Blogs from Plitvice Lakes National Park, Central Croatia, Croatia, Europe

Dear All Greetings from another entry on this amazing little adventure I've had travelling through Croatia. I was initially planning to write this one up on my time in the Plitvice Lakes together with my write-up later on Zagreb, but I loved this place so much that I felt it deserved its own little entry. I can certainly see why Croatia is the most visited of the former Yugoslavian countries, it certainly packs in some stunners in its small, and rather unusually formed, area. And I wasn't even planning to touch upon the Croatian hinterland east of Zagreb called Slavonia this time. It is certainly true what they say, that the more you travel, the more you want to see. I'd been excited during this trip about the prospect of visiting Bosnia nextdoor on another trip. ... read more

May & November First heygo tour was in May a beautiful day of blue skies and wonderful colours of the lakes, second time in November - A wonderful relaxing walk with Andrea around Plitvice Lakes National Park, set around a collection of 16 lakes which are all interconnected and cascade into each other, from the highest point at 636 mts to 503 mts, and grouped together in two sets: 12 Upper Lakes and 4 Lower Lakes. The name Plitvice means shallow basin, as the waters create these hollows in the limestone, although the depth varies from 1 to 47 m. Plitvice Lakes National Park became a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1979. The autumnal colours of the trees was wonderful giving amazing reflections in the crystal clear waters. Hoping to return with Andrea in the winter ... read more

In the 1960s, films were made of the German author Karl May's "western" novels, featuring the characters of Old Shatterhand and Winnetou, a Native chief. They were filmed in Croatia, which was thought to look like the American West! From the clips, it seems that May was sympathetic to the Native cause. Much of the filming was done in the Plivice National Park, our destination on Thursday. Here's a clip if you're interested: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4yTfdy9TKt8 The park was founded in 1949. It was fought over during the war, and landmines are still thought to be found in remote locations in the park. Much of the infrastructure was destroyed in the war, and this gave the area time to recover from over use. "The national park is world-famous for its lakes arranged in cascades. Sixteen lakes can be ... read more

After reasonable night sleep breakfast at 7am, what a terrible breakfast mainly as there was no staff on duty. After complaining at reception some staff came out to clean the tables and bring some more food out. Departed 8am for long drive today. Roadstop at waterfalls bus station, Posjeti - Dozivi, lovely view of the falls but disgusting toilet facilities. Stopped fo lunch at roadside cafe which was very good, we had preordered our menu. On the road again then had to disembark for border crossing. Bosnia into Croatia. Arrived at Hotel Jezero at 5.15pm, very basic rooms, thankfully only one night. Dinner out tonight.... read more

We get up early and set off on the 158 mile drive north to Plitvice National Park. It’s going to be a shock to the system; after 2 weeks of travelling in temperatures around 30 degrees, by night time it will be minus 2. The majority of today’s route is along the A1, a lovely modern motorway which is a relief after some of the gravel tracks we had to negotiate in Bosnia and Montenegro. It is, however, not cheap. In 100 miles we notch up over £10 in tolls. The drive is another spectacular mountain extravaganza, only this time on a proper road. It’s an incredible piece of engineering consisting of a series of bridges, raised sections and tunnels. One tunnel is 5800m. That’s more than a parkrun worth of tunnel. On the other side ... read more