Plitvice Lakes National Park (Plitvička Jezera)

Today, the first day on my trip that I will spend together with my girlfriend, we will drive to the Plitvice Lakes (Plitvička Jezera) because that should be a very beautiful place (when the weather is good). The next days will unfortunately probably be very rainy and we want to get everything out of this day.

In the morning we leave Zadar and use the fastest way to get to the Plitvice Lakes, partly even highway. I usually try to avoid the highways but I think it is also interesting to figure out how they work in every country. In Slovenia I had to buy a vignette, in Croatia it works with toll booths.

We leave the highway after a while and continue on regular roads. The views are not bad at all. We take a break in a field next to the road to enjoy some food that we bought at a food stall next to the road.

About an hour later we arrive at the Plitvice Lakes. I thought that I maybe might be able to drive around it but it seems to be a tourist attraction where you have to pay entrance to get in. No problem. We put on our walking shoes, buy the tickets and put our belongings (helmets, jackets, boots) in a locked container.

There a a few possibilities of different walks through the national park, each with its own distance and difficulty. We decide to walk the shortest route, which still will take 2-3 hours. It is significantly shorter and easier than the 8 hour variant though.

A boat brings us across a small lake and that’s where our walk starts. The lakes and waterfalls are amazing. It is some kind of magic fairytale wonderland. We did not expect something so beautiful. We spent more than three hours walking past these amazing waterfalls and lakes that are clearer than I have ever seen.

After getting back to the parking space we both agree that the beauty of this national park was above our expectations. I can recommend you to visit this park when you are in Croatia. It is definitely worth the hefty entrance fee!

We buy ourselves an ice cream and I am ready to surprise Anne, my girlfriend, with another destination that we will visit today…