Plitvice Lakes National Park

You can take a virtual tour of the park at the website. Obviously not as a good as being their in person but certainly worth a look.  http://www.np-plitvicka-jezera.hr/en/

Plitvice Lakes National Park is only 100 kilometres south of Zagreb. We have a crammed rush hour tram-ride to the car rental office, toting our luggage with us. But the people on board are very polite and squeeze up to give us space and even help locate our stop. After we pick up our rental car, a spunky red Skoda that thinks it's a Porsche, we take a fairly direct route, travelling on the highway so that we will have time to see some of the park today. All my guide books highly recommend visiting the park early in the morning or in the later afternoon, to avoid the tour groups that arrive by the busload mid-morning. Excellent advice.
After much searching online, we have booked a B & B that is within easy walking distance of one of the park gates.

The Krizmanic Family B & B which has a very high rating on Booking.com and TripAdvisor is a pretty place all decked out in cascading flower baskets. We check into our room on the second floor, drop our bags and head straight out to the park. It's a pleasant 10 minute walk to the entrance which is very busy. We buy a two day ticket and straggle our way in steady pedestrian traffic along the narrow boardwalks. The first part of the trail is jammed with people; everyone intent on getting the best views and vying for the strategic photo and selfie ops. I am beginning to think this might be an exercise in frustration - but it's not long before the crowds dissipate and the majesty of the park begins to unfold.

We join the crowd posing for photos in front of the high waterfall, but then choose the high road, literally, and now we are on our own, except for a handful of more serious hikers, above the crowds with magnificent views of turquoise lakes and rushing water.

 

This is a not-to-be -missed experience. Water, water everywhere - tranquil lakes, shaded ponds, rushing rivers - under the board walks, around rocks, disappearing into holes and cascading down fern covered rocks. Like everyone else, we can't stop taking photos, but we also make sure to enjoy the beauty around us with our naked eyes. 

The park,the largest in Croatia, covers a vast area and is riddled with paths, rough trails, steps and boardwalks. 

The signage is good but it's still worth picking up a map specially if you venture onto the high trails. The one on the back of the ticket is only a general outline.

There are upper and lower lakes and electric boats offer a short cut, as well as a "train" which can get you back to various entrance gates. 

It's been a long day and when the park closes we head straight to a restaurant near the entrance gate which I had scoped online before we left home. Restaurant Lika looks rather upscale for a bunch of people, hungry and tired from hiking the park trails. They find a table for us close to the open kitchen where we can watch our meals being prepared on the grill. It's hearty food, but nicely balanced with excellent salads. A solo performer plays mellow tunes in the background. Ahh, this is pretty nice!

Luckily we have flashlights in our phones - they come in useful to find our way back through the wooded paths to our nicely appointed apartment. Time to get some rest; we want to make an early start to see the rest of the park in the morning.