European Moto Trip - Croatia: Day 3 - Plitvice Lakes National Park

Today we spent the day off the bike visiting the Plitvice Lake National Park.

The national park is world famous for its lakes arranged in cascades. Currently, 16 lakes can be seen from the surface. These lakes are a result of the confluence of several small rivers and subterranean karst rivers. The lakes are all interconnected and follow the water flow.

The sixteen lakes are separated into an upper and lower cluster formed by runoff from the mountains, descending from an altitude of 636 to 503 m (2,087 to 1,650 ft) over a distance of some eight km, aligned in a south-north direction.

The lakes are renowned for their distinctive colors, ranging from azure to green, grey or blue. The colors change constantly depending on the quantity of minerals or organisms in the water and the angle of sunlight.

One of Europe's top natural wonders our day was amazing and very difficult to explain with words and even with pictures although we took over 500 just to make sure. Rick Steve's explanation of "Imagine Niagara Falls sliced and diced and sprinkled over a vast and heavily forested canyon. It's a lush and unforgettable valley of 16 terraced lakes, laced together by waterfalls and miles of pleasant plank walks." is as good as we going to get.

You are not allowed to take any vehicles (not even bicycles) into the park so only walking allowed. It is quite a long distance to walk so they have created different ways you can move inside the park.

We were parked in Parking 1 (there are 3 parking spots around the park). Parking for motorbikes was free (this is something we have found quite a lot in Europe). We walked from P1 to P2 where we had lunch. Most of this walk was done on top of the mountain looking down at the lakes as we prefered to be away from crowds. Lunch was barbeque chicken which was quite delicious and we commented that we had not had chicken for over a month (since we left Lisbon). In P2, we picked up a slow moving boat that took us across the largest lake and dropped us on the other side where we then walked over the wooden planks and saw waterfalls and various color lakes. We walked all the way to Station 4 where we picked up the train/bus that brought us all the way back to Station 1 where we then walked to Parking 1. So on the map below, we went from the bottom right corner (P1) to the top left corner (red mark with white writing) and back.

In P1 we saw a number of older cars that were doing a tour from Austria to Croatia. Most (all) of them were from Belgium and I specially liked the Triumphs.

The first part of the walk was to get down from road level (up on the mountain) to the lake level. There were a number of switchbacks that we had to do and this first part was not so pleasant as there were just too many people. Price of entrance is about 15 Euros ($19) and includes boat and train transportation.

The water colors are amazing and they change based on way sun is reflected on the water. You cannot go wrong with taking pictures.

Our first waterfall to see is called the big waterfall and there are different ways you can see it. Either looking at it from the bottom, at different heights as you climb the mountain in front of it or then behind it. We did all three.

Going up the mountain was hard work but it paid off as not many people do it so you lose the crowds and start enjoying nature.

A number of times we just sat down and listened to the water running, the birds and the sound of the forest.

The views from the top as we walked along the ridge were amazing.

We then walked down to lake level to have lunch and take boat. We had timed it well and when we arrived crowds had eaten and were taking the boats. We had the restaurants pretty much to ourselves.

The crossing was very pleasant and gave us the chance to rest our legs from the morning walk and get ready for the next part of the walk. The boats were quite full but we were lucky to get the front seats.

We were looking forward to the next part as we would now walk the lakes but on the wooden planks. These planks are built on top of the actual lakes and as there is water all around, walking over the planks with water flowing under them is an unforgettable experience. But there are stone stairs and also sandy paths on the way.

The water is so clear you can see right down to the bottom.

Paula really had fun.

Ok, we both had a LOT of fun ... Highly recommended for your bucket list.

For dinner we went to the restaurant Degenija which was just next to our hotel and has won a number of awards. It has a great atmosphere and Paula had the grilled squid whereas I had the grilled veal cutlet. The squid was great. To finish off a great meal and another excellent day Paula chose a cake that had peaches and kiwi and a lot of other good stuff.

Every day we like Croatia a little more. The people are very nice and really value (and show) that you are visiting their country and spending the Euros. Service has been very good so far.

VIDEOS

Here are two short videos taken in the park