How NOT to visit the Plitvice Lakes National Park
A UNESCO World Heritage Site, the Plitvice Lakes National Park in Croatia is an exceptional natural beauty. There are 16 lakes in the park, all connected to each other by waterfalls and reflecting various shades of blue and green depending on the sunlight and the organisms inside them. One can walk around these beautiful lakes thanks to the wooden walkways around them. Plitvice is a must visit and with plenty of beautiful spots to see, one shouldn’t rush into visiting it; the mistake I made during my trip!
Walking Routes at the Plitvice National Park
Above are the two maps depicting various details about the Plitvice Park. As seen in the first map, there are 16 lakes at the park with 12 of them called the Upper Lakes and 4 of them called the Lower Lakes. There are several waterfalls within the park with Veliki Slap (number 23 on map 1) being the highest with 78 m high. It’s also called the Great Waterfall (Veliki is a Croatian word which means “a big” and slap means “waterfall”). The Plitvice National Park is huge and therefore to make it easier to travel within the park there are boats that carry passengers from point P1 to P2 and from P2 to P3 and vice-verse and trains between points ST1, ST2 and ST3 (refer map 2). There are several walking trails around the park comprising of different sections: either only lower lakes or only upper lakes or combination of two.
All the maps courtesy : https://np-plitvicka-jezera.hr
My experience
Not going through any of the maps while planning my trip was my biggest mistake. Since I wasn’t aware of the different lakes and routes, it was quite convenient for me to believe that 3 hours would be sufficient to enjoy this beauty. I took an 11:00 am bus from Zagreb with my two friends. It takes around 2:30 hrs to reach Plitvice by bus. We had planned to get down at entrance no 1 but somehow the bus didn’t stop there and dropped us at entrance no 2. With our heavy backpacks we made our way into the park and bought the tickets only to realize that there weren’t any space left for luggage storage. Phewww! It would have been a big pain to walk around with those heavy bags. Luckily there was a hotel nearby, Hotel Jezero, whose receptionist was extremely helpful to keep our bags in the locker. By the time we left the hotel it was already 2:00 pm. Oh, did I mention it was late October? You are hardly left with any sunlight by 5:00 pm. The only viable options left for us were route A, B, E and F (B and F are identical; they just start at different entrances). This meant we could either do the upper lakes or the lower lakes but not both of them. The person at the ticket counter recommended us to do the Lower Lakes since it has more viewing points and the Great Waterfall. We decided to proceed with route F. We took a boat from point P1 to point P2. While waiting for the next boat from P2 to P3, we took a small walk around Lake Burgeti (no 11 in map 1). I was mesmerized by these small multiple waterfalls. We then took the boat to P3 across Lake Kozjak (no 12 in map 1). Again, plenty of great scenery with autumn colors in full bloom.
The walk from P3 to entrance 1 is absolutely stunning with numerous waterfalls, caves and of course the lower lakes. It becomes more dramatic as you near the end. You witness the Great Waterfall and the bird’s eye view of the numerous small waterfalls which looks surreal.
It was already 5:15 pm and was getting dark. We took a train from ST1 to ST2, collected our bags from Hotel Jezero and took a bus back to Zagreb from right outside entrance 2.
What could I have done differently?
- Gone through the maps and routes while planning the trip. I have would have then parked aside 7-8 hours inside the park, letting me see both the upper and lower lakes
- Since it was winter, it didn’t help me to start late from Zagreb. Had I reached the park a couple of hours earlier, it would have given me a chance to explore a longer route
- Being on a tight schedule didn’t help me either. I was headed to Dubrovnik the next day and the schedule was such that I couldn’t accommodate even an extra half day. Else I would have stayed overnight at one of the many AirBnb’s near Plitvice and would have done the upper lakes tour the next morning.
Plitvice National Park ticket prices and timings
Kindly follow this link for latest information on operating hours during various seasons. Plitvice during winters can be a magical experience with frozen waterfalls.
For information on timings of the boat and train please visit this website.
Ticket prices vary for each season with discounts available to groups (greater than 15 pax) and students. The ticket price includes the boat and the train. Since there are a limited number of tickets that can be purchased physically at both the entrances, it is recommended to buy them online. For more information on the latest prices kindly follow this link
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