Treasure of Croatia - Plitvice Lakes

I would like to tell you about one place that cannot be ignored and which deserves to be read about and added to your wishlist by everyone who has not had a chance to visit there before.

We will talk about the main treasure of Croatia - Plitvitskie Lakes National Park. This reserve, listed by UNESCO back in 1979, spreads over an area of ​​295 sq km and is a cascade of 16 limestone lakes flowing into each other like travertines, giving rise to numerous creeks and waterfalls of unreal beauty. It is thanks to the large amount of lime that visitors can enjoy the piercing colors of the local waters.

And, since the conversation has turned to visitors, let’s move from the beautiful to the essential. There are really a lot of visitors, they flock here from all over the world, despite the high cost of tickets and even quarantine. According to official data, the park is visited by more than 1,000,000 people a year! And, it’s not difficult to guess that the main traffic occurs precisely in the summer months (specifically August). During rush hours, you can get stuck in a real traffic jam of people wanting to take a selfie or photo from the best angle in the most beautiful places. To avoid this, I highly recommend sacrificing your sweet morning sleep and arriving just in time for the opening at 7:00. By 10, we managed to go around literally everything, take a boat ride and, on our way back, look around at the stunned unprecedented crowd, striving for the sweet, reserved beauties, like fruit flies for fermented compote. By this time, the hot Balkan sun had managed to accelerate the turbines to serious speed, and the crowd flowing in afterwards murmured not at all as temptingly as the Plitvice cascades, although it was also unforgettable.

About logistics: there are 2 main entrances to the park. For those who decide to go here by car, parking is provided - not very spacious and equipped, but not even free. Early birds become the happy owners of a few trump spots under the protection of tree crowns. For the rest, upon their return, a small branch of the underworld awaits, heated to the appropriate temperature - in order to remember their sins and add a few new ones to them in the form of foul language. Inside the park, you can go for a walk in a small boat that runs between the lower and upper lakes along the route Milanovac - Kozyak (on boats and in public catering facilities, by the way, wearing masks is required during the quarantine period). The same route can be taken on foot along the shore and it will be no less picturesque.

Pedestrian routes inside the reserve are equipped with wooden bridges that fit very organically into the surrounding landscape. In the vicinity of the lakes, numerous paths will lead you through the beauty of beech and coniferous forests, or into the recesses of one of the 20 caves that are hidden in their depths. In the crystal water you can often observe the textured remains of fallen trees, many of which have begun to become overgrown with lime and calcite, turning into magical sculptural sculptures; unafraid fish swim smoothly among them, as if suspended in the transparency of the water, and cascades and streams mutter something in ancient languages ... Someone said that man is the crown of creation, but here, in this corner, supposedly created for fairies and elves, man is like an unnecessary touch of an amateur in the picture of a genius. Although, from the point of view of an individual, eyes that have not seen such beauty are mercilessly robbed by their owner) Whatever happens, there is a place on the map of this world that everyone should see.