If you follow me on social media or have read any of my other posts you will know that I love hiking. While most of my recent trips have been to cities, I try to combine each one with a day trip to go hiking. When I started researching Zagreb, most bloggers recommended a day trip to Plitvice National Park.
This Unesco World Heritage site is situated 130 km i.e. a 2 hour drive from Zagreb. The park spans 300 square km. Only 1% is covered by lakes but it’s the 16 large and numerous smaller ones which are the main attraction. The lakes are divided into the upper and lower lakes. They are formed over impermeable dolomite rock, forming deep canyons showcasing impressive waterfalls. There is lots of parking and visitors can purchase a day pass for €10.00. You can purchase this at the park or online. Discounted and two day passes are also available.
I decided to go with a tour group so booked a ticket, costing €63.00, with “Get Your Guide”. This was for a smaller group tour i.e. less than 8 which is always my preference. I met the guide in central Zagreb, at Trg Nikole Zrinskog (by the Metrological clock) at 7.50am. We left on time and after picking up other people at different locations, we were on our way. We were a group of 7 – 6 solo travellers from all around the world and our guide Matt. Matt, an extremely proud Croat, would prove to be a knowledgable guide, with a great sense of humour but also extremely organised. After quick introductions, he explained the itinerary for the day and he also urged everyone to be on time at meeting points. I was delighted to hear him say this as I have spent way too much time on tours, waiting for entitled people who show up when it suits them.
Rastroke Village
After a 90 minute drive out of the city and through the countryside, we stopped at the picturesque village of Rastroke. The Korana river flows through the village and also into the National Park.
The village is considered an important ecological and ethnographic site. Its various wooden houses have been maintained extremely well. Originally the main source of employment came from mills. These have been preserved and water powered mechanical mills form the base of several of the wooden houses. Most of the ground floors are made of travertine and the top floors are wooden with shingles on the roofs.
This is a great place to stop and there are several cafes and shops in the village. Do make time to walk around and view the village though as it really is quite unique. To the left of the village is an imposing modern bridge which is in striking contrast to the older structures. There are several small waterfalls flowing into the river which are really beautiful.
It was extremely cloudy and the grey sky seemed to add to the atmosphere. Tourism is the main source of income now and unfortunately due to the number of short term rental properties, very few locals live in Rastroke. I paid €6.00 for a coffee and a slice of baklava in one of the small cafes.
I really enjoyed our short stop here and seeing the waterfalls made me excited to get to the park.
Plitvice Lakes and National Park
After a 30 minute drive we arrived at the National Park. Matt explained that we would be walking for several hours and would have lunch along the way. I was delighted we would be walking for so long and was glad I had dressed appropriately.
After collecting our tickets we set off on our walk which included trails, wooden pathways and gravel roads. The park is extremely well maintained with a myriad of well signposted trails. There are lots of great look-out points overlooking the lakes and waterfalls. Matt told us, when we stopped at one, it was the first time he had arrived at it when there was no one around. This proved to be the case at most of them. We had unobstructed views, we never had to wait to take photographs and the quietness added to the serenity.
Matt is one of those guides who really keeps everyone engaged and insisted we all had our photographs taken at each scenic point. As someone who has often returned from a trip and realised I didn’t have one photograph of myself, I found this quite amusing. I ended up with more photographs of myself than I have for every other trip taken in 2025 combined.
It was evident immediately why this beautiful park is so popular. The aqua marine lakes are stunning with the various sized waterfalls cascading into them. The vegetation, given it was autumn, was a mixture of greenery and bare tree trunks surrounding the rock formations. The fog had lifted and the blue sky overhead warmed up what started as a chilly day. It’s hard to describe such a picturesque landscape so I hope my unedited photographs do it justice.
You could purchase lunch in a cafe, in the middle of the park. You could also just eat your own food utilising one of the many outside benches. The cafe only accepted cards, which surprised me as often such places prefer cash.
We travelled on a boat across one of the lakes and it was extremely peaceful. We were meant to get a bus back to the carpark but we ended up walking back, which I was very pleased about.
We ended up spending close to 5 hours in the park. There are very few steep trails so none of the trails are difficult. You really can lose yourself in the scenery and I was delighted that I had visited it.
I was dropped off at 5.30pm in the centre of Zagreb and after sharing some contact details with some of my fellow travellers and getting Matt’s instagram account, our wonderful day ended. I really enjoyed meeting the other travellers who all had different backgrounds and stories. I met a well travelled young Israeli lady (who also travels solo), an Indonesian lady who was on a pilgrimage and an Indian gentleman who works in Belgium. While we were all from different cultures I felt I had lots in common with them.
I thoroughly enjoyed this trip and highly recommend Pegasus, the local tour group. All the usual booking sites have similar tours, utilising local companies. I do suggest you travel with a small group and if possible go at a quiet time of the year. If Matt is your guide, do tell him you read this post and say “Ciao” from me!
I hope to do a road trip around the Balkan countries in the future and I’ll certainly be visiting Croatia then. I’d love to visit Plitvice Lakes again, maybe go rowing there and explore some other trails. While I’d prefer to visit out of season (busy time is April – October) it would be great to see the park in a different season.
While I really enjoyed Zagreb – seeing such a beautiful park was really one of the highlights of my first visit to Croatia. If you enjoyed this post and are visiting Zagreb – please read my post for a great 24 hour itinerary.
