Tips to Spend a day at the Plitvice Lakes in Croatia

Croatia is one of the most popular tourist destinations in the Mediterranean. It’s precisely renowned for its ecstatic natural beauty and the majestic views over the Adriatic sea from the Walls of Dubrovnik. (a topic for another blog post)

Croatia houses 10 UNESCO World Heritage Sites and I can guarantee they are not what you imagine them to be like. They will exceed your expectations and then leave you spellbound. This post is your key to tick that one place off of your Croatia tour. It is about the Plitvice Lakes National Park. It is Croatia’s largest and the oldest national park and one of the best places to visit when you’re in the country.

How to get there?

The National Park is on the outskirts of Zagreb. The journey takes about 2.5 hours and the said bus leaves from the Zagreb bus terminal, where you can buy the tickets. It’s important that you buy them a day or two prior to your visit to the park as the buses might not be available for the same day.

If you’re in Croatia just for the Plitvice Lakes, you can fly down to Zagreb airport and take a connecting bus that passes through the Main Bus Terminal(where you can buy the ticket).

You can also get to the Zadar airport and take a bus from there to the Zadar bus Terminal where you’ll buy another ticket for Plitvice lakes. This journey will take you over 2.5 hours. If you come via Urbina and Korenika, you’ll reach within 2 hours. That’s the shortest route you can take.

You can also choose to reach the lakes from Split. Since it is a little farther down the south, it’ll take you longer to reach Plitvice than from Zagreb or Zadar; via Krka National Park, it’ll take you 6 hours or more. You can buy your ticket from the Split Bus Terminal in the city center.

Where Should I spend the night?

If you’re coming from Zagreb it’s better to sleep there and make a day trip to the lakes as it’s easily doable and you get to visit the capital’s city center in the evening.

You can look up on Booking.com or Hostelworld(if you are travelling solo and love meeting new people like me) for some affordable hotels or hostels to sleep in.

Croatia is an inexpensive country so it doesn’t burn a hole in your pocket for accommodation.

Similarly you can look up for places to stay in Zadar and Split on the above mentioned sites. Although I’d advise you to go Zagreb-Plitvice(day trip)-Zadar-Split as it’s more feasible and less tiresome.

Or if you want to stay near the Plitvice lakes and do another tour the next day, you can get a combined pass for two days. You can sleep in one of the scenery overlooking campsites in Plitvice. More details on tickets can be found here.

What’s the ideal amount of time to spend at the park?

Well, this one is hard to answer. Typically 5-6 hours suffice if you only want to take a stroll in the park and come back but I assure you, you will definitely want to spend the whole day just staring at the quaint boardwalks or the beautiful lake glistening with the sharp rays of the sun. Either sipping your hot coffee on a chilly morning or reading your book, listening to music and having a picnic at the shore of the lake.

Although, do not plan on swimming in these lakes as it’s restricted; it is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

This is Croatia’s own wonderland and I got to visit it during the unusual winter time. The Plitvice lakes are famous for their lush green trees and the gushing waters from the small waterfalls that mélange into one and then disappear in the lake. Well, it’s during summers. Plitvice lakes are nature's gift to us. They are magnificently beautiful and how they’d charm you if you love nature.

From where should I get the currency?

Since Croatia is an inexpensive country to travel, that lets you visit more places while staying within the budget.

You can get the currency exchanged either from your bank in your home country or if you’ve already left, don't worry we’ve some options for you -

• Exchange at the hotel/hostel you’re staying at, although they may charge you some extra Kunas (currency of Croatia) as service charge

• If you’re coming by flight, you have the accessibility to use the Currency Exchange Kiosks at the airport. They are generally more expensive than banks but they are reliable and you get the convenience of not going to the bank.

• Use your Forex card if you’re non-European.

• I lived in France and avoided taking cash with me because I traveled solo. That was just safer. I paid with my French debit card with a little extra charge on every transaction.

• Or the best way would be to withdraw some cash from the ATMs outside the banks. They will give you the best rates. Withdraw all the cash you want at once, that way you won’t have to pay the conversion rates every time.

Do not exchange at the bus terminals, you’ll be scammed.

The basic entry ticket to Plitvice lakes for an adult in winter, from November to March is 55 kuna(US$8) and it increases during the springtime, April-June and September and October upto 110 kuna(US$16) but it’s the most expensive during the summer months July and August, 200 kuna(US$27).

Although one should definitely keep a little extra cash. You never know when you can get hungry and want to grab a sandwich or just sit in near the lake munching on some chips.

These are some tips that’ll guide you to have a pleasant stay in

God’s Own Country-Croatia.