Croatia and Wales 2024: Day 9 – Plitvice National Park

Today continued cool and cloudy, threatening rain later in the day so we headed out around 10:00 to find the entrance to the Plitvice National Park and do some hiking around to see the sites, the lakes and waterfalls, more closely.

We found the parking lot which was already close to overflowing but tucked ourselves in under some trees and walked back to the kiosk to pay our rather steep entrance fee. It was €40, $60 or £34, per person. We arrived at about 10:40 and were told we could not access the park until 11:40. We weren’t overly pleased but considering the many tour groups we were observing, it was making sense that they were controlling access. Everywhere we hiked was on narrow paths; either boardwalk, stepping stones or gravel. We had to, at times, contend with two-way traffic!

We had a number of choices in the paths we could choose to see primarily the big waterfall and the chains of lakes. The trails began with a two-hour circuit extending to 4-hour, 6-hour or even 8-hour depending on which paths were chosen. We opted for the two-hour circuit which we completed in just under two hours despite the large group of people we contended with. It was definitely worth the experience. It is a beautiful environment of lush dense forest, resembling a large crater, with cascading waterfalls of varying heights at many turns. The water rushes from around the plants down the sides of the slopes to cascade into a lower pool or lake. The water is clear and a rich blue of varying shades.

After our hike, we felt we had earned lunch, so we headed along the highway to locate a place to rest and eat and finally send yesterday’s Blog! It was perfect timing as it was just starting to drizzle again. This certainly isn’t the weather we were anticipating but we seem to be able to make the most of it and take in the sites we had anticipated seeing.

One thing we’re noticing are the white dolomite rocks that jut out randomly on the surface of the forest floor. They are stark white in comparison to the foliage at the foot of the trees or in the fields.

Another observation is that all bottle caps have the lids permanently attached. When they are unscrewed to open them, they keep attached so they are not discarded and found on the ground as might so often be the case at home. They are closed back up and remain with the bottle, such a clever idea!

After a rest from the 2 hour strenuous hike, we kinda kicked back for the rest of the afternoon before going out for dinner at Mario’s Bistro. We had called by there earlier and made a reservation since it was just a couple of kms up the road and this area has many apartment rentals where renters are likely eating out. It was fully booked. We had an excellent meal which consisted of a shared platter, 'Gormanska Platter’. Translated this means Gourmet Platter which it definitely was.

So ends our stay here in Plitvice National Park, A World Heritage Site. Tomorrow we descend the mountains heading once more to the coast and hopefully warmer weather.