Croatia's Plitvice Lakes National Park Deserves The Hype

Blog after blog, book after book, Plitvice Lakes appeared as a top "must see" attraction in Croatia. On TripAdvisor's Croatia page, the lakes list in the top five.

As Rick Steves said, "This fantasy world of natural limestone dams — constantly built up by deposits of calcium carbonate, even as they’re eroded by the flow of water — is a “perfect storm” of unique geological features you’ll rarely find elsewhere on earth."

WikiTravel apparently agrees, noting that "Plitvice National Park in Croatia is considered to be one of the most beautiful natural sights in Europe."

And, as you'll read on Frommer's, "The Plitvice Lakes National Park is Croatia's most touted natural wonder: Its majestic waterfalls, lakes, and forests have earned it a place on the UNESCO register of world natural heritage sites and made it Croatia's second-biggest tourist attraction, after the Adriatic coast and islands."

I find that over-hyped movies are generally a let-down, products that are supposed to "change your life" usually don't, and nearly everyone who visits the Mona Lisa walks away thinking "I didn't realize it was so small...."

So, are the Plitvice Lakes really that great? Yes.

Waterfalls cascading through the forest creates a Polaroid moment of natural beauty. Journeying down the mountainside and through the craggy forest, the water streams purely white. It amasses in larger and larger pools, each a distinct hue of blue that keeps its color despite the utter translucence of such pure water.

Of course, anything receiving this much attention will attract swarms of tourists. Croatia's peak tourist season runs from late June to early September, so unless you are going off-season, you will probably have to wait your turn in line to look at nature. This isn't just for getting a ticket--the entire park is set up with paths, and around the lakes themselves you will have to walk on footbridges that have no railings. If you or someone around you gets too antsy or rushed, nothing would prevent you from enjoying that lake from down under. 

 

There are also two ferries through the park to help you get from one side of the biggest lake to the other, and for these you must also wait your turn. Thankfully, at least in our experience, park entrants remained patient, and traffic flowed at a consistent, easy-going pace. The line for the ferry crossing the lake was the longest and did take a bit of waiting time.

The beauty of the park is truly spectacular but not singular. Many other countries around the world boast their own natural wonders. But it would be a disservice to try to compare Plitvice Lakes to other scenes--such as at Yosemite, Banff, Jiuzhaigou and many others--as this could be where the hype would make the experience fall flat.

If you just enjoy the scenery around you and let yourself be overtaken by the purity of something so universally beautiful, the park is every bit as wonderful as all the reviews promise.