Plitvice Lakes National Park, Central Croatia, Croatia

5Mareofessex 5:00 PM Aug 14, 2022

Book online and get there early!!!
My husband and I booked tickets online prior to our visit which I would absolutely recommend to anyone visiting, especially if you're planning to visit on a specific day as we were. During the summer this place gets very busy with coach tours of people. I would recommend staying nearby if possible, then getting up early to enter as early as possible before the masses arrive. We arrived at 7am and there were still a fair few people arriving at this time. However, we were able to take pictures of one another without trying to dodge other people. We walked the whole 21km around the lower and upper lakes, but there are buses and boats which will take you around the lake so you do not have to walk it all as we did. We started with the lower lakes and then walked around the upper lakes. Both are stunning, but we preferred the upper lakes, so if you only have limited time and can't do both, I'd recommend the upper lakes. There are a few places in the park where you can get food and drink but we packed up a picnic and found a quiet spot to enjoy our lunch. On our return to the car we had to retrace some of our steps to the lower lakes. By the afternoon we were shuffling along the boardwalks with other people; boardwalks which were practically empty at 7am! Getting there early is key to really enjoying this place. It's stunning, would absolutely recommend a visit.

4Tamara612 5:00 PM Feb 23, 2022

Great Experience
Visited here in the winter but had very mild temperatures. We have visited numerous national parks in the US and I came across a random blurb about this national park while researching Croatia (thanks Trip Advisor). Tickets are purchased online and you can only enter at the time listed and up to one hour after that. So, if you buy tickets for 12pm then you have up until 1pm to enter. You have to buy entry tickets for a specific entrance. In the summer they are very strict about entering at the exact entrance that you purchased tickets for. I intended to buy tickets for entrance 2 (which is next to our hotel) but screwed up and bought tickets for entrance 1 instead. At the ticket booth, the employee told us that she would allow us to enter at entrance 2 only because it was winter which I was thankful for since we would not have made it entrance 1 before our hour was up. The employee at the booth suggested that we do Program B which I was also thankful for since I didn’t know a lot about the best way to enjoy the park. I really like how they suggest different “programs.” In the US parks, it would be the equivalent to suggesting which hiking route to do. We took a small bus from station 2 to station 1 and then got out and started walking the upper part of the canyon/ravine. You descend into the canyon and then walk along the water. The route eventually takes you out to a spot where you can catch a ferry back to entrance 2. The falls were beautiful. The walkways were well kept. Loved the experience.