Plitvice Lakes

Plitvice Lakes is National Park, the main natural treasure of Croatia. Since 1979 it is included in the list of UNESCO World Heritage. There was no access for tourists prior to 1958. Since that time were built numerous wooden walkways and put pretty strict rules.

Hallmark of the park are the waterfalls Veliki Slap and Sastavci. This is one of the most beautiful places in the world.

It is forbidden to swim in the lakes of the park, although when we walked in remote, unpopulated parts, we've seen bathing tourists. You can not build fires, picnics, come with dogs. And nobody touch all the trees that fall into the lake.


Because the trees and leaves are not removed, they quickly covered with calcicoles, which turning to stone and form solid deposits spanning the river. Because of this, more and more waterfalls appeared in the park every year. Height difference between the upper and lower lakes is 133 meters and the number of waterfalls already exceeded 140.


There are two main entrances to the park and various route options. Their plans are placed throughout the park and also on the tickets. We selected the route B. As indicated on the picture, we spent 4 hours. The longest route will take 8 hours, so one day is enough even for a complete visit. Choose the route and follow the signs.

During the high season try to enter the park in the morning (8-9 o'clock) as at 11-12 arrive dozens of tourist buses.














We entered through the entrance 1 and at first visited all the lower lakes and waterfalls.




















There are boats between points P2 and P3 and 99% of visitors use them. But we went along the right bank on foot, walked more than an hour. Compared with the lower lakes, there was virtually no tourists. We even drank water from one of the creeks.


From the point P1, which is located near the entrance / exit 2, you can return to exit 1 in the electric car. But we went on foot, there is a very scenic route in the woods. Points ST1, ST2, ST3, ST4 on the map are the stops of the car.


On March 31, 1991 in the park was the first armed clash between Croatian police forces and Serb territorial defense within the Croatian war, military conflict caused by the exit of Croatia from Yugoslavia. Several times lakes were the battlefield, therefore, despite the well-developed infrastructure, even now mines are found in the vicinity of the park.

Park works from 8 to 16, the cost of a day ticket in high season (july, august) $32, in other months is much cheaper. Find actual working hours and the cost of tickets at the official website.








Getting there: Plitvička jezera have not very good location. They can be reached by bus from Zagreb ($18, 2 hours and 15 minutes, schedule) and from Split (~ $25, 4 ​​hours and 30 minutes, schedule). Independent tourists come in the evening, spend the night at the site, visit the lakes in the morning and leave in the afternoon.