Exploring the Gorgeous Plitvice Lakes National Park in Croatia

Croatia has so much to offer, and so far I’ve just talked about the amazing things to do in the cities and surrounding areas but today I’m taking you away from the coast to explore the vast Plitvice Lakes National Park set in the heart of Croatia. This beautiful area was founded as a national park in 1949 and is 115 square miles covered with about 20% of the area covered in lakes (there are 16 of them) all crystal clear in every blue hue imaginable and the other 80% is forest, ranging in every green you could find in a Crayola crayon box. Probably what makes the Park most fabulous is the gorgeous cascading waterfalls. There are 92 of these – some big, some small but they are all spectacular!

Plitvice Lakes is the oldest and largest national park in Croatia and is part of the UESCO World Heritage list. The park is situated in the mountainous region of Croatia. The lake system has been divided into the Upper and Lower lakes and offers visitors seven different routes to tour the Park (mostly depending on how much time you have and your starting point). It also has four great hiking trails as well if you want to explore more by foot. There are numerous footbridges and an electric boat to get visitors from the Lower lakes to the Upper lakes making exploration rather easy. Although the blue hues of the water make it look tempting to go in and cool off, swimming is absolutely prohibited. And thank goodness, I’m sure humans being in the water would somehow destroy the balance!

There are two entrances to the park. Entrance one gets you to the lower lakes where you will see the Big Waterfall (and most famous) Veliki Slap right away (you can walk to the bottom of it later too). This waterfall is magnificent at 225 feet high (but by no means the best). It is the biggest and the most crowded, so my suggestion to you is to get here early and see this first. From here, you can take the electric boat to the Upper Lakes section, with some of the prettiest boardwalk trails and waterfalls in the park (and it’s less crowded). Entrance two gets you right to the Upper Lakes but do note this entrance is normally closed in the winter months. We went in late April which is the ideal time: It was not too crowded, the spring rain and snow thaw made the waterfalls plentiful, and the weather was ideal for a day in the forest being not too hot nor too cold. We were also told the fall is a nice time to visit as you are able to capture the forest in autumn colors.

We started our tour on the Lower Lakes at the first entrance – where it seemed most of the people were. Very soon after arriving, we saw the “Big Waterfall” along with some caves (60 caves are open to visitors but enter at your own risk), lakes and more waterfalls. Our guide pointed out the various trees that all combined make it so lush and green. There are many hazelnut trees and as such many of the bridges are made from this tree.

For those of us who wanted to continue on our own after the guided tour of the Lower Lakes, we took an electric boat to the Upper Lakes. We were able to take our time and closely look at the wildflowers and vegetation since there were far fewer people in this area. This was my favorite part – it really felt like being with nature especially because it was so quiet – except for the sound of water –it was lovely!

At some points, we looked in front of bridges and there wasn’t a soul in sight – talk about getting in touch with nature!

Speaking of nature, there are obviously a wide variety of trees found here but Flora Scientists have so far identified 1,267 different types of plants! Just in the orchid category, there are 55 different species identified! So, the flora population is well represented here.

The national park is also home to an extremely wide variety of animal and bird species. The fauna population includes rare species like the European brown bear, wolf, eagle, owl, and lynx, along with many more common animal species. Bird watchers will be happy to know there are 157 different species to be on watch for. Even butterflies are plentiful here with 321 different types. The brown bear is the symbol of the park and I was secretly hoping I would see one (okay, not really close but see one from a far). Unfortunately I didn’t see one, but we did come across these cute little guys instead.

We stayed at one of the Hotel Jezero located inside the park (there are three hotels inside the park) which was so convenient as it was just another short walk up a path after we concluded our park exploration. The view from our balcony in our room overlooked the forest. It was so beautiful walking into the room seeing the forest outside and awakening to the same view. Later at breakfast I was talking to another hotel guest and she said that she saw a small bear from her balcony – I was so jealous until later I got my chance to give a bear hug to a “bear” and I felt just a little better.

There are other hotels outside the park and our guide also told us there are several B & Bs located just outside the Lakes area (about 30 – 40 minutes away) for just 30 Euros a night which might be an attractive option for some. The park strongly recommends that you purchase your tickets in advance online because the number of tickets sold are limited. Note that you may enter the park at the time you have chosen which is listed on your ticket.

(https://ticketing.np-plitvicka-jezera.hr/Index.aspx?l=EN)

It is hard to believe that Plitvice Lakes became the scene for the first armed confrontation of the Croatian War of Independence in March of 1991. There were fatalities and the park was held by Serb forces during the conflict and some of the park was damaged in the process. Hotels and other structures were also used as barracks during the conflict. The region was retaken by the Croatian Army in 1995. I am pleased to say I didn’t see any residual signs of the conflict even though it happened just less than 30 years ago. And thank goodness for that! There is beauty (as in architecture) and nature’s beauty – I must say the lakes and waterfalls are some of the most gorgeous things in nature I have seen. Stay tuned next week as we head into Croatia’s neighbor, stupendous Slovenia!

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