Have you ever - been to Plitvice Lakes National Park, Croatia

If you are in Croatia, there is no excuse for you to not visit Plitvice Lakes National Park where the colour of the lakes are in turquoise or emerald green. It is a famous park with walking trails over the connecting lakes, caves and waterfalls with stunning views. It is also declared as a world heritage by UNESCO. The best time and worst time to visit is probably during summer where the colour of the lakes are more vibrant but that is also the peak season for visitation. I would think that visiting during winter would be cool as well with a lesser crowd and a snowy view of the lakes. 

The most accessible way to get there is by car. We rented a car and departed from Split which is about 2.30-3 hours away from the park in central Croatia. It will be nearer if you are coming from Zagreb or Zadar. We did like a day trip to and fro and it is actually doable although a bit rushed. Alternatively, you can actually spend overnight in the park as there are a few hotels located inside the national park. 

It is important to get there as early as possible to get the most out of it. The opening hours is from 7am to 6pm and it opens 365 days in a year. 

We got there around 10am in the morning and the queue was insane. After about 1 hour in the queue and we managed to get in with two tickets costing about 200 Croatian Kuna (approximately 25 GBP) each. The ticket price also covers for the transports within the park such as the electric boat and panorama train. Tickets are also available online via their website - Plitvice E-ticket System.

The park is divided into upper lakes and lower lakes and there are two entrances - 1 and 2. We entered from entrance 1 which we started off from the lower lakes and slowly move our way up to the upper lakes. 

The Veliki Slap waterfall is the highest waterfall within the national park. 

We basically just followed the broad walks and the walking trails and you can see that during summer it was congested with people. It was real slow moving and at times I would just sit down by the lakes to rest my legs while waiting for the crowd to clear. There are several different viewpoints along the broad walks that offer awesome postcard view of the lakes where you can stop by for sightseeing and picture taking. Be sure to look out for some signposts for viewing decks and some are not really obvious. 

There are some food stations where you can grab snacks or you can have your lunch but options are kinda limited. There are people who brought their own snacks and had picnic inside the park and by the lakes. 

This is the electric boat that connects you from one side of the lakes to the other. There are also panorama train which is kinda like a shuttle bus that helps to move you around within the park. Both comes with no additional cost as it is already included as part of the ticket price. 

Another way to explore the lakes is to rent the rowing boat which is available at the biggest lake in the park - Kozjak. You will see it the moment the electric boat brings you to the other side of the lake. It costs about 100 Croatian Kuna (approximately 13 GBP) for an hour and It has a capacity of 4 people on a boat. We were struggling a bit to move the boat and you definitely need some rowing skills to make it work. This is probably the closest you can get to the lakes as swimming is not allowed in the park. 

This is one of my favourite park and it is definitely one of the must-see place in Croatia!