Balkan Road Trip - 13. Plitvice Lakes National Park

Six months of planning paved the way to one of our most anticipated destinations in the Balkans, and we somehow arrived without a place to stay for the night.

Imagine picking up an unfamiliar car just before the rental office closes and driving down a drizzly highway in the dark for two hours, before arriving at a tiny village with no street lights and learning that your vacation booking no longer exists. Needless to say this was the most nervous moment of our entire 22-day journey -- more nervous than getting dumped on the side of the highway in rural Albania.


Our would-be hosts were nearly as shocked as we were to learn that it was the booking website that carelessly cancelled our reservation in the aftermath of a credit card fraud. Fortunately our gracious hosts found a neighbour who had an empty suite available for the two nights, and we did end up with a bed to sleep on.


Getting to bed early was the plan ahead of a full day's hiking at one of Europe's premier national parks. Plitvice Lakes is Croatia's second most visited tourist attraction aside from the medieval city of Dubrovnik, and we were hoping to outpace the organized tour groups to the Upper Lakes before serious crowds start to show up.


By serious crowds I mean a couple million visitors per year, arriving from all corners of the world in admiration for Plitvice's pristine turquoise lakes and elegant waterfalls, cascading down natural terraces and stringing together 12 Upper and 4 Lower Lakes along a dramatic limestone canyon. As one of Europe's greatest natural wonders and a UNESCO World Heritage Site, line-ups are to be expected everywhere from ticket booths to shuttle bus stations to prime selfie spots at the waterfalls.


So we purposely bypassed the busy Entrance 1 and parked our car at Entrance 2, walking down to the ST2 shuttle bus station around 09:15 for a short ride to the farthest shuttle bus station at the top of the Upper Lakes. Our plan involved traveling the full length from the southern end of the park to the northern end on foot and by ferry in about 7 hours, then taking a shuttle back to ST2 before the park closed at 17:00.


While the national park does offer a multitude of official trails labelled A to K ranging from 3.5 to 18 km, we chose none of the above and combined ideas from different trails for a route customized for our own abilities, 7.5 km in length with mild elevation gains while incorporating Plitvice's most renowned viewpoints.


09:35. Our hike would start from shuttle bus station ST4 on the shore of Proscansko Lake, gradually traveling downhill between Proscansko and Ciginovac Lakes and generally hugging the western shores of the Upper Lakes.


09:55. Perfect time to appreciate the tranquility of the Upper Lakes in the absence of crowds, as we strolled the western edge of Okrugljak Lake and reached the twin lakes of Veliko and Malo Jezera.


10:15. The crystal blue waters of Galovac Lake perfectly illustrates the uncanny similarities between Plitvice Lakes and the equally spectacular Jiuzhaigou situated halfway around the world. Both feature gorgeous turquoise lakes and terraced waterfalls set in limestone canyons, though Plitvice sits among lush forests in the Western Balkans while JZG perches on the eastern edge of the Tibetan Plateau.


11:00. Inevitably we had our first encounter with major crowds at the famous Veliki Prštavac waterfall, situated at the southern end of Gradinsko Lake where a half dozen smaller falls cascade down the limestone edges from the upstream lake of Galovac.


Third largest among Plitvice's sixteen lakes, Galovac Lake terminates at its northeastern end with a natural barrier of travestine pools, culminating in the 16m tall complex of waterfalls at Galovački Buk.


11:30. Sedimentary chalk deposits at the the bottom of Gradinsko Lake combine with algae and particles in the mineral-saturated waters to generate various shades of green in the sunlight.


12:05. Moss and algae faciliate the accumulation of calcium into dams of limestone over thousands of years, creating countless little waterfalls such as this pictured at Burgeti Lake.


12:15. It was our lucky day as we only had to wait for two sailings before boarding the small electric boat crossing Kozjak Lake from P2 to P3. The massive queue in the opposite direction confirmed our suspicion that the majority of visitors entered through Entrance 1 and started at the Lower Lakes in the morning, before funneling towards the Upper Lakes in the afternoon.


In the course of more waterfalls along the lakeshore, crossing the largest lake in Plitvice took just 10 minutes followed by a quick lunch of sausages and fries from the concession stand. The only thing that wasn't quick was the men's washroom queue which was somehow hijacked by a sizeable group of senior ladies.


13:30. The next hour's hiking stood out IMHO as the best of Plitvice Lakes, a half dozen of the national park's iconic viewpoints all packed into a short 1.6 km of relatively easy trails. Our afternoon would start from the picnic grounds at P3, taking the uphill road at the fork and reaching a cliff edge viewpoint over the stunning Milanovački Slap waterfall between Kozjak and Milanovac Lakes.


13:45. Dazzling blue waters reflect the midday sun at the bottom of the precipitous limestone canyon cleaