About 130km south of Zagreb is Croatia’s largest national park. On our way, we stopped for lunch in a quaint little town called Rastoké. This little town is known for its waterfalls and got us set up for what was to come at Plitvička Lakes. It was a sweltering hot day, and we parked about a 10 minute walk from the restaurant where we had lunch and given the heat it jst seemed so far. We enjoyed a great lunch and Z had fresh trout caught from the Korana River. At one point during lunch it started to rain and it lasted for about 10 minutes. It was very refreshing and funny to see everyone scurry for cover. We had an umbrella over our table and managed to stay relatively dry. Enjoyable stop to break up the lengthy drive.
Plitvička Lakes National Park is by far one of the world’s most outstanding natural phenomenons that are a must see for anyone visiting Croatia. The park is 295 square metres and is world famous for its 16 lakes, which are separated as the upper lakes and lower lakes. What’s unique with the lakes is they are interconnected by waterfalls and cascade into what looks like “steps” of lakes. The water colour ranges from clear, crystal blue to green depending on the angle of the sunlight. There are 7 different hiking trails around the park ranging from a short 2 hours to a 6-8 hour hike that covers all the lakes, waterfalls, and part of the surrounding forest. There is a vast variety of different vegetation and an abundance of fauna. It is so incredibly scenic, it is really difficult to describe its beauty in words. The lakes are filled with fish that enjoy their ability to swim in unpolluted waters because they do not allow gas-powered boats on the lakes. The park is so very well preserved and prestine it almost feels wrong hiking around admiring the natural beauty. The park was included in the list of UNESCO’s World Natural Heritage Sites in 1979.
We stayed overnight in one of the park’s hotels which was a good idea because the park gets packed during the day with 15-16 thousand guests per day. The other advantage of staying there was that we arrived in the early evening which gave us time to hike around the upper lakes and take in the magnificent waterfalls there at a reduced evening entry rate and with less crowds. The added bonus was our hotel extended our entry ticket for the next day for no charge. That was a great deal!! In the morning we hiked around the lower lakes with the culmination of the hike arriving at the big waterfall. This waterfall is 78 metres in height and truly magnificent. The hiking trails are well maintained being either natural dirt or wooden planks. The trails are well signed and there are a couple stations within the park and each provides transportation back to the other station.
This was a worthwhile stop along our journey down to Split. Recommend either visiting in the evening or first thing when it opens to avoid the major crowds.
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