After a lovely few days in Zagreb I got a bus down to the Plitvice National Park. I stayed in a lovely little B&B called the Plitvice Miric Inn. You can just do Plitvice as a day trip, but I’d been advised to stay overnight so I could get the most out of it and to avoid the crowds and I’m so glad I did. The park is split into two halves, the upper and lower lakes. I arrived at Plitvice mid afternoon around 3pm and after checking in, I headed into the park around 5pm and started with the upper lakes, it was really quiet and I hardly saw anyone else, the weather was lovely, beautifully sunny, but not too hot. It’s a big area and I finished the circuit of the upper lakes quite late just before the park closed for the evening. I had a nice meal at my hotel that evening and met a lovely Canadian couple and ended up having a slightly later night than I had intended. The next morning I’d been told to go to the park really early as soon as it opened to avoid the crowds, but being lazy and a bit tired I didn’t. Anyway big mistake, it was heaving, a complete contrast to the day before. Coach trips arrive from around 10am and stay til about 4pm and as such it was unpleasantly busy. Literally queuing along the boardwalks unable to pass anyone. So in short yes it’s definitely worth staying overnight at Plitvice and go very early in the morning or late in the afternoon/ early evening.
