Plan a visit to Plitvice Lakes National Park

As one of the most spectacular places to visit in Croatia, this is the place where eyes, body, and mind can feel the power and the beauty of nature.
If you are visiting Croatia, be sure to plan a visit to Plitvice Lakes National Park to enjoy turquoise lakes, breath-taking waterfalls, and beautiful panoramic views proclaimed World Heritage by UNESCO in 1979.

When to visit Plitvice Lakes National Park

The best time to visit the park is summertime (from May to August), when the lakes are laden with water and nature is in full bloom; it is perfect forvisitors of all ages, thanks to an easy-to-follow 18 km wooden walkway.

How much time to spend in the park

To enjoy the park at its best, you should plan to stay overnight in the nearby, so the next morning you can get up early to start your day.

The best thing to do is to buy your tickets online in advance; otherwise, you could end up waiting in line for more than 45 minutes. Moreover, they let people enter the park following specific timing slots, so you might eventually get the tickets, but then you have to wait for another 30 minutes before the starting of your slot. On the other side, if you have the tickets with you with a specific entrance time, you just need to be there 30 minutes before, and that’s it.

Once inside, the visit to Plitvice Lakes National Park doesn’t last one entire day, of course. Consider a maximum of 6 hours (high season is from June to August, and the park could be very crowded), including stops and meals.

However (especially if traveling in the summertime when temperatures can reach 30°C) after the long walk around the park, you won’t have any strength left to do anything else. Therefore, the best thing to do is to book a hotel with a swimming pool, so you can relax and enjoy the beautiful mountain landscape in the late afternoon.

Plan your visit to Plitvice Lakes National Park

There are 2 main entrances to the park: Entrance #1 (north) and Entrance #2 (south). Depending on the entrance you use, you will have to choose among several hiking trails.

There are 7 suggested routes (or programs) through the park. There is no one best route. Choose the one you prefer depending on which entrance you use, how much time you have to spend in the park and the level of energy necessary per each route.

Ok, so which program to choose? Routes A, B, and C all strat at Entrance #1. Routes E, F, and H all start at Entrance #2. What’s the difference? They are all basically the same, the wooden path is always one. The difference is the direction: from north to south or the other way round. There is one additional program, route K, which is a full-day hike throughout the whole park. This program is the most challenging one since it’s all on foot, while the other routes include also some trails by shuttle and by ferry (included in the entrance ticket).

My personal recommendation is to go for program H, from Entrance #2.
After a short shuttle ride, you will continue on foot along the Upper Lakes (south). Then you will take an electric boat ride across Lake Kozjak, to reach the Lower Lakes (north) area. At the end of the trail, once you reach Entrance #1, you’ll take the shuttle again to go back to Entrance #2.

Once you choose your route, don’t worry about directions: the trails are well signposted all the way through the park.

What to bring during your visit to the park

If you plan your trip to Plitvice Lakes in the summer, don’t forget sunscreen, a hat, and a bottle of water. Of course, the paths are not only in the sun; several sections are also in the shade of the trees. However, these are the essentials to better enjoy your visit. Then, clearly don’t forget the camera, there are hundreds of picture-perfect spots.

Where to eat in the park

The visit to the park will take you almost an entire day. So either you buy it at the cafés at the main entrances or you bring it from home, be sure to have some food (and water!) in your backpack, because the walk could be long and tiring. If you want to consume your snacks along the walk, just don’t forget to bring the wrapping with you and then use the trash bins around the park. For lunch, there are different options: you can have your pocket-lunch, you can choose from several restaurants at the main entrances, you can stop at the cafés and bistros you will encounter during the visit inside the park.

My suggestion is: bring some water and snacks with you in the backpack. For lunch, it’s better to get something at the cafés inside the park; otherwise, your backpack will be too heavy to carry around for the entire day.

Where to sleep and eat near Plitvice Lakes National Park

As said before, I highly suggest staying overnight to get up early and start the trail in the park as soon as possible early in the morning.

Plitvice Miric Inn

There are 4 hotels inside the park; however, the reviews were not so positive, so we opted for a nice family-run guesthouse: Plitvice Miric Inn. Located just 1.5km away from Entrance #2, this hotel offers basic but comfortable rooms together with a restaurant for breakfast and dinner. I can only give positive feedback to the hotel: the room was very clean; not too big, but enough for 2 nights; the staff was friendly and welcoming.

We actually chose this hotel because also of the super positive reviews of the restaurant. We thought that after one day in the park, we would have been very tired, so we preferred to have a restaurant in the nearby, so as not to get in the car to find one. However, we didn’t like it that much: the menu is composed of only 3 dishes, and the final result wasn’t exceptional.

Restoran Petar

For this reason, the second night we left the hotel for dinner and find a table at Restoran Petar: nice location and good food. My suggestion is to reserve a table for dinner, especially if traveling in high season. All the restaurants in the Plitvice area are not very big, so you will end up waiting for 30 minutes without a reservation…

My opinion about Plitvice Lakes National Park

I highly recommend planning a visit to Plitvice Lakes Nation Park when visiting Croatia. You might be a bit upset (just like I was) because it is strictly forbidden to have a swim in the park, because of the UNESCO proclamation. However, this won’t stop you from having a great day completely immersed in nature with beautiful and panoramic spots to take great pictures. Totally worth it!

Check the whole 2-week Croatia itinerary to discover other beautiful spots of this European gem.