Plitvice lakes national park, Plitvicka Jezera, is the oldest and largest in Croatia. It has the clearest waters I’ve ever seen anywhere in the world and a unique deep turquoise blue that’s mesmerising to look at. It also lays claims to being the worlds largest waterfall network!
If you’re short on time and have to decide between what national parks and activities to do, I would definitely put this on the top of the list.
From Zadar main bus station you can get the bus which will take around 1 hour and 45 minutes. There are two bus operators working this route. Prijevoz Knezevic and Prijevoz Varazdin. Knezevic is the one I’d highly recommend as it is the faster one. The other one takes an additional 30-50 minutes as it stops at local stops. I just booked through Flixbus. The bus times are usually 8.30am, 1.30pm and 6pm. The earlier, the better!
For the park itself, you can buy tickets online from the official website here, I highly recommend getting tickets for entrance 1. There are multiple entrances to the park as there are so many trails. Entrance 1 tickets usually get sold out for the day ahead, so buy them a few days before.
The good thing about getting in from entrance 1 is that you can start the trail from the “lower lakes” to see the main attractions, which will only take an hour or so. Then you can carry on the hike to get a short ferry (included in ticket price) across to the upper lake trail which can take another 1-3 hours depending on how much of it you hike. You can then take the ferry back and hike back to entrance 1. Alternatively you can hike around the lake (Jezero Kozjak) instead of getting the ferry which adds on another 45 minutes for each half of the lake.
Straight away as you walk past the ticket gates and enter the park, you’ll be presented with a great view of the lakes and the biggest waterfall in Plitvice, Veliki Slap.
You can also see the upper lakes stretching off into the distance up until the biggest lake, Jezero Kozjak, which requires either a ferry to continue along or an extra 45 minute walk around the edge.
You will be able to see the boardwalks that wind along the lakes. This can also give you an idea of how busy it is. The boardwalks heading off to the right are towards Veliki Slap. There can sometimes be a lengthy queue developing here. You can choose to queue up now, or when you loop back. The queue moves along quickly.
There’s quite a big and spacious viewing area around Veliki Slap, and no matter how long the queue is, it’s usually not crowded.
Back onto the boardwalks you can now start the main path of the lake hikes, and enjoy the beautiful crystal clear lakes. Also keep a look out for Sulpjara Cave. It was unfortunately closed when we visited in September 2023.
It’s so incredibly clear that you can see fish far and deep!
The boardwalks finish as you approach the largest lake, Jezero Kozjak (but continue once you cross over to the upper lakes!). You can continue walking along lake path, which stays very close to the lake itself, so views are great. To save time you can hop on the ferry, which is included as part of your ticket to the park.
The queue for the ferry can look quite long, but usually everyone gets on. If not, the wait for the next ferry is usually within 10 minutes.
Either way, you’ll now be in the upper lakes section of Plitvice national park. This area has smaller lakes, but more waterfalls, which are worth seeing.
The water continues to have that special crystal clear turquoise look, and the waterfalls start to look very special and unique too.
One of the unique looking waterfalls, Galovac Buk, and further along, is another similar looking one, Veliki Prstavci.
As you hike along, there will be some quaint pool areas which give off a peaceful tranquil vibe, very inviting to swim in, but swimming is unfortunately prohibited.
After enjoying all the subtle, tranquil beauty the upper lakes has to offer, you can either take the ferry back to where you got it initially from the lower lakes or hike around the edge of the lake to get back, which should take around 45 minutes.
There is another ferry that takes you 5 minutes across to another side that leads to entrance B. If you were planning on hiking back, it would make sense to take this and then walk around the opposite edge of the lake. If you are not planning to hike back, then I would still recommend to go here, as you can have a short picnic break with lovely views or rent a row boat to see some inaccessible small waterfalls. Once you’re finished, you can take the national park shuttle bus back to entrance B or A.
Finally, if you opted to hike back to entrance A, you will be able to take one final look back at Plitvice National Park and Veliki Slap in the background. Truly a stunning place.
Hopefully that helps you plan your day trip to Plitvice Lakes national park and convinces you to put this in your itinerary, it’s definitely worth it!
Adventures Of Zach 