Plitvice Lakes National Park

Kati and I at an Overlook of the Lowest Lakes

They say it's one of the most amazing places in all of Europe and yet somehow I had never heard of it until a few years ago.

Plitvice Lakes National Park is in the center of Croatia.  The park itself is something like 18 hectares large, but the highlight is a series of 27 or so pristine blue lakes, connected by more waterfalls than you could ever imagine.

Plitvice was really the reason that we came to Croatia in the first place.  After seeing pictures I couldn't believe such a place existed.  And after having seen the park in person, I still have trouble believing it.

There is surprisingly little information online about accommodations in the park.  There are four hotels in the park and campgrounds in a nearby town, but those are the only accommodations discussed on the National Park's website.  There are also limited other options floating around the internet, none of which are very helpful for backpackers without access to a car.  These situations--going to a new and isolated place without a set place to sleep--always make me a little nervous.  To ease my anxiety, we booked a cheap "apartman" that looked like it was close to the park.  Yet, when we arrived, we found out that the description of the place as being less than 1 km from the park was quite an exaggeration.  It was between 2 or 3 km and going to the park it was straight uphill.  Luckily, before even stopping off at the place we reserved, we went to the tourist information center and they set us up with an even cheaper private place to stay significantly closer to the park entrance.  While we had to stomach the cost of the first night we had reserved, our lodging already came in under budget and it was totally worth it.

We arrived at Plitvice on a Saturday...in August.  Mistake #2.  When planning a trip this long with so many interlocking details, you don't really think about things in terms of days of the week, but only in sequence of what comes after what.  We got our 2-day pass to the park and walked in.  Thirty minutes later we were about 30 feet from where we started!  (Ok, that may be quite an exaggeration, but it was crowded!)  We followed the "C" trail, which takes you past all of the best waterfalls and lakes and is supposed to take 4-6 hours.  The trail would have been very nice had it not been for the crowds.  Most of the park is very public-friendly with fairly flat wooden walkways traversing the lakes and passing by the waterfalls.  The only problem is these walkways are very narrow and people of certain nationalities (I won't be so rude as to name them) do not understand that they can't just stop wherever they want and make everyone move out of the way to take pictures.  At one of the waterfalls a very rotund and burly-looking woman even went so far as to physically shove Kati out of the way so she could get a picture!  While the crowds were obnoxious and detracted from the sublime surroundings, it was still an amazing sight and a great day.

It wasn't until the very end of the day that we realized that we were captive in regards to the food situation.  There was only one restaurant open: Licka Kuca.  We resolved to go there anyway and had some amazing homemade sausages.

Our second day in the park was wonderful!  We started early in the morning on the "K" hike which is a 6-8 hour hike that wraps through the park for 21 km (13 miles).  It was one of the best hikes I've ever been on.  We hiked up into the hills surrounding the lakes for some great views and then back down to skirt the very edges of the largest lakes.  Best of all, there were hardly any people!  We saw some waterfalls that we hadn't gotten to see the first day along with parts of the lakes that were just stunning and apparently untouched by humans.  Needless to say, by the end of the day Kati and I were both exhausted.  We capped off the evening with another dinner at Licka Kuca--braised lamb shank and veal on the spit.  Fantastic.

I only had one disappointment with Plitvice.  There is an iconic waterfall that's in all the brochures, online, and on all the postcards.  It was this particular waterfall that really drew me to the park.  Actually, it was this image that's been the background on my computer for almost three years and has been the real motivating force I used to push myself through the misery of law school.  Unfortunately, and for some inexplicable reason, the only trail providing you with a view of this waterfall was closed, and from the looks of it had been closed for some time with no real plans to re-open it.  I caught a few glimpses of my waterfall from the side and from a few outlook points we found (some sanctioned and some not), but due to the fact that it's been a dry year and it's August, this particular waterfall was sadly underwhelming.  Yet every other aspect of the park was amazing.  It really is a place unlike anywhere I've ever seen; almost like a scene from another planet.