Plitvice Lakes – Natural Wonders in Croatia

Driving to Plitvice Lakes

All of our travel to Europe to date is on the west side. This time we choose the east side of Europe- Croatian and Bosnia. There are many ways to reach Croatia, through the air from major European cities or even through the sea from Venice. For this trip, we took a flight from Frankfurt to Zagreb and transfer domestically to Dubrovnik.

In Croatia, the most famous is The Plitvice Lakes National Park. We drove to the lakes from the south of Croatia – Dubrovnik. The whole trip took 5 hours but we stayed overnight at Split, the second largest town in Croatian.

Look mysterious… Croatia landscape is different from west europe.

When I see these houses, it reminds me of the Monopoly game that I used to play when small.

After driving on highway for 1 hour, we entered the country side.

The sunlight was alway at our back, made everything in front looks extra clear and beautiful.

Plitvice Entrance

We had reached the Plitvice entrance no.1 at around 11am, just on the schedule time. The weather was fantastic, just what we prayed for too. As expected, there are not many visitors at this low season, so parking was not an issue. Another good point is the entrance fees in low season (80 Kuna) is much cheaper if compared to high season (300 Kuna).

As soon as we entered the park, this majestic view pops up. No wonder the lakes are a definite must-see in Croatia. The Plitvice Lakes National Park is the oldest & largest park in Croatia, famous for its numerous turquoise-coloured lakes. The waters flowing over the limestone have, over thousands of years, deposited travertine barriers, creating natural dams which in turn created a series of beautiful lakes, caves and waterfalls.

Walking down to the Lake

Walking down to the lakes free & easy.

The weather was quite cold (5C), yet the sun was warm enough to create a perfect weather.

Just the 2 of us on the trail.

Over looking the biggest waterfall in the park

Plitvice Lakes isn’t just for summer. It’s a stunning place to visit at any time of a year as the different seasons will get to see the park take on different hues, from lush greenery in spring/summer, rich colours in autumn, or magical scenes in snow and ice in winter. We were there in early March, to a scenery rich in colours, best for photographing.

Lower Plitvice Lakes

It only took us around 10 minutes to walk down to the wooden boardwalks suspended over the turquoise lakes.

There weren’t any other visitors but us. Feel like the whole park is ours, how fantastic !

A pose I will definitely shy to do when there are people around watching, or worst, waiting…

Big Waterfall / Veliki Slap

First of all, we wanted to say hello to the Big Waterfall, the largest in the park. Numerous unknown waterfalls greet the visitors along the way to Big Waterfall.

The colors are so mesmerizing, just perfect match!

The wooden boardwalk was designed in such a way that we can stand right on top of the falls. We could feel the power of water rushing down to the falls.

Softer falls, equally beautiful.

Meet the Big Waterfall (Veliki Slap), 78 meters high situated at the very end of the Lower Lakes. Heard that the waterfall gets almost completely frozen in the winter forming a lovely giant ice sculpture. Guess we were a bit late to see this.

What is unique about this waterfall in comparison with others in the Park is that while the other Plitvice waterfalls are formed by spilling of waters from upper to lower lake, the Veliki Slap was actually formed by the Plitvica Potok, the river which extends 3 km to the west of the fall.

The roaring sound of the waterfall is loud, yet soothing.

Also, we felt that the air we breath in is especially fresh. Guess abundant negative ions are here!

The junction that will lead us to the boat pier at the end point. One won’t get lost in this park no matter what.

Again, I could sit down or lie down like nobody’s business. We truly enjoyed our own sweet time in the pace we like!

The sound of running water is the only sound here.

The boardwalks is so close to the water level that we felt like walking on the water surface. Cool…

After walking for around 15min, we can see a new chapter from here…

Plitvice Cascades

Continuing along the path leading to this picturesque cascades. This fantasy world of lakes separated by natural limestone dams, constantly built up by deposits of calcium carbonate. Even as they’re eroded by the flow of water, is a perfect storm of unique geological features one will rarely find elsewhere on earth.

After some time without seeing anyone, we finally met the 1st group of tourist here. To our surprise, they are Asian, from mainland China. We talked briefly to a young man who helped took a photo for us. Not too long later, we heard their tour guide pushing them to end the photo session and move on fast.

Without any pressure, I could take photos till I felt enough and satisfied with it. And also no distraction. Happy !

Back to just the 2 of us again! This section is so picturesque that I couldn’t help taking more photos.

A small stop over at a small waterfall.

Slapovi Milke Trnine

This small waterfall, Slapovi Milke Trnine is one of the many waterfalls in the park. It was named after a famous late 19th century opera singer, soprano Milka Trnina, who had donated significant sums for preservation and nature protection of Plitvice Lakes.

The only bench in the lower lakes, guess visitors will need to line up should they want to sit on the bench to take a solo photo like this. Lucky him !

This overwhelming natural beauty is not without misfortunes. On Easter Sunday in 1991, the first shots of Croatia’s war of independence from Yugoslavia were fired in this park. The predominantly Serbian Yugoslav army occupied Plitvice and the surrounding region until 1995. Most of the Croatians who live here were evacuated to the coastline as refugees during the war. Today there’s not a hint of the war, and the park is again a popular tourist destination.

Werid, why there isn’t any other animal here but human?

Probably my obsessive-compulsive thought was heard, finally this pair of Mandarin duck appeared from no where. They are the only 2 animals we saw in wild.

Lakes to Boat Pier

We were kind of surprised to reach the boat pier so soon. According to Trail B, it’s suppose to take about 3 hours. But we had only walked for 1.5 hours. Since we had arrived much earlier, we abandoned the plan to take the the boat ride to the other side of Kozjak Lake. We decided to walk the same way back to Entrance 1.

Peaceful Boat Pier

When this dog saw us with foods, she approached us cautiously. When she sense our friendliness, she sat down quietly, clearly hoping for some foods. She is very polite, so I did give her quite of lot of french fries. Later then I realized she was pregnant.

Unlike other west European countries, we didn’t get to see many flowers in Croatia. Wonder why?

Before walking back, we ordered some foods at this bristol, sat outdoor leisurely to kill some extra time. The weather became colder at this water with some light rain

Returning to the Lakes

There were no other people but us on the way back. Guess most people prefer to take the boat ride instead of walking back. But I’m glad we did, cause we get to see the beauty of the lakes and falls from another perspective.