7 Things to Know About Plitvice Lakes National Park, Croatia

Founded in 1949, Plitvice Lakes National Park is the largest national park in Croatia and one of the oldest national parks in Southeast Europe. It became a part of UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1979. Nested in mountainous Lika region, the park extends over 296 square kilometres and attracts more than 1 million visitors every year. With the name Plitvice Lakes, it is of no wonder that the national park is famed for its lakes – a total of 16 lakes can be seen in the national park, all inter-connected by a series of waterfalls. The lakes and waterfalls are set amidst a lush greenery with boardwalks constructed for the ease of visiting the national park.

1) Getting to Plitvice Lakes National Park

On our way to Plitvice Lakes National Park in the morning

As one of the most famous national parks in Croatia, it is quite easy to get to Plitvice Lakes National Park via public buses. Buses leave frequently from Zagreb, Zadar and Split. Our friends pre-purchased their bus tickets a day before in Split (highly recommended to do so, especially during peak season) whereas for us, we got there via our rental car.

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At the park, there is only free parking for motorcycles. Parking rates for cars are 7 HRK per hour; campers, cars with trailers and buses are 70 HRK per day.

We did not park at the park but at our accommodation (free parking), and walked from our accommodation to the park.

2) When to Visit

The boardwalk can get quite crowded sometimes

The park is open all year round for visitors and each season offers a different beauty. The peak season is summer (particularly July and August) – the entrance fees will be the most expensive during these 2 months and the crowd will be the heaviest. I’ve read that sometimes it’s hard to move around on the boardwalk because it’s just too crowded!

When we were there in October (autumn), the park was still quite crowded, especially at the lower lakes area. At the upper lakes area, the crowd is thinner, perhaps because tour groups don’t really hike until so far.

Tip: Try to start the day as early as possible and visit the lower lakes first before the tour groups arrive.

3) Where We Stayed

Cutting through the forested area from our accommodation in Mukinje to Plitvice Lakes National Park

We stayed in an Airbnb in a town called Mukinje. The public buses stop at Plitvice Lakes National Park, so you will either have to walk to the town or get the apartment owner to pick you up. Our apartment owner kindly picked our friends up when they arrived. I recommend staying in an apartment with kitchen or cooking facilities as there are not many food options around the area. There is a small supermarket in Mukinje where we bought ingredients for our meals.

We arrived at Mukinje at around 10 in the morning and the original plan was to meet up with our friends (who arrived a day earlier), head straight to the park, stay for the night at Mukinje and head off to the next destination the next morning. However, the weather that day was foggy, rainy, cold and extremely miserable – we knew we won’t be able to see anything so we postponed our visit to the next day, hoping that the weather would be better. Thankfully, the fog cleared up and the rain stopped the next day (though the sky was still quite gloomy), so we headed to the park first thing in the morning. As we were supposed to head to our next destination that day, we only had half a day to spend at the park.

From Mukinje, we cut through a small forested area to reach Entrance 2 of Plitvice Lakes National Park, which is about 15-minute walk.

4) Entrance and Getting Around

The electric Sightseeing Train ferrying travellers around

There are 2 main entrances to the park – Entrance 1 (44.904853, 15.611739) which is further up north and nearer to the lower lakes, and Entrance 2 (44.882368, 15.618324) which is nearer to the upper lakes. There is an additional entrance Flora but I’m not sure where it is.

We entered the park from Entrance 2 and took the Sightseeing Train to start our hike.

The Sightseeing Train (aka Panoramic Train) is an electronic train / tram / shuttle bus which ferries travellers around the park. There are 3 stops within the park, St1 at Entrance 1, St2 near Entrance 2 (there is a distance between the train stop and the entrance) and St3 at Prošćansko Lake (south-est point of the park).

There are also electric boats which ferry travellers on Kozjak Lake, the largest lake in Plitvice Lakes National Park.

The train and boat and are included in the park ticket. They run every 30 minutes and the starting and ending times can be found below, but do check online again here in case the park change the timings.

5) Park Tickets

It is possible to buy one-day or two-day tickets, depending on how long you want to spend exploring the park. I personally think if you can start early, one full day should be enough to explore the park.

Depending on the month you visit the park, the park ticket may be priced differently. The park tickets are most expensive in July and August. Students get to enjoy a discounted rate but a student card / ID must be produced at the ticket office. Photo / photocopy / screenshot will not be accepted.

As the prices are revised yearly, see here for the latest pricing.

6) Hiking Routes

There are a total of 8 hiking routes within Plitvice Lakes National Park – Green Routes A, B, C, K that start from Entrance 1 and Orange Routes E, F, H and K that start from Entrance 2. (Don’t ask me why there is no D, G, H or I because I have no clue too!) Click on the images for more information on each hiking route.

Route A is an easy, short, circular route that brings travellers to the lower lakes only. I recommend to do this part of the hike as early as possible to avoid tour groups.

