One of the first things that came to mind when I thought of Croatia were the beautiful images of waterfalls I have seen splashed across the internet. See what I did there?
After doing some research, I discovered these waterfalls came from the one and only Plitvice Lakes. Anyone who has visited the Plitvice Lakes will understand the struggle it would take to sit here and describe these stunning waterfalls to you. Pictures don’t even do it justice. But I tried.
I was privileged enough to visit these lakes twice while galavanting around Croatia. Each visit presented different sets of circumstances giving me a great platform to present to you some things you may want to keep in mind if you ever plan on visiting the lakes.
My first visit to the Plitvice Lakes was with Bree on a Friday morning. We took the 6:30 AM bus from Zagreb, arriving at the lakes around 8:50 AM. It was a beautiful morning, blue skies and not a cloud to be seen, which continued throughout the afternoon. Upon arrival, we were instantly placed in a queue that wrapped around the entrance. It took us an hour to get to the ticket office, meaning we entered the park around 10:00 AM. If you have a connecting bus traveling to a new destination later on in the afternoon {like us} you are able to store any luggage you have free of charge. You will be storing it with multiple other bags and basically anyone is allowed in the locked room once given the key from the information office. Both visits to the lakes I stored my suitcase and purse with no trouble at all.
Once in the park, we needed to choose a route. You are given the options of a 2-3 hour hike, a 4-6 hour hike, and a 6-8 hour hike. We opted for the 4-6 hour hike since we had a bus to catch at 4:30 that afternoon.
We hiked along the path catching gorgeous images of these beautiful waterfalls that I had anticipated for so long. It was easy to just sit and stare for a few minutes, capturing the surrounding scenery. At different points on our trail, we were stopped in a queue. An obvious queue was for the ferry that brings you to the next leg of the journey when you are about halfway through with your hike. The other queues were simply there because people were taking photos of a given waterfall and the narrow walkways make it impossible to pass those standing in the way.
Eventually, we got a bit anxious on our hike. Without knowledge of how much longer the hike would take, we did not want to risk lagging and missing our bus to Split that afternoon. We hurried our way through until the end, and realized we had completed the route in the minimum amount of time allowed. You should calculate the shuttle ride at the end of your journey and the short 15 minute walk it will take from the drop off point to get back to the entrance, but the accuracy of these routes are pretty spot on.
When Eric and I arrived a week later, we took the same 6:30 AM but from Zagreb on a Tuesday morning. Upon our arrival, we were not faced with any queue to begin. We stored our bags and immediately purchased our tickets. The weather gods were less generous on this visit, presenting us with a cloudy, grey sky in the morning.
Eric and I also had a bus to catch that afternoon at 5:00 PM, but this time I knew we did not need to rush our journey. We took our time, stopped for lunch, and eventually saw some blue skies. The park was still plenty crowded with tourists, but the queues were definitely shorter during my second visit. Our journey still only took us five hours and we decided to sit in the sun before loading up on the shuttle bus taking us back to the entrance.
Both visits to the Pltivice Lakes were incredible. The first had long queues and lacked a timeline, but turned out absolutely perfect weather. The second brought with it grey clouds, but also the absence of a busy park.
Bring a picnic {and lots of water} and make stops along the route you choose. Account for about a half hour to make it back to your entrance {ours was entrance 1} once you reach the end. No matter when you go, prepare to be blown away by the beauty of these waterfalls.
They are absolutely worth chasing.