Plitvice Lakes Croatia Tours & Vacations

Welcome to Plitvice Lakes

Plitvice Lakes is one of those places that genuinely lives up to the pictures — which is saying something. Croatia’s oldest national park and a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1979, it’s built around 16 terraced lakes connected by 90 waterfalls, the water moving from one level to the next through a landscape of dense beech and fir forest. What makes Plitvice scientifically unusual is also what makes it visually distinctive. The barriers between the lakes aren’t rock — they’re travertine, a porous limestone that forms continuously as calcium carbonate settles out of the water. The dams are still growing, millimeter by millimeter, which means the park is slowly, imperceptibly rearranging itself. The turquoise color of the water comes from the same process: minerals suspended in solution that catch the light differently depending on the season and the angle of the sun.

Spring is the most dramatic time to visit. Snowmelt from the surrounding mountains pushes the waterfalls to full force, and Veliki Slap — at 78 meters the tallest waterfall in Croatia — runs at its most powerful. Autumn brings a different reward: the beech forest turns copper and gold around the lakes, and the crowds thin considerably after September. The park has marked routes ranging from a two-hour loop to a full day’s walk. The lower lakes are the most visited and the most dramatic; the upper lakes are quieter and reward those who push a little further. Tickets sell out during peak summer — booking ahead is essential.