Why Return to Plitvice? We absolutely loved this natural wonder when we visited back in February of 2020, but we were anxious to visit again. Why? Our first visit was a mid-February day trip from Zagreb, giving us just five hours in the park. Most trees were bare, and the upper half of the park was closed to visitors. It was great, but we wanted more. [To see our post from 2/15/2020, click here.]
Plitvice was named as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1979. The area includes 16+ lakes, all connected with 90 waterfalls, both large and small. Well-maintained walkways surround the lakes while others lead through the forests and along the mountainsides looking down across the lakes. Throughout the park, wooden walkways lead you from one level to another, often carrying you right across lakes and over small waterfalls.
This time we wanted to see the entire park and to enjoy it when the autumn foliage was bursting with color. So we stayed at one of the park hotels for three nights, ensuring that we would have two full days to enjoy the park. We timed it perfectly this time. The foliage was still nearly at its peak, so the photos show the brilliant shades of red and yellow along with the green of the pines and the shimmer of the water. And the Upper Lakes, the ones we could not visit last time because it was winter, were just fantastic. Surely that’s enough words for now. I’ll let Sara’s photos tell the story. . . and there are many photos because it’s too hard to decide which ones to include.
