The Plitvice Lakes had been on my bucket list for a long time. I thought it would be a wonderful place, but the sight exceeded even my expectations.
When people think of Croatia, the Adriatic Sea is often the main destination. To be honest, I’m not that drawn to the Croatian coast (okay, maybe a little bit to the southern part „below” Makarska), but Plitvice was my number 1. We visited it as a group of four during a long weekend.
On the way there on Friday, we targeted Maribor, as it was only about 50 km longer from Pápa this way. In exchange, we discovered a very charming, slightly Austrian-style city. We even spent more time there than planned, but it was absolutely worth it!
You can read about Maribor here!
To get to Plitvice, you need to exit the highway at Karlovac (there’s also a „Plitvice Jezera” sign to help). They still use a ticket system at the toll gates, which will supposedly be replaced by a mobile application next year, making usage and payment simpler. We paid by card at the exit, though it didn’t take much time anyway.
Table of Contents
Ticket purchase, accommodation
It’s worth buying tickets to the lakes in advance on this website. There are two entrances and 200 tickets available per hour at each. The website shows how many tickets are still available. This is useful because in off-season we can wait for better weather. We were planning to go a week earlier, but the weather was very bad, so we postponed it. We waited with the tickets and it was a good decision! We bought the Saturday 11 AM entry tickets two days before, and there were still plenty available.
You need to register on the website, and at the end of the ticket purchase, you need to provide names (although they don’t check these at entry). After payment, the ticket arrives via email: you don’t need to print it, they can scan the QR code on your mobile phone.
We booked accommodation in Mukinja village, about 1.5 km from Entrance 2. In reality, this is a large apartment village, designed almost exclusively for tourists. There’s a shop and a restaurant, and besides that, silence. Perfect for those who want to rest.
On Saturday, we set out to the entrance in great weather: there’s a paved path leading through the forest from the village to Entrance 2. There’s a café and several restaurants nearby.
At the Lakes
Entry is quick, and it’s best to arrive knowing which tour you want to do. They’re marked with letters: „A” is the shortest, showing the biggest waterfall and its surroundings. You can choose which one you want to do on this page.
We did route „H”: this is one of the longest, going from the southern part all the way to the big waterfall in the northern section. From Entrance 2, they took us by bus to the southernmost point, St3. From there we walked to the P2 boat station. The boat took us to point P3 (about a 15-minute ride), from where we had to walk to the biggest waterfall. After climbing up a steep path, a bus took us back to the entrance from point St1.
At the intersections, it’s always indicated which marked tour goes where. You just need to follow the signs, no great orientation skills needed.
At the boat’s endpoint, P3, there’s a buffet, dining options, restrooms, and a gift shop. Additionally, at points St1 and St3, there are restrooms and a buffet. Besides these, there’s nothing but nature and the amazing view. 🙂
Photos