Slightly longer route than Route A, Route B is still an easy hike which involves taking a boat ride across Kozjaka Lake (P3 to P1). From P1, you can either walk or take the Sightseeing Train back.

Route C covers both lower and upper lakes (combination of Route B and E), and is the route we took. Starting from Entrance 1, travellers head down to the lower falls, take 2 boat rides across the lake to P2. From P2, travellers walk uphill to visit the upper lakes. The walk up is long but mostly gentle, making this a moderate hike.

Route K (Green) highlights the entire hiking path that can be done by foot from Entrance 1. It is the longest hike, covering 18.3 kilometres and requires 6 hours minimum to complete it.

Route E is a circular route covering only the upper lakes.

Route F is the same as Route B, just in the opposite direction. Starting with a boat ride from Entrance 2 across the lake, hike to the lower lakes then take a bus back to Entrance 2.

Route H is similar to Route C but in the opposite direction. The hike will be mostly downhill until you reach the lower lakes, when the climb back up to Entrance 1 will be quite steep.

Route K (Orange) is similar to the Green Route K, just that it starts from Entrance 2.

Route C and H are probably the most popular hiking routes among travellers as they allow travellers to cover most of the park – they are the same, just that they start from different points and the directions are opposite. We did Route C, so after getting our tickets at Entrance 2, we caught the Sightseeing Train to St1 to start our hike.

7) How Much Time to Spend There

As mentioned earlier, we only had half a day at the park, so we tried to reach there as early as we could. At 8.30 a.m., we caught the Sightseeing Train to start our hike at St1. We completed the hike in 4.5 hours at Entrance 2, but we had to rush quite badly towards the end as we had to get back to our accommodation to check out by 1 p.m. We did not even have time to stop for a proper break (except on the boat ride). So if you want to enjoy the hike, take lots of photos and have time for a lunch break / picnic, give yourselves 6 hours for Route C or H.

Now that you know all about Plitvice Lakes National Park, here are some many photos of the beautiful national park:

We started our hike at St1, making our way down to the lower lakes.

As we make our way down, we get to see more and more of Plitvice Lakes

The lakes at Plitvice Lakes National Park are separated by natural dams of travertine, which are deposits made of limestone (calcium carbonate) that are precipitated out of running water.

From the top we could see the lakes and boardwalk.

The view was a little obscured by the trees in front of us but this and the previous photo are popular photo-taking spots.

And soon we are at one of the most popular and photographed spots in the park – Veliki Slap (the name of the waterfall). With a 78-metre drop, Veliki Slap (which means Great Waterfall) is the highest waterfall in the park. The waterfall mist is so strong that it’s impossible to stay dry there!

After visiting the waterfall (and getting partially wet), we walked on the boardwalk to reach the boat station. Along the way we spotted many other small waterfalls.

The clear and undisturbed lake. The lakes are renowned for their colours – it can change from blue to green to turquoise, depending on the time of the year, the angle of the sun rays and the mineral content of the water.

A sign indicating where we were – there are many of these signs along the way.

Another small waterfall. The park is rich in both wildlife and plantlife. The algae and moss growing from the travertine create a very out-of-the-world feel, don’t you think so?

Šupljara Cave – an underground cave inhabited with many special cave plants.

A plaque dedicated to Milka Trnina, a famous Croatian dramatic soprano. In 1898, one of the waterfalls was named after her as she donated money from her concerts to preserve the park, upgrade tracks and to build pathways.

Milka Trnina Waterfall

Taking a photo break!

Another waterfall – though the waterfalls cannot beat the ones we saw in Iceland in terms of size and power, the flora and fauna surrounding the waterfalls made up for it.

Autumn colours in Plitvice Lakes National Park taken during our boat ride to the upper lakes.

Galovac Waterfall (16 meters high and 5 meters wide) is located in Galovac Lake in the upper region of the park.

Another waterfall in the upper lakes. In a way I felt that it will be nice to have a guide to point out the names of the waterfalls and the lakes – there aren’t much signage around so I have no idea what most of them are called.

One last waterfall!

Besides the vibrant colours, the lakes are also exceptionally clear.

Autumn colours + a superb clear lake.

How I wish we had time to enjoy a picnic in the park like them! Unfortunately time did not permit us to do so.

Heading towards St3 to catch the Sightseeing Train

One last shot of Plitvice Lakes National Park.

Finally…

Overall we had a really great time at Plitvice Lakes National Park and I honestly wished we had more time so we didn’t have to rush through our hike. The only pet peeve I had was that, just like Krka National Park, there is no ban on smoking within the park. As such, we passed by quite a few smokers during our hike. I didn’t spot a lot of trash bins in the park, so I honestly hope that these smokers did not just throw their cigarette butts into the lakes. I hope that one day a smoking ban will be implemented in the park!

And that’s it for my travel guide to Plitvice Lakes National Park! Stay tuned to the next travelogue!