Adriatic Adventure: Plitvice Lakes National Park

Once we'd had our fill of Motovun we drove down to Plitvice Lakes National Park, a UNESCO World Heritage site.  Plitvice (PLEET-veet-seh) is one of Europe's breathtaking natural wonders.  It's a lush valley with 16 terraced lakes, countless waterfalls, boat rides, and hiking.  If you'd like to nerd out a little more, the UNESCO website has a great description about the geology of the park.

Since it takes a while to drive inland to Plitvice, I recommend spending the night in or near the park.  We stayed in the park at Hotel Bellevue.  It's not the most modern or attractive hotel, but the front desk associates were pleasant and there's a breakfast buffet that caters to early risers who want to explore the park right when it opens.

We followed Rick Steves's suggestion of starting at the Lower Lakes (Donja Jezera), which are accessible at Entrance 1.  Starting here takes you down to the Big Waterfall (Veliki Slap) seen above in this photo.  It's Plitvice's biggest waterfall where the Plitvica River falls 250 feet over a cliff into the valley below.

After exploring the Lower Lakes we took a 20-minute boat ride (included in your ticket cost) across Lake Kozjak (Jezero Kozjak), which connects the Lower and Upper Lakes.  The Upper Lakes is where a lot of the "exotic beauty" (Rick Steves's words) is in the park and I have to agree--though all of it is beautiful!

There are so many spectacular waterfalls to behold, such as Veliki (Big) Prštavac, seen above in this photo.

And nearby after a steep uphill bend is the just as spectacular Mali (Small) Prštavac.

While it would have been lovely to explore more of the hiking trails in the park, we only had time to spend a half day soaking in the main sights.  One thing we would have liked to do is go into the park right as it opened and hike up to take photos of the sun hitting the waterfalls as it rises in the sky.  We tried to do that, but unfortunately the shuttles that take everyone from Entrance 2 to Entrance 1 weren't running frequently enough.  Moreover, the whole transportation system seemed unorganized; it was difficult to figure out where exactly the shuttle picked up.

Another thing to keep in mind is that even in early June, which is still considered off-peak, there were a lot of very large tourist groups.  As with any major attraction there will be tourist groups, but here in the park where there are only narrow plank walkways their presence is heightened, especially if you're trying to take your time with photos.  Patience will be your best friend.

That said, the pros of Plitvice far outweigh the cons.  It's a beautiful natural wonder and UNESCO World Heritage site and I highly recommend it if you have time to spare.  You absolutely will not regret it.