Plitvice Lakes National Park is a 295-square-kilometre forest reserve containing sixteen terraced lakes combined with beautiful waterfalls extending into a  limestone canyon. Crisscrossed with walkways, breathtaking hiking trails and electric boat rides. This UNESCO heritage site can be found on many bucket lists and for good reason! The crystal blue water and cascading waterfalls make a perfect backdrop on any day out and one of the most popular tourist destinations in Croatia.

Don’t miss out on these tips for visiting Plitvice Lakes National Park when planning your Croatian adventure!

Plitvice Lakes National Park is one of the oldest and largest national parks in Croatia and is located in central Croatia, about halfway between Zagreb and Zadar. Driving from either of these two cities would take about an hour and there is parking available at the parks. There are also buses going directly to Plitvice Lakes National Park from both Zagreb and Zadar.

Many other tourist destinations in Croatia offer guided tours to Plitvice Lakes National Park. We stayed in Split and joined a guided tour through Booker transfers and tours. From Split, the tour is a full-day tour with a 3-hour drive up to the park in the early morning hours.

As Plitvice Lakes National Park is one of the top tourist destinations in Croatia, the peak season tends to be CROWDED! As the park is open year-round, I would recommend visiting outside of the busiest months of July-August. The entry tickets are also cheaper in the lower seasons with November-march being the cheapest and July-August the most expensive.

TIP: The weather in this part of Croatia tends to be more unstable than in the southern parts of Croatia. We left Split with sunny skies and 30 degrees celsius to reach Plitvice Lakes in pouring rain, thunderstorms and temperatures in the low 20s. However, even though I was sure when we arrived that the tour would get cancelled the skies cleared up after a couple of hours and we still had a great experience!

How much time would you not want to spend in this slice of paradise? As we joined a full-day tour with a 3-hour drive ahead of us back to Split, we obviously had limited time in the park and at times it did feel rushed. The hike from start to end with the tour took about 4 hours, so I would recommend spending more time than that. You’ll want to sit down and enjoy lunch, take LOTS of photos and just take in the beautiful nature around you. There are plenty of hiking trails to explore and get lost in, however, remember that swimming is not permitted.

Even though we ticked off quite a few miles of hiking, the trails are easy to hike, being mostly flat and downhill until the last trail back up to the parking.