Plitvice Lakes National Park is one of the most beautiful places to hike in Croatia. This beautiful natural park can be found in the north of the country, about 2 to 3 hours away by bus from Zagreb. The park consists of 16 lakes and more than 400 waterfalls. So plenty to see. Below are all the tips for the Plitvice Lakes.
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How do you get to the Plitvice Lakes?
During our backpacking trip through Eastern Europe, we visited several beautiful places. We took the most beautiful hike in the Plitvicka Jezera Nature Park. Better known as the Plitvice Lakes.
When traveling around Croatia by public transportation, you will likely arrive at the Plitvice Lakes by bus. You can choose to get off at entrance 1 or entrance 2, in fact it doesn’t make much difference. The cab takes us to our accommodation: Guesthouse Stefanija. The hostess is very sweet and the rooms are very spacious and nicely decorated. There is also a washing machine, which you may use for free. If you are traveling by car, you can easily go up and down to the guesthouse from the park. This is around a 10-minute drive. If you are traveling by public transportation, it is advisable to book (or have booked) a cab to take you back and forth to the Plitvice Lakes.
If you prefer to stay closer to (or in) the park, Hotel Jezero and Hotel Plitvice are perfect. You pay a (much) higher amount, but you also get a beautiful view and great service in return.
It is also possible to rent a bicycle. The owner will give you the address of the rental. We tried this ourselves and it is not recommended to cycle 8 kilometers uphill early in the morning. Therefore: just take the cab.
Routes in the park of the Plitvice Lakes
There are 7 different routes:
– Route A: 2-3 hours, starting point entrance 1, –>3.5 kilometers.
– Route B: 3-4 hours, starting point entrance 1 (includes boat ride) –> 4 kilometers.
– Route C: 4-6 hours, starting point entrance 1 (includes train ride and boat ride) –> 8 kilometers.
– Route E: 2-3 hours, starting point entrance 2 (includes train ride and short boat ride) –> 5.1 kilometers.
– Route F: 3-4 hours, starting point entrance 2 (includes train ride and boat ride) –> 4.6 kilometers.
– Route H: 4-6 hours, starting point entrance 2 (includes train ride and boat ride) –> 8.9 kilometers.
– Route K: 6-8 hours, starting point entrance 1 or 2. –> 18.3 kilometers.
The train ride and boat ride are included in the ticket price. So you don’t have to pay extra for this yourself.
View here the current opening hours.
Book here your tickets.
We chose route F ourselves, which takes us along extremely blue lakes and waterfalls. This route is not that hard and we are back at the starting point fairly quickly. If you have longer time and average fitness I would recommend a slightly longer route. After all, when you get back to the starting point you are not so quick to “go around another block.
It is also important to bring plenty of water, and some good snacks, fruit or lunch. There are a few stalls in the park where you can get ice cream or something to eat/drink, but it depends on which route you walk if you encounter them. Therefore, I would bring enough myself just to be sure.
In short: before you visit the Plitvice Lakes, it is useful to have already bought your tickets and planned your itinerary. After that, you can carefree enjoy all the beautiful views. From the Plitvice Lakes, you can easily travel on to Montenegro or Slovenia.
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