Plitvice Lakes National Park

Plitvice Lakes National park is one of the oldest and largest in Croatia. It is between Zagreb and Split and a must visit on every trip to Croatia. My friends & I visited the park on October 1st, when the off season prices kicked in (approx. € 13 instead of € 35 in peak season, which is a steal). On the park's website, I booked our time slot (11am-12pm), which would allow us to avoid the queues at the time of entry. At Zagreb bus station, we waited for more than an hour since all the early morning buses going towards Plitvice were fully booked. When we got the 8:45am bus, we were slightly anxious regarding the drop off time but the booking lady assured us that we would reach the park around 11am.

Unfortunately, the bus had some issues while getting out of Zagreb (tire issue or something) and soon, all the passengers were in a bad mood as the driver & conductor were talking amongst themselves regarding the problem. None of us had an inkling on what was going on and what the hell are we supposed to do now. After spending close to an hour in the servicing facility, we were told the problem could not be rectified and we will taking a new bus to Plitvice. Once we resumed our journey, I made a call to the Plitvice park customer support team and explained our problem. They asked me to send an email and within an hour or so, I got their reply. They had changed our entry time to 1pm, so that we could enter the park without any hassles - How cool was that ? We were overjoyed that the lake plan was back on track, even if we were an hour or so behind. Thankfully, I was traveling with friends who had a SIM card for calls (& internet) and the problem was resolved quickly. The only drawback of traveling connectionless like I do sometimes, is your inability of getting out of a sticky situation promptly. But, in the end, most things work out on their own. Once we exited the highway, the route was scenic and when mountains appeared on the horizon, I could sense we were heading somewhere special.

There are two main entrances – Entrance 1 is situated closer to the Lower Lakes section while Entrance 2 is near the Upper Lakes section. The bus dropped us at Entrance 1 around 12:30. Before we entered the park, we bought some snacks and filled our water bottles. To our surprise, entry was a breeze and after crossing the gates, we reached a lookout platform with a beautiful view of the lower lakes. We were greeted with such stunning sights that we were rooted on the spot for quite some time.

From the viewing platform, we took a winding path to get down to the base of the lower lakes. There are 16 lakes in total, which are formed due to a confluence of several small rivers. The lakes are separated by natural dams of limestone, which are formed by moss, algae and bacteria.

There are 7 overlapping walking routes that make their way around the lower and upper lakes. Some of these walking routes focus solely on the lower lakes, some just the upper lakes and others combine the two.

The water is so still, the duck doesn't move, everything is so still that it looks like a painting. All you want is to be left in peace and enjoy the tranquility.

The park is well maintained but it is facing problems with overtourism. Even though authorities are controlling the number of tourists per hour, overcrowding is an issue especially on the smaller trails. But, I tried to keep all that out of my mind & just concentrated at the gorgeous views around me.

Luckily, we found one or two spots without many people disturbing us and we used that opportunity to relax and get ourselves clicked. That is until a park guide asked us to get up and leave - the rule is not to sit on the trails, which we were ready to ignore !

When I was walking through the park, I was amazed by its beauty and felt that it has to be one of the best places I have ever visited.

The lakes are quite famous for its colors - azure, green, grey or blue. The color of the lakes change constantly, due to the quantity of minerals or organisms in the water and availability/angle of sunlight. And when you add the reflections on the water, the place looks surreal.

We spotted a cave near our trail and decide to start hiking towards the cave. The place was so cool and comfortable that we decided it was the best spot to have our lunch.

After spending some time here, it was time to hit another trail which took us around another lake and ended close to the base of a waterfall.

I stopped n number of times to take multiple photos, as every place looked so good. I wish I could carry this view with me wherever I went.

This one time I was interrupted when an Indian couple wanted me to take their photos. It was really funny, as the husband was happy with a couple of shots while the wife wanted me to take multiple photos. The guy was a bit embarrassed after the "mini photo session" and attempted to return the favour by asking me if I wanted a few photos of me and my friends at the same place !

While walking the boardwalks is the best way to experience the beauty of the most beautiful parks of Plitvice, one can also take a boat ride or two on the main Jezero Kozjak lake. However, we did not do that as we had to get back in time for the last bus out of Plitvice.

Once we were out of the park, we had some snacks and refreshments before taking the last bus (4:45pm) back to Zagreb. I will remember this day for a long time. When a picture perfect place is combined with some wonderful company, it makes travel the best activity in the world. Not for the first time, I felt that I could do this all my life !