Plitvice: what to see, where to stay and how to get around
Plitvice is sixteen named lakes stepped down a valley in the forest, each held back by a dam of travertine — rock built up by moss and algae from the lime in the water, a centimetre or so a year — and spilling over it into the next. The lower lakes lie in a narrow canyon. About two to three hours on boardwalks from Entrance 1; come at opening time, and swimming is forbidden.
A short history of Plitvice
Sixteen lakes are linked to one another by waterfalls, and all of them were formed over thousands of years from limestone deposits that built natural dams. In 1949 the area was declared Croatia's first national park, and in 1979 it was listed as a World Heritage Site. On 31 March 1991, in an incident that became known as 'Bloody Easter', people were killed here in a clash between Croatian police and Serb rebels; they were among the first casualties of the war in Croatia. The park was under Serb control until 1995.
The ten best sights in Plitvice
1Veliki slapCroatia’s highest waterfall, at the bottom of the canyon
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2Sastavci
Where the lakes pour into the Korana river in a wall of falls
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3Kaluđerovac
A lower lake crossed on boardwalks over the water
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4Gavanovac
A small lake of the lower canyon, turquoise in sun
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5Šupljara Cave
A cave over the lower lakes, a path through it to the viewpoint
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6Kozjak
The biggest lake; the electric boat crosses it
7GalovacThe upper lakes’ finest cascades
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8Prošćansko jezero
The highest lake, at the top of the staircase
9MukinjeThe village of the park’s workers; rooms and food
10RastokeWatermills where a river falls into another
Scan with your phone camera to open the map there
What is an audio walk?
Tours in Plitvice →A guide in your headphones: open the walk on our site, walk from stop to stop, and at each one your phone tells its story. No guide, no group, and free. This is the first walk in Plitvice:
Free walking tours in Plitvice
The lower lakes and the canyon
Plitvice is sixteen named lakes stepped down a valley in the forest, each held back by a dam of travertine — rock built up by moss and algae from the lime in the water, a centimetre or so a year — and spilling over it into the next. The lower lakes lie in a narrow canyon. About two to three hours on boardwalks from Entrance 1; come at opening time, and swimming is forbidden.
- Entrance 1 · From the rim at the entrance the classic view opens over the canyon, the lower lakes and the Great Waterfall. Plitvice became Croatia’s first national park in 1949 and one of the first natural sites on the world heritage list, in 1979.
- Veliki slap · The Great Waterfall drops seventy-eight metres off the canyon wall — the highest in Croatia. It is not part of the chain of lakes but a stream, the Plitvica, falling into the canyon from the side, which gives the park its name.
- Sastavci · The name means the joining: here the lakes and the Plitvica stream pour together over a wall of cascades into the Korana river, which flows out of the park. In winter the falls freeze into curtains of ice.
- Kaluđerovac · The path crosses the lake on wooden boardwalks laid just above the water, with trout below. The name comes from a monk, kaluđer, said to have lived as a hermit in the cave above.
- Šupljara Cave · A cave in the canyon wall above the lower lakes, with a steep path running up through it to the rim. In the 1960s the canyon was a set for the German Winnetou westerns, including The Treasure of the Silver Lake.
- Kozjak · The largest and deepest lake, about four kilometres long, divides the lower lakes from the upper. An electric boat crosses it, since no motors are allowed on the water. The legend says it is named for goats that fell through the ice in winter.
The upper lakes
The upper lakes are wider and more open, set in beech and fir forest on dolomite, and connected by dozens of small falls. From Entrance 2 a boat crosses Kozjak and a panoramic train climbs to the top, so you can walk down all the way. Three to four hours; the boardwalks have no railings.
- Entrance 2 · On Easter Sunday, the thirty-first of March 1991, a clash between Croatian police and rebel Serb forces at the park headquarters here left two dead — the first deaths of the Croatian war of independence. The park was occupied until 1995 and its staff expelled.
- Mukinje · The village built for the park’s workers, now with guest rooms and a few places to eat. Brown bears, wolves and lynx live in the forests around the park, though visitors almost never see them.
- Galovac · The finest stretch of the upper lakes, where Galovac pours over a broad barrier in dozens of falls into the lakes below. The travertine barriers are alive: they grow, shift and sometimes collapse, so the shape of the lakes slowly changes.
- Prošćansko jezero · The highest lake, at about six hundred and forty metres, fed by two streams from the mountains; from here the water falls about a hundred and thirty metres through the chain to the Korana. The legend of the park says the lakes came from the tears of the Black Queen, who answered the prayers of the people for rain.
- Kozjak · From the boat on the lake you see the island of Štefanija, named after a crown princess of Austria who visited in 1888. The water is clear to many metres; its colours change from green to blue with the minerals, the depth and the light.
- Veliki slap · To end the loop, the path returns down the canyon to the foot of the Great Waterfall, where spray drifts across the boardwalk. Behind it the karst rock is full of caves and underground streams that feed the lakes.
Lika and the Una
Around the park is Lika, a high, empty, forested country with hard winters and a hard history: the frontier with the Ottomans for centuries, and a front line in the 1990s. To the east, across the Bosnian border, the green Una river falls over its own travertine. A full day and a car; take passports for Bosnia.
- Rastoke · In the town of Slunj the Slunjčica river falls in dozens of little cascades into the Korana, over travertine like Plitvice’s, and the villagers built watermills on the falls for grinding grain. Some of the mills still turn, and people live in houses over the water.
