The Plitvice Lakes in Croatia

As I mentioned in my last post, I was headed to visit the Plitvice Lakes in Croatia as I had heard it was one of the best National Parks in all of Europe.

My first look at the falls

Amazing how the clear the water was…

The Plitvice Lakes in Croatia were named as a UNESCO world heritage site and the park itself is divided up into two sections, the upper lakes and the lower lakes with 16 lakes total.

Looking down on a small pond

There is also a lot of altitude change within the park  with the tallest waterfall around 280 feet tall, the highest part of the park around 4,200 ft and the lowest around 1,245 ft with each section of the park taking about 3-4 hours to visit.

One of many waterfalls

Since I decided not to try and stay in the smaller town of Plitvice which would have little accommodation, I decided I would stay in Zagreb that night, Croatia’s capital, so the day would be a long one starting with a 6 hour bus ride from Split to the Lakes, then a 2 ½ ride from the Lakes to Zagreb.

Boardwalk around some smaller falls

This left me with only about 5 hours at the park because the buses stop running around 6:30pm to get to Zagreb. So unfortunately I was only able to tour half the park but it was still well worth it and I would recommend anyone to go, especially if you’re planning to spend any time in Croatia.

One of the larger of the falls

To get around in the park, they take you by tram to the top of the park which takes about fifteen minutes and then you walk along a raised boardwalk throughout the forest heading down over the lakes and streams themselves.

The Boardwalk throughout the park

The water here is crystal clear with a light green color as you can see, not algae like but more a shade of greenish blue. And as you would walk along the boardwalk above the water, you would be able to see down into the water at least five or six feet.

You can spot some of the fish in this photo

Since it is a national park, they do not allow swimming or fishing and as a result, there were literally thousands of fish you can see throughout the park.

Last pond I came across in the upper lakes

I would still love to go back and spend more time at the park and see the lower half of the lakes but for now, I was headed to Zagreb and was hoping to get there and find a place to stay before midnight!