Plitvice lakes croatia

[Melon2312]

Has anyone been to plitvice lakes in Croatia? I’m trying to find a holiday for myself, my husband and our 10 year old son and when looking at Croatia I stumbled across the lakes which look absolutely stunning. I’m thinking of maybe combining a couple of days at the lakes with a stay somewhere coastal for the rest of the time, really grateful for any suggestions or recommendations.

We did this a few years back.

Flew into and out of Pula with Jet2, stayed there for the night before hiring a car and going down the coast before island hopping using ferries and bridges then going inland to Plitvice. We were in Plitvice for the day and I'd struggle to argue that you'd need a huge amount of time longer there. The islands were an experience which were up there with Plitvice. Which is definitely worth it.

If I remember correctly the journey inland from the coast was pretty but plagued with Dutch tourists who had never seen a hill nor a windy road and we're crapping themselves driving and pissed off kamikaze Croatian drivers who do mad overtaking!

We didn't get as far as going to Zagreb (which we could have done and wish we had) instead favouring a quick hop over the border to Bosnia (which we love) and managing to do our usual Bosnia trick of immediately getting completely lost on a road with more pot holes than you can imagine and was kinda pointless! We've been to Bosnia a few times and highly recommend it as it's beautiful but have a destination in mind. Sarajevo is definitely near the top of the places I recommend to visit but it's a track and the roads make distances much more time consuming than you are used to in the EU.

It really depends on how adventurous you are, how much you like driving and are comfortable doing so abroad and what you prefer to do on holiday.

But do it. You won't regret it. Fabulous part of the world.

We had intended to go to the lakes for a day trip while on a fortnight Neilson holiday in their Alana resort with our then teenage DD, but DH decided it was too hot for him and we were having too much fun doing watersports. They do look fantastic, hope to go there sometime maybe not in high summer now we're not tied to school hols so I'm interested to see suggestions.

It’s a gorgeous region. We combined our trip with some Rovinj beach days and some Lake Bled days. I heartily recommend Slovenia for a family holiday, so much to do. Lake Bled could easily combine with Plitvice for a multi centre fly and drive holiday.

We went and stayed at the Lakes overnight to get in to see them before the coach parties arrive, I'd recommend that if you are going at a busy time of year. They are beautiful - but can get very crowded later in the day.

We also followed the sat nav which took us on a very winding route - if we'd checked the maps there was much more direct and shorter, maybe less pretty, route.

We flew to Ljubljana, spent a few days there, including trips out to Lake Bled and the caves in Slovenia.

Got a bus down to Plitvice and spent 2 nights in a guesthouse- arrived in time for dinner, full day at the Lakes, left next morning.

Bus down to the Split and spent a week on the beach/island hopping.

They are absolutely stunning! But soooo busy when we were there in mid September, which ruined it a bit.

The lakes and waterfalls at Krka National Park are also stunning and unlike Plitvice you can actually swim in there. But also very busy.

We're going this year, planning on staying in Split then going up to Plitvice by bus, then down to Krka National Park, back to Split and over to Brac.

I had looked at Krka as well but the information I found seems to suggest that swimming is no longer allowed there either unfortunately (since 2021 I think). So I guess the questions are which has more of interest in the surrounding area to combine with and which is the most stunning?

I have heard some great things about Slovenia so I think I will look into the option of doing both countries a bit more! Lake Bled looks lovely. We’re not really sea people, neither my husband or I like sand! 😂But I do want to make sure my son has a good time as well, especially as an only child I do worry sometimes about him being bored with all the beautiful scenery!

We did! They're absolutely beautiful. We only spent a day there and spent the rest of our time in Split, Zadar and Zagreb. And a gorgeous little town called Nin. It was many years ago that I went but such a beautiful country.

We did a road trip there 4 years ago. Spent a six weeks or so exploring. Plitvice, in our experience, was horrendous.
Thousands of people on a one way path. You had to keep up with the crowds, couldn't change direction. I actually can't remember how scenic it was as this is my abiding memory. Felt like an amusement park (without the amusements).

Oh no, that sounds awful 😱. What time of day did you go? I wonder if it would be better if we went first thing in the morning, if staying nearby? It’s such a shame I can’t go out of school holiday time to avoid the crowds!

Grateful also for any tips on places you did enjoy and that are a must do.

We spent a week in each of Rovinj and Opatija. Beautiful region, would recommend. We did a day trip to Plitvice, as someone said above it was insanely busy, thousands of people walking along, no time to stop and enjoy the views, taking photos while walking. It was beautiful but a very long day. Maybe you can access different parts if you're staying there. We also did a day trip to Lake Bled and some caves in Slovenia, all lovely. And a day trip to Venice from Rovinj.

Some photos of both the scenery and the crowds, to give you an idea.

Yikes, that is so different to our experience!

OP, we went into the park in later afternoon once the day trippers on buses were heading home. That might be the way to go.

Yeah we stayed overnight and got in there before the crowds, the landlady at the B&B was knocking on our door at ridiculous o'clock in the morning, gave us our breakfast in a box (not just us - everyone) and was ushering us out to be first in the queue. So we had a lovely experience, parts of it to ourselves, and then thought we'd go round again saw the crowds and just got back in the car.

Loved Rovinj - absolute little gem.

We did it as part of a Croatia road trip. They are beautiful and we stayed near by and went late afternoon when it's cooler and all the coach trips have left

Wow, that is insane! I think I could probably handle getting up at the crack of dawn for one day of my holiday to avoid this, so that might be the way to go

I like the look of Rovinj also. Has anyone ever been there for the St Lawrence festival on 10th august? My son is quite into star gazing so like the sound of this!

I would echo what others have said about it being no where near as bad for crowds when we went.

I've just checked the time and date stamp on our photos. We arrived in the area the night before about 3pm and stayed over night. It was the last week in July (so in the UK school hols but possibly before other countries are on holiday) ten years ago. I know that we were told to go early to beat the crowds but I couldn't remember what time - my photos from inside the park start at 7.20am. We bought tickets on the gate but it looks like you book time slots online now (possibly to help manage crowds).

I have plenty of photos (lots with tripod - so not just a two sec camera phone job) with no one else at all visible in the pictures at the start of the day. The last photo is just before 11am. I know it was starting to get busier (which the photos do show) as we left but being first there made a huge difference. We took LOADS of pictures and certainly took our time so about 4hrs is enough in theory. It looks like we did something else in the afternoon too.

Its possible its more people visiting now as its on the radar though. I got the impression it wasn't well known when we went - certainly not for Brits - it was more German and Dutch tourists at the time.

I think that planning and being conscious of crowds is probably the way to go rather than being put off completely.

We liked Opatija too. We got the ferry out to Mali Losinj (which has no cars I think if memory serves) and stayed there for a night or two (we may have got bus to Opatija done the islands and THEN DH got bus back to Pula to hire a car which took him a couple of hours but meant it was cheaper). We did a boat trip where they caught fish and cooked them than and there which is something that has stayed in our memories and loved (unlike the names of places and what exactly we did which I've just looked up!). It took us out to some of the other islands which were a mix of inhabited and unihabited. We also stopped in a little fishing village called Volosko which was utterly beautiful.

Thanks for posting this thread OP, we too are planning to visit Plitvice Lakes this August. I have already booked 2 nights in a B&B. We plan to arrive by bus from Zagreb in late pm and visit the lakes early the next day. Those photos have put me off a bit though!

We're heading to Split/Trogir afterwards for a couple of days then getting a ferry to Dubrovnik/Cavtat.

We did a road trip 4 years ago from Zagreb to Cavtat which included a day at Plitvice. Our photos start at 10.30 am on 6 June. Perhaps we were lucky as most of our shots don't have people in them. There's one shot near the end which is busier, which ties up with my memory of it. We stayed at an amazing B&B fairly close by, with a packed lunch provided. The Lakes are stunning and Croatia is one the most scenic places I've visited along with Lake Bled. It was a fantastic trip.