The Plitvice Lakes in northern Croatia
Summary
I am amazed that these lakes aren’t more famous. When people think of the most beautiful lakes in the world, you think of the likes of Lake Tahoe, Malawi, Torres del Paine, Atitlan, or Lake Bled and Como far closer in Europe. But the Plitvice Lakes are right up there for sheer beauty and have the added advantage of hundreds of waterfalls linking them all together. A must if visiting Croatia
highlights
#1 The stunning views across the turquoise lakes from one of the many lookout points
#2 The hundreds of wonderful waterfalls that interconnect the lakes and leave you regularly stopping for that "wow" moment
33 Just how crystal clear the water all through this National Park is
#4 Finding those prefect spots on one of the hikes where you have that mesmerizing blue from the lakes poking through the bright greens of the trees. Really does feel magical at times
#5 Taking a rowing boat and heading off into the beautiful lakes for that super tranquil feeling
Travel Tips
Some simple tips for the visit:
- Try to stay overnight nearby – we had a great time with only half a day there, but it would have been awesome to start super early (the park opens at 7am, but only gets busy at 10am) and get the place all to ourselves
- You want to see both the Lower Lakes and the Upper Lakes. Ideally you’ll hike between them (less tourists) but not everyone wants to walk the 3kms or so, nor has the time, so take the ferry or the shuttle between the two
- Start from Entrance number 1 – you’ve got two entrances: Entrance 1 is by the Lower Lakes and Entrance 2 is closer to the Upper Lakes. Take Entrance 1 – its slightly more uphill, but means you will be facing the waterfalls as you walk
- Don’t only spend time at the boardwalks – your basic activity is to walk along the boardwalks that interlace the lakes. They are beautiful and give you some great views of the lakes and waterfalls, but its the walking routes away from the boardwalks that give the better views and get you away from the crowds a bit. When you arrive at the entrance you have 7 walkways or programmes as they call them, which allows you to choose your route. Just ask at the Entrance for what they suggest for more of a hike and the quieter spots
- Be sure to rent a rowing boat – super views and just fun thing to do
- Part of a 2-3 week itinerary – the Western Balkans are a seriously underrated part of Europe and represent one of the best 2-3 week trips you can do in this part of the world with stunning castles and old towns, and some of the best coastline in the world all compactly housed within 8 countries. For the 2-3 week itinerary for the highlights and general tips for this part of the world, see this travel entry and where the Pltivice Lakes fits in –3 week trip around the Balkans States
Experiences nearby
The below map shows experiences nearby with a colour that reflect the Overall Score of those experiences
Other Beautiful Lake Experiences around the World
Score Detail
Background - how many times have you asked someone what a travel experience was like and the response was "amazing" or "awesome"? That response is nice to know, but it makes it hard to differentiate that experience compared to others. That is exactly what these scores are trying to do - differentiate the experience by giving a score out of 10 based on 6 categories and then giving an overall experience score
This overall experience score is calculated by: take the highest of the "Culture" or "Nature" score (1-10) + "Fun factor" (1-10) + "Avoiding the crowds" (1-10) + highest of the "Unique" or "World Famous score" (1-10). Then convert into a score out of 100
Extra detail - the logic being that I find all of the 6 individual scores important, but I don't want to mark an experience down just because it doesn't cover both "Culture" and "Nature", or because it isn't both "World Famous" and "Unique". Take the examples of Safari in The Serengeti and walking through Rome - they both appeal at opposite ends of the nature / culture spectrum, and you can have a fantastic time without needing to appeal to both sides. So, their overall scores aren't penalized for their lack of one or the other, and I've done the same for "World Famous" vs "Unique". But . . . I do think that the "Fun factor" of an experience is important, irrelevant of other factors, and so is "Avoiding the Crowds" (or where there are crowds that add to the experience). So, both of these scores are standalone