Sep-2010
Plitvice Lakes National Park
One of the most beautiful hikes in Europe ! You really can’t miss it ! Also known as the “Devil’s Garden” as a “black queen” have flooded the area under water, the Plitvice Lakes National Park is the best known and most visited among the eight national parks of CROATIA. It is a World Heritage Site since 1979, among the first in the world.
16 turquoise water lakes are interconnected by numerous waterfalls and rivers. Hole caves landscape and dense forests along the upper lakes, where you can find are rare species.
Everything is within walking distance. Spend the day walking in a breathtaking natural ! Unfortunately, it is forbidden to swim in the lakes.
How to get to Plitvice Lakes National Park?
At the time we went, the only way was taking a bus. Bus commuted from major cities around the country.
Zagreb to Plitvice takes about 2h30. Look at the schedule on the website of the bus terminal.
Buses also connect the park with several small villages around.
Croatian Plitvice lakes are written: Nacionalni park Plitvicka jezera
The journey to explore the Plitvice National park
The Plitvice National Park covers an area of ??29,685.15 hectares. So you can easily spend hours to explore it. A path made of logs surrounds and allow you to cross the park, it can be slippery in wet weather, so take good shoes! Depending on the route you choose, different means of transportation are available to you to travel inside the park: your feet, boats & trains.
Trains run to reach distant points in the park and let you enjoy the panoramic views of the lakes. Boats allow you to connect the upper and lower lakes by the vast lake Kozjak.
The best way to arrange a visit is to know in advance how much time you have to visit. We recommend you to spend the full day! It takes at least 5 hours in order to discover the wonders of these places.
Look on this page for an overview of the different possible paths. The duration of the trips vary from 2 hours to 8 hours. But if you spend only 2 hours in the park, you won’t see anything!
We suggest you to start your tour by the lower lakes and then ascend to the upper lakes, where you have a panoramic view of what you’ve gone through a few hours earlier.
It is better to have waterproof walking shoes because it is possible that there is a little bit of water to cross (but roads and bridges are well maintained).
Good advice: arrive when the park opens! Early in the morning, there is not so many tourists. Late morning you can see the difference, it will be completely crowded. Unfortunately, Plitvice Lakes has become a very touristy place!
The opening hours of the Plitvice nationl park & ??Tickets
- Winter: 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.
- Spring and Fall: 8:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m.
- Summer: 7:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m.
The park is open every day, Sundays and holidays included. There are two entrances to the park.
The entrance ticket is valid for one day (but may be extended if you are staying in one of the hotels of the park).
It includes transportation by shuttle boat and scenic train, insurance and VAT.
Prices vary according to the season:
- November to March: 80 Kn for adults and 35 Kn for students
- April to October: 110 Kn for adults and 50 Kn for students
From December to January, the lakes freeze and offer a snowy landscape quite beautiful.
Where to stay close to the Plitvice Lakes National Park?
Unfortunately, at the time we went, there was no hostel near Plitvice.
You can easily book a guest house room (cheaper than a hotel room) in small villages around the lakes. Guest houses is a common way to spend nights in CROATIA, so you will have no trouble booking a room through sites like Hostelworld or Hostlebookers. And small villages are served by local buses.
We had stayed in the village Korenica, a few kilometers from the lakes. There’s absolutely nothing else to do in this village than sleeping and eating.
Where to eat close to Plitvice National Park ?
We advise you to take a pic-nic along one of the lakes. The location is perfect for that! You can stop on benches, logs or stones along the way.
Otherwise, there is a snack and restaurant to get food on the site.
Did you know ?
The film Winnetou was recorded in the park Plitvice!
Useful website about the Plitvice National Park
For more information, here is the site of the Plitvice Lakes.
comment this post
Merci pour tous ces renseignements. Nous nous rendons en Croatie cet été et je pense que cela nous sera bien utile. Je ne parviens pas à avoir accès à la page des parcours possibles, il semble y avoir une erreur de serveur ?? Sauriez-vous me transmettre le lien ? Merci à vous.
Salut ! Merci d’avoir détecté ce lien cassé
http://www.np-plitvicka-jezera.hr est le site officiel pour les lacs de Plitvice, mais il semble qu’ils aient effectivement un problème de serveur… regarde à nouveau dans quelques jours, peut être que le problème sera résolu. Tu peux aussi avoir une idée des différents parcours et durées ici : http://www.croatiaapartments.net/croatia_tourist_information/croatia_national_park_plitvice_lakes/plitvice_lakes_01_large.jpg. Bon voyage !!
I went over this site and I conceive you have a lot of wonderful information, bookmarked . addekfecge
dO YOU KNOW IF THERE IS A PLACE FOR LEFT LUGGAGE AT THE BUS STATION AS i iNTEND TO ARRIVE EARLY AND LEAVE AGAIN AT NIGHT?
I dont think there is one because we had to leave our luggage at the homestay and come back there after the park to take the bus…