Plitvice Lakes National Park

A Water Fairy Wonderland:
Plitvice Lakes National Park
(The highlight of my entire trip)

If you wonder why I chose to come to Croatia, this is it. I saw a Rick Steves show years ago about this park, and it made a big impression on me. I've visited Yellowstone, the Grand Canyon, Glacier, and Mammoth Cave National Parks in the U.S., and Plitvice is just as amazing as they are. The Lower Lakes have a strong Niagara Glen feel; the Upper Lakes are incomparable. I couldn't stop smiling while I was at Plitvice; it was so amazing!!

The photos below are just a tiny fraction of the ones I took while at the park. Even the most beautiful pictures are nothing compared to actually being there. Hop a plane, catch a bus, and see it for yourself!!!

I didn't sleep very well in Split, so I was wide awake at 6 am, easily able to pack and make the 7:30 am bus from Split to Plitvice (87 kn [$16], including luggage storage). The scenery along the way reminded me of a combination of Montana and Kentucky: lots of mountains, clinging roads, and switchbacks. The bus filled up along the way. We arrived before noon. I hadn't been able to reserve a room in Plitvice by e-mail, so I decided just to show up. I started at the Hotel Plitvice, checked out a room, heard the expensive price, went to check out the Hotel Bellevue (which has very basic hotel rooms), and then returned to Hotel Plitvice. They only had a "superior" single room left, but for 485 kn [$85], it was a joy. I'd come a long way to visit Plitvice and treated myself while I was there.

Here I am in my room at Hotel Plitvice. It had a big bed, a TV, couch, big closet, nice bathroom (with a bathtub!), A/C (which only worked a little bit), and a beautiful view.

I dropped my bags in my room, changed into my walking shoes, put on my suntan lotion (just as on my whole trip, it was VERY hot and VERY sunny that day), and headed out. My goal was to visit as much of the park as I could in the afternoon and morning that I had. I walked downhill from the hotel, paid 100 kn ($18) for a two-day ticket to the park, and looked over the trails. I ended up combining the mini-map on the ticket with the map in my Rick Steves book in order to get around.

I started my visit by catching the tram at ST-2 and taking it to ST-1. I bought a bottle of water at the snack bar at ST-1 and took the trail just behind the snack bar (headed toward the big waterfall).

This was one of my first views of the Lower Lakes.

All the walkways are rustic and wooden. It's amazing to look into the crystal-clear water and see the fish!

The best way to get the waterfall and me in the photo was on the other (east) side of the gorge; I hiked up the switchbacks to Entry #1, the location of nice (clean) restrooms, a little store (I bought a phone card, a lemon Fanta, and a postcard), a restaurant (too expensive for me), and a tourist office (I asked about the buses to Zagreb).

After over three hours of walking in the heat and bright sun, I took the boat ride across the lake. It was peaceful and a nice rest, even if the scenery was just of a lake. I got a front seat! The boat drops its passengers off at P-2, where you catch another boat to P-1, the boat stop nearest the hotels.

The next morning, I got up a little after 6 am, had breakfast at 7:15 am, and was on the boat to the Upper Lakes at 8:00 am. I was the only non-worker on that boat ☺ The park is VERY quiet in the morning! It was wonderful. I got to enjoy the breathtaking scenery and sing hymns as I walked along the trails without disturbing (or even meeting) anyone.

A Water Fairy Wonderland: Plitvice Lakes National Park (The highlight of my entire trip) If you wonder why I chose to come to Croatia, this is it. I saw a Rick Steves show years ago about this park, and it made a big impression on me. I've visited Yellowstone, the Grand Canyon, Glacier, and Mammoth Cave National Parks in the U.S., and Plitvice is just as amazing as they are. The Lower Lakes have a strong Niagara Glen feel; the Upper Lakes are incomparable. I couldn't stop smiling while I was at Plitvice; it was so amazing!! The photos below are just a tiny fraction of the ones I took while at the park. Even the most beautiful pictures are nothing compared to actually being there. Hop a plane, catch a bus, and see it for yourself!!!
I didn't sleep very well in Split, so I was wide awake at 6 am, easily able to pack and make the 7:30 am bus from Split to Plitvice (87 kn [$16], including luggage storage). The scenery along the way reminded me of a combination of Montana and Kentucky: lots of mountains, clinging roads, and switchbacks. The bus filled up along the way. We arrived before noon. I hadn't been able to reserve a room in Plitvice by e-mail, so I decided just to show up. I started at the Hotel Plitvice, checked out a room, heard the expensive price, went to check out the Hotel Bellevue (which has very basic hotel rooms), and then returned to Hotel Plitvice. They only had a "superior" single room left, but for 485 kn [$85], it was a joy. I'd come a long way to visit Plitvice and treated myself while I was there.
	Here I am in my room at Hotel Plitvice. It had a big bed, a TV, couch, big closet, nice bathroom (with a bathtub!), A/C (which only worked a little bit), and a beautiful view.
I dropped my bags in my room, changed into my walking shoes, put on my suntan lotion (just as on my whole trip, it was VERY hot and VERY sunny that day), and headed out. My goal was to visit as much of the park as I could in the afternoon and morning that I had. I walked downhill from the hotel, paid 100 kn ($18) for a two-day ticket to the park, and looked over the trails. I ended up combining the mini-map on the ticket with the map in my Rick Steves book in order to get around.
	I started my visit by catching the tram at ST-2 and taking it to ST-1. I bought a bottle of water at the snack bar at ST-1 and took the trail just behind the snack bar (headed toward the big waterfall).
This was one of my first views of the Lower Lakes.

I took this trail (left) down to the Lower Lakes . . . and ended up walking down through the Šupljara Cave (right)!
All the walkways are rustic and wooden. It's amazing to look into the crystal-clear water and see the fish!

From the cave, I crossed the lake on the wooden footbridges and headed in the direction of the "Big Waterfall" (Veliki Slap). The waterfall is 78 m high (too tall to get me AND the entire waterfall in the picture ☺). The left-hand photo is from the base of the falls; the right-hand photo is taken on the way down from the "sightseeing point" trail.
The best way to get the waterfall and me in the photo was on the other (east) side of the gorge; I hiked up the switchbacks to Entry #1, the location of nice (clean) restrooms, a little store (I bought a phone card, a lemon Fanta, and a postcard), a restaurant (too expensive for me), and a tourist office (I asked about the buses to Zagreb).

After my break at Entry #1, I walked back down the switchbacks and toward P-3, along the eastern shore of the Lower Lakes, to catch the boat.
After over three hours of walking in the heat and bright sun, I took the boat ride across the lake. It was peaceful and a nice rest, even if the scenery was just of a lake. I got a front seat! The boat drops its passengers off at P-2, where you catch another boat to P-1, the boat stop nearest the hotels.

I returned to my hotel room, took a shower, watched the end of the Japan-Croatia World Cup match, and changed clothes for dinner. It was my mistake not to eat at the hotel (I couldn't find the dining room and didn't ask where it was [my mistake]). I ate at the park restaurant Poljana. The scenery was beautiful (notice the irises behind me!), but the service was poor and the food was only so-so (For 100 kn [$18], I had the fried cheese appetizer [see photo at right], a salad [vinegared cabbage with two tomato slices], pljeskavica [a sausage burger steak that I expected to be tastier], and good French fries). The waitress did end up serving me tap water (but she wasn't happy about it). I started with my own table, but it ended up being taken over by four rude German-speakers. They forced me to scoot into a corner, started smoking in my face, and even had their dog roaming under the table! I got up, gave my money to the waitress, and left.
The next morning, I got up a little after 6 am, had breakfast at 7:15 am, and was on the boat to the Upper Lakes at 8:00 am. I was the only non-worker on that boat ☺ The park is VERY quiet in the morning! It was wonderful. I got to enjoy the breathtaking scenery and sing hymns as I walked along the trails without disturbing (or even meeting) anyone.

I took the right-hand trail at the boat dock seen above. I am pretty sure that took me to the north side of Gradinsko Lake, but as I wasn't using a map, I'm not 100% sure. The scenery is otherworldy. The phrase that kept popping into my head was "a water fairy wonderland!" I'm not sure why ☺ The left-hand photo shows a typical set of stairs. A closer look (see the right-hand photo) shows that the stairs are actually right on top of a waterfall!! The water comes right through in several places.
This was the big waterfall in the Upper Lakes section of the park.

I don't like dogs, so they seem to gravitate to me. This one followed me most of the morning. He would go ahead then come back and make sure I was coming. The left-hand photo is of me with one of the many falls in the Upper Lakes.
After the ST-3 tram stop, I walked along the south edge of Galovac and the other small lakes to the ST-4 tram stop. My favorite bit of scenery was this. It looked like the entire hillside was covered with waterfalls!
At ST-4, I caught the tram back to ST-2, the entrance to the park closest to the hotels. I was the only one on the tram! It was very fast. It ended up that I walked the Upper Lakes in almost exactly 2 hours (round-trip from my hotel).

I went back to the hotel, gathered my bags, checked out, and headed out to the bus stop. [Unlike the Rick Steves book implies, neither the hotel front desk nor the tourist offices will call for a bus.] There were supposedly three buses that were supposed to stop at Plitvice's bus shelter between 11 am and 12 pm (see the left photo, taken from the Zagreb side of the road, looking at the Zadar side of the road). The right-hand photo is of the pedestrian overpass that goes from the hotels to the bus shelter. I arrived quite early at the bus stop (before 10:30 am). There were six nice people [four from England and two Australians] also waiting at the stop (and one of the Australians had been to Togo!!!). We discussed World Cup and other things while waiting. The first bus came at about 11:20 am.
Notes on Plitvice:
The afternoon at the Lower Lakes is crowded with tour groups (but it wasn't really that crowded, and I was there on a hot and sunny Sunday). Thinking of Plitvice as an American national park helped me justify some of the cost. My trip to the Grand Canyon over Memorial Day weekend several years ago was more expensive that Plitvice!	I made my phone card calls from the Hotel Jezero's lobby phones. I think I chose the right hotel for me: Hotel Plitvice's lobby was very nice, while Hotel Jezero's lobby didn't seem that much more impressive (given that it is a more expensive hotel).