A Little Beauty… Visiting the Waterfalls of Croatia’s Plitvice Lakes National Park

Last updated on October 12, 2026 by Shannon

Plitvice Lakes National Park in Croatia is one of those places that absolutely and totally lives up to its hype—it is stunning. Just stunning. When I visited Croatia, my Croatia Lonely Planet at the time used a photo of this UNESCO World Heritage site as the main image to promote tourism to Croatia.

The cover image has changed now, but at the time of my first visit to Croatia, the country was only just entering the public mind. The captivating blue waterfalls of Plitvice were enough to compel most curious travelers to at least consider visiting Croatia.

But Plitvice Lakes was just the start of the reasons I wanted to backpack the country. Croatia has miles of coastline, other gorgeous waterfalls like Krka National Park, and the stunning city of Dubrovnik.

Truth be told, after skimming images of Plitvice Lakes, I didn’t even need the nitty-gritty travel planning details to know that I was adding Croatia to my round the world route, and I knew for sure that the country’s gorgeous waterfalls would be a highlight of my time there.

Where is Plitvice Lakes National Park?

Plitvice sits in the Dinaric Alps, roughly halfway between Zagreb and the Dalmatian coast—which is exactly why it ends up on so many Zagreb-to-Split road trip itineraries, even though it’s a real detour if you’re otherwise sticking to the beaches. The park protects sixteen interconnected lakes, stepped down a series of travertine dams that keep forming and shifting over time, which is part of why the water color changes so dramatically from one lake to the next.

How to Get to Plitvice Lakes

The bus from Krka National Park dropped us off in the middle of dense and verdant forest—what a change from the gray and rocky coastline! It shocked my senses to find myself in the middle of such lush forest environment after weeks on an island near split soaking in the coastal waters and sunshine.

The last time I had hiked in a forested area was traveling through Nepal a month earlier when my cousin and I trekked in the Annapurna range.

The bus dropped us two kilometers from our guesthouse, but we were saved the hike by our kind guesthouse owner at Villa Jezerka—which is truly one of the best guesthouses in Plitvice and comes highly, highly recommended. The owner zipped up to the curb just as the bus pulled away.

We had taken several cramped buses all day, so it was a relief to drop our bags at the guesthouse and then frolic through the forest for a bit before dinner. Yes, I said frolic.

With a bit of fresh, cool forest air cleaning out our lungs, we all slept soundly. Visiting Plitvice is a trip into nature before you even arrive, and part of why we slept so well was due to the peaceful town and quiet atmosphere.

History of Plitvice Lakes National Park

Plitvice became Croatia’s first national park in 1949, and UNESCO added it to the World Heritage List in 1979—one of the earliest natural sites in Europe to receive that designation.

The park’s famous colors come down to travertine: calcium carbonate that builds up on the lakebeds and the natural dams between them. That buildup is still happening now, so the dams and barriers are technically still forming, which is part of why the lakes have kept rearranging themselves for thousands of years and why no two visits ever look quite the same.

How to Avoid Scams Entering the Park

The next morning, my friends and I packed healthy snacks we had snagged at the store so that we could bring our own lunch into the National Park. As a vegetarian traveler, preparing my own food is not only easier, but cheaper, too. Plitvice is larger than Krka, so we packed a hearty lunch: hard boiled eggs, fresh bread, local cheese, and apples.

With our lunches stowed in daypacks, and with a bit of an adventurous skip in our step, we hiked to the entrance to the park on foot.

And we nearly got had by scalpers at the entrance. The scammers surrounded my cousin and pushed me and Jenn to the fringes while they tried to pressure her into buying a park ticket. Each one shared a sob story and a reason we should buy their ticket.

My cousin was overwhelmed—they had isolated her and bombarded her senses with too much information. But Jenn and I shook our heads when she looked at us with a questioning look. It didn’t feel right and we were all feeling hemmed in by their tactics, so Jenn and I grabbed my cousin’s arm, pulling her from their circle and refusing to make eye contact or respond to the scammers.

Additional Common Scams at Plitvice Lakes

Outside the ticket gate, the other scam worth knowing is unofficial “guides” and drivers who approach near the parking lots and bus stops claiming the park is full, closed, or that you need their paid transport to reach the entrance. None of that is true—the entrances are a short, obvious walk from the bus stop and parking areas, and if the park really is at capacity for that hour (it can be, in peak summer, since entry is capped), the fix is booking your ticket online in advance, not paying a stranger.

Beyond that, use the same common sense you’d use at any crowded tourist site: keep valuables close on the boardwalks (I still like this money belt, which is low-key enough that you might actually wear it when you’re not traveling—though it’s not quite as secure as a traditional money belt), and buy souvenirs from the official park shops rather than roadside vendors near the entrances if you want something that’s actually made locally.

Things to Do Inside Plitvice: Lakes, Waterfalls and Forest!

Once safely inside, we breathed deeply and calmed down. It’s nerve-wracking when they bombard with stories while entering your personal space. The ticket lady, however, was great. She helped us pick the four- to six-hour loop around the park—what the park now labels Route C—which was advertised as mildly strenuous but with beautiful viewpoints.

Like Krka National Park, boardwalks zig-zag throughout the entire park as a way to minimize the potential negative impact of the park’s growing tourism industry. Also like Krka, tourists fill every inch of the National Park during the summer months. But for good reason.

Plitvice Lakes National Park is indescribably pretty.

Each lake and waterfall dotting the park is distinctly different in color than the others because the living karst rocks and travertine dams shift and change.

Blindingly brilliant blue hues filled our walk. Vivid green plant-life and deep, blue-gray waters contrasted with azure lakes and turquoise waterfalls shimmering in the sunshine.

1. Pick Your Route—They’re Not All the Same Hike

The park signs its boardwalk network as a handful of official routes, lettered rather than named, and picking the right one matters more than most visitors realize before they arrive. Route A is the shortest at around 3.5 km (2-3 hours) and sticks to the Lower Lakes without any boat or train. Route B adds roughly the same ground plus the electric boat crossing of Kozjak Lake. Route C, at about 8 km and 4-6 hours, is the one we were steered toward—it covers both the Lower and Upper Lakes, crosses by boat, and rides the panoramic train back to the entrance. If you want the full park on foot, Route K runs around 18 km and 6-8 hours and skips almost none of it; it’s genuinely demanding for a single day, not a casual add-on to a beach trip.

The boat and train are both included in your entrance ticket, so don’t skip them to save money—they’re there because parts of the park are simply faster to cover that way, and the boat crossing is one of the best vantage points for photos of the lake itself.

2. See the Waterfalls—and Know Which One You’re Looking At

The waterfall most people picture when they picture Plitvice is Veliki Slap—literally “the Great Waterfall” in Croatian—a 78-meter drop near the Lower Lakes and Entrance 1, and the tallest waterfall in Croatia. It’s an easy, short walk from the entrance, which is exactly why it’s the most photographed and most crowded spot in the park; go early or late in the day if you want it without a crowd in the frame. Up in the Upper Lakes, Galovac Buk is smaller but less swarmed, and worth the extra walking if your route takes you up there.

• Swimming is not allowed anywhere in the park—it’s been banned since 2006 to protect the travertine formations and the lakes’ water quality, and that includes the pools below the waterfalls. Rangers do enforce it, so don’t plan on cooling off here.
• Kozjak Lake is the largest in the park and the one you’ll cross by electric boat on Routes B, C, and K—it’s also where you get the best open-water views back toward the forested hills.

3. Watch for Wildlife—Mostly Fish and Birds, Realistically

The park is home to brown bears, wolves, and lynx, but you’re very unlikely to see any of them on the main boardwalks during the day—they stay deep in the forest, away from the crowds. What you’ll actually see up close is the fish, visible right under the low boardwalks in the clear water, and birdlife along the quieter stretches of the Upper Lakes.

4. Relax by the Lake

Since swimming is off the table, the lakes are really a sit-and-look kind of relaxing rather than a swim-and-cool-off kind. Pack a picnic lunch like we did, and build in time on your route to actually sit at one of the viewpoints instead of just walking through it.

Leaving the National Park

At the end of the hike, which was mostly flat for hours, the path changed abruptly. We took a strenuous uphill ascent to the top of the park, and the views proved beyond worthwhile.

One side of the peak contained a view over the largest waterfall in Plitvice Lakes. The other side provided dramatic views of several of the lakes in succession. All of the shots that look down on the lakes from above are a result of putting in the hard work of hiking to the top!

Since we were traveling other areas of Croatia, it was a long journey into the center of Croatia. It’s far removed from the beaches and coastline that many prioritize when visiting Croatia, but it’s stunning.

When we decided to take the time to visit, we didn’t know if it was worth visiting Plitvice Lakes National Park. A lot of places on this planet are pretty, but should you take the three-day break from beaches and sunshine to visit?

A resounding yes.

We walked back to our guesthouse in a daze after such a fun and pretty day. We made a pit-stop for ice cream and then ate it silently as we processed the brain overload of such blatantly gorgeous scenery.

Travel Guide and Tips: Plitvice Lakes National Park, Croatia

Tickets: Book Online, and Expect to Pay by Season

Plitvice caps how many people can enter per hour, so same-day tickets at the gate are a real gamble in peak season—book online in advance if you have fixed dates. Pricing swings hard by season: expect the highest rates in July and August, a noticeably cheaper mid-range in spring and autumn, and the lowest prices in winter (when some of the upper boardwalks may also be closed for ice). Multi-day tickets exist and knock a little off the per-day cost if you want to split the park across two visits rather than rushing one long day.

Best Guesthouses

Budget: Most travelers will stay in Jezerce, which is 2km from the park. Of those many places there, Villa Jezerka is a great place for anyone visiting the area on a budget. They had a triple room, which sealed the deal for us, along with the free wifi and the assurance that we could walk to the park entrance.

Mid-range: If you’re more of a mid-range traveler, B&B Millennium was our runner-up choice and just gorgeous.

Recommended Guidebook

Rick Steves’ Croatia Guide is the best for an interesting history and neat activities—perfect if you are planning a mid-range trip or luxury. Rick Steves’ guides for Europe are usually spot on.

That being said, backpackers might want to stick with Lonely Planet Croatia. This guide has a better list handle on the nuts and bolt—train times, hostels, and budget travel to get you to and fro.

Cultural Reading

Pick up a copy of Black Lamb and Grey Falcon. Part travelogue with a strong slice of the region’s history, you’ll enjoy insights from the region right as World War II began. This is a compelling way to read about Balkan history, though it can be hard to distinguish fact from fiction throughout.

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