- Cetingrad · On the first of January 1527, in the castle of Cetin above this village, the Croatian nobles elected Ferdinand of Habsburg as their king, after the Hungarian king fell to the Ottomans at Mohács. Croatia stayed under the Habsburgs for almost four centuries.
- Barać Caves · Show caves in the karst near the park, with stalactites, the bones of cave bears from the ice age, and colonies of bats. Visitors have come here since the late nineteenth century.
- Željava · Under the mountain on the border Yugoslavia built its largest military airbase, with tunnels for dozens of fighter jets and runways leading straight into the rock, able to survive a nuclear strike. The army blew it up as it withdrew in 1992; the tunnels and runways are still there, and the area may still hold mines.
- Bihać · Across the border, Bihać stands on the Una, a river so clear and green that it gives the national park its name. The town was besieged for over three years in the Bosnian war. Its Fethija mosque was a Gothic church converted after the Ottoman conquest in 1592.
- Štrbački buk · The Una falls about twenty-four metres in a wide horseshoe of cascades, over travertine like Plitvice’s, exactly on the border between Croatia and Bosnia. Unlike at Plitvice, you can kayak and raft the river below.
Getting to Plitvice and getting around
- Entrance 1 · For the lower lakes and the Great Waterfall; buy tickets online for a time slot
- Entrance 2 · For the upper lakes and the boat on Kozjak; hotels nearby
Cheap eats in Plitvice
Lika is mountain country, and its food is heavy and good: lamb turned on a spit by the roadside, potatoes from the cold fields, trout from the rivers, and škripavac, a young cow’s-milk cheese that squeaks against the teeth. Breakfast is polenta or a pastry with cheese; the drink is plum brandy. A plate of spit-roast lamb is sold by weight at the roadside restaurants.
- Mukinje · Spit-roast lamb by the kilo
- Rastoke · River trout by the watermills
- Korenica · Škripavac cheese and Lika potatoes
- Entrance 2 · Strudel and coffee before the walk
- Bihać · Bosnian ćevapi and coffee by the Una
- Slunj · Plum brandy and home cheese
Museums in Plitvice
There are few museums around Plitvice, but the region’s history is written on the land: a frontier with the Ottomans, the place Croatia chose its kings, and a Cold War base inside a mountain.
- Željava · The blown-up airbase; go with a guide
- Cetingrad · The castle of the 1527 election
- Church of the Croatian Martyrs · On the field of the 1493 battle
- Rastoke · A working watermill museum
- Ostrožac · A castle rebuilt as a romantic folly
Nature and day trips near Plitvice
Plitvice is a living landscape: travertine barriers that grow and fall, a forest of beech and fir that is home to bears and wolves, and caves beneath. Nearby rivers — the Korana, the Slunjčica, the Una — build the same travertine falls on a smaller scale.
- Galovac · Dozens of falls on one barrier
- Veliki slap · Croatia’s highest waterfall
- Prošćansko jezero · The quiet top lake in the forest
- Štrbački buk · The Una’s great waterfall
- Barać Caves · Caves with cave-bear bones
- Sastavci · Frozen falls in winter
Things to do in Plitvice with kids
Children love Plitvice’s boardwalks over the water, the boat and the little train, the fish under their feet and the caves. Paths have no railings, so small children need a hand.
- Kozjak · The electric boat across the lake
- Kaluđerovac · Trout under the boardwalk
- Šupljara Cave · Climb through a cave
- Rastoke · Watermills and little falls
- Barać Caves · Bats and stalactites
- Entrance 2 · The panoramic train to the top
Holy places in Plitvice
Lika was a border of faiths, Catholic Croats and Orthodox Serbs on one side and the Ottoman Muslims on the other, and its churches and mosques carry that history.
- Church of the Croatian Martyrs · A memorial church over the Krbava field
- Bihać · The church that became a mosque
- Kaluđerovac · The hermit’s cave above the lake
- Cetingrad · The frontier castle
Nightlife in Plitvice
There is no nightlife at Plitvice — the park closes at dusk and the villages sleep early. The evening is dinner by a fire and a sky full of stars.
- Mukinje · Dinner by the fire in the village
- Prošćansko jezero · Dark skies over the forest
- Rastoke · The mills lit at night
- Bihać · Cafés on the Una in the evening
Frequently asked questions about Plitvice
What is there to see in Plitvice?
The top sights in Plitvice are Veliki slap, Sastavci and Kaluđerovac. The full list on this page has 10 sights, each with a photo and a short note.
How many days do you need in Plitvice?
Three to four days are enough to see the best of Plitvice without rushing, including at least one walking tour.
Is there a free walking tour in Plitvice?
Yes. sleepntrip has 3 free audio walks in Plitvice, with no guide and no group: your phone tells the story at every stop. The first one: The lower lakes and the canyon.
How do you get to Plitvice and get around?
The main ways are Entrance 1 and Entrance 2. Full details are in the transport section on this page.
Where to stay in Plitvice, and for how much?
sleepntrip shows only rooms in Plitvice that meet nine conditions: a good location, high guest scores, cleanliness, and a price of up to $80 a night for two. Pick your dates and see what is free.
Looking for a hotel in Plitvice for your dates?
Only rooms that meet nine conditions, up to $80 a night.