rest your feet, use the bathroom, fill up on some food and hop in the line for the boat whenever you are ready!
I would arrive to the park as early as possible to beat the crowds, especially if you plan on visiting the Plitvice during the summer. From what I have seen in pictures and heard from others, it gets very busy during the summer, making it a bit frustrating to walk along the boardwalk around the lakes at your own pace. That is part of the reason why I loved visiting during early off-season - arriving at 9am, it was not crowded and the beautiful fall foliage was nice to see alongside the luscious greenery.
If you're interested, you can download an app on your phone called "NP Plitvicka Jezera" (it is a green icon with a white outline of a bears head). With this app, you can select which program you're following and hit start upon arrival; it will track your location throughout the park and give you information on which waterfall you see, which lake you're next to, and details on the flora and fauna in the area! I was surprised to see there are 3 packs of wolves occupying the forest of the national park. Also, if you're lucky (since they are only active at night), you'll maybe spot an otter in one of the many water habitats! I hope this information helps you on your travels - enjoy your time at Plitvice National Park!
