Plitvice National Park is incredible, and crowded, and has more waterfalls than I’ve ever seen.
Plitvička Jezera, as it’s said in Croatian, is the country’s biggest and oldest national park. It’s made up of 16 lakes and over 90 waterfalls. The waters are brilliant blue greens, attributed to minerals and organisms.
Over a million tourists visit Plitvice each year.
the lower lakes, headed toward Veliki Slap
The park is tied together by a series of wooden walkways, suspended over lakes and waterfalls alike. It’s a feat of engineering, as the flows shift gradually over time.
The first mention of Plitvice was recorded in the late 1700s,
but it didn’t become a national park until 1949.
A limestone canyon surrounds the park.
The lakes have been home
Even today, there are communities who call it home.
to settlements for centuries.
Šupljara Cave, with views of the Great Cascades, is the only cave in the park open to the public.
Plitvice Lakes National Park is in the middle of the Dinaric Alps. This is the mountain range that separates the continental Balkan Peninsula from the Adriatic Sea.
The park is also home to
Over 1,000 different kinds of plants and over 100 species live here.
quite a bit of biodiversity.
The Croatian government diligently protects the ecosystem of the park to keep some of the rarest breeds in all of Europe safe.
The lakes have always been in a geographically important area in Eastern Europe. Despite being a battleground many times over, the park thankfully remained unharmed.
the ferry that crosses Lake Kozjaka
It’s possible to rent boats here, but swimming is strictly prohibited.
European Chub in clear waters
Milanovac Waterfalls and Cascades
beautiful blue waters, created by mosses, algae, and aquatic bacteria
the back of Galovački buk falls
Veliki Prštavac Waterfall, located in the Upper Lakes
Aren’t these wooden boardwalk trails incredible?
Stay tuned. I’m headed to Zagreb next.
It’s only 2 hours away from this environmental sanctuary.
for the love of nike 
Beautiful! You are so fortunate to be traveling so much.
Thank you! I wish I was traveling this much. These are old pictures. I’m very slow at the editing process.
🙂 We are itching to travel and in the process of ‘booking’. It will take awhile to get things going again.
totally! where do you think you’ll go first?
For a variety of reasons, possibly Costa Rica. On the radar is Greece, Spain, and Iceland. I told m’lady about your Iceland posts.
oh yes! And Iceland is allowing vaccinated tourists I believe.