Plitvice Lakes: top attractions & road trip guide
Plitvice Lakes National Park is a UNESCO World Heritage site in central Croatia, made up of sixteen terraced lakes connected by waterfalls and cascades that run through a wooded limestone canyon. The lakes' colour shifts between turquoise, green, and grey depending on mineral content, light, and season, and travertine barriers formed by moss, algae, and bacteria continue to reshape the terrain.
On a road trip between Zagreb and the Dalmatian coast, Plitvice sits roughly midway and makes for a natural detour off the main route, though the park itself is explored on foot via wooden boardwalks and boat or shuttle transfers rather than by car. The surrounding roads wind through forested hill country typical of the Lika region.
Top attractions
Veliki Slap (Great Waterfall)
At about 78 metres, this is the tallest waterfall in the park and its best-known landmark, reached via a short walk from the Lower Lakes boardwalk.
Kozjak Lake
The largest of the sixteen lakes, dividing the Upper and Lower Lakes, crossed by an electric boat that shuttles visitors between the two sections of the park.
Upper Lakes boardwalks
A network of wooden footbridges winds directly over and beside the smaller terraced lakes and cascades of the Upper Lakes, offering close-up views of the travertine formations.
Supljara Cave
A small limestone cave accessible along one of the Lower Lakes trails, notable for its stalactite formations and as a short, easy detour from the main walking route.
Labudovac Waterfall
A wide, tiered waterfall on the Upper Lakes, less crowded than the main viewpoints and reachable by hiking trails through beech and fir forest.
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