Croatia: Plitvice National Park

Plitvice (PLEET-veet-seh) escaped our 2001 Croatia visit. It's one of our major destinations this time, and we were NOT disappointed.

From Zadar, we took the first direct bus to the park and came back on the last one, so we didn't feel rushed at any point. The park has 16 terraced lakes in a canyon. Water flowing down from one to another forming waterfalls. This time of the year, the waterfalls are not particularly big, but the emerald green pools are mesmerizing. Each pool is a different shade depending on the flow and depth. Plitvice is quite a site.

This is the main viewpoint in the park, just inside Entrance 1. Amazing!!! Note that the boardwalk (better seen in 2nd below) is full of people. When I first saw this I thought it was a tour group. But it's not. It's just the neverending flow of many visitors.






The next two photos are from the last viewpoint we visited. I moved them towards the top of the post as they are physically close to the first viewpoint (photo above), but at the end of Route C.




The park has good maps and signage to smoothly control the large numbers of people. We followed route C which is a walk, boat, and bus route (2nd below). The large tours follow the shorter routes A or B.




Route C starts at the lowest falls and pools (below) and ends at the highest.






There are miles of well-maintained boardwalks that allow very close access to the waters.






We ate half of our picnic lunch on the boat ride that took us to the upper falls. This is the point where Route C diverges from routes A and B and is not crowded. .


Upper Falls and Pools.










Signs explain water levels.


We completed Route C with plenty of time for more exploring before catching the last bus back to Zadar. So we walked up to an observation deck with a panoramic view of the uppermost lakes.














The very sturdy bus takes us back almost to Entrance 1.




Sunset from the bus window.


Bonus waterfall reflection video.

Croatia: Zadar

From Pula we took a ferry to Zadar (ZAH-dar) on the northern Dalmatian coast. Like many developing countries, Croatia's crowded, late, and overpriced intercity buses (1st below) are not state run. But in Croatia there is no competition, so the system feels very mafioso. So I was happy to have another option = the ferries.



Old town Zadar is another Roman and Venetian town at the tip of a peninsula. It retains much of its old wall. There are cruise ships every day. We only came to use it as a base for visiting Plitvice National Park (in the next post).

Our ferry left Pula before sunrise. The upside of rising very early was walking past the Roman Arena at dawn, then pulling out of the harbor at sunrise.








The ferry made several stops on the way. At Unije there was a farm tractor with a trailer waiting like a taxi in case someone arrived with tons of luggage, I suppose. And there were two boys angling to help or to snag a ride. Boys!




Our apartment was on the 8th floor, and the weather was nice enough to sit on the balcony and enjoy the view with a cold beer, or just enjoy the view.






Zadar has impressive city walls to defend the peninsula. First below is the Venetian "Land Gate". You can also walk on top of the walls with great views of the harbor (2nd below).




On the other side of the peninsula there are some modern attractions; a solar plaza, and a wave organ (video below). Not to mention the "we all live in a yellow submarine" tourist submarine tours.








As in other towns recently visited, Zadar has Roman Forum ruins. Here they are surrounded by churches and bell towers (see below).


The Church of St. Donatus (1st below) on one side of the forum and the Church and Monastery of St. Mary (2nd below) on the other. And the nearby Cathedral of St. Anastasia (3rd below).






People's Square Clock Tower, Town Hall, and Market.






Finally, there was the enjoyment of spotting the Modernist Italian Rationalist Architecture "Pegla (Clothes Iron) Building" (1938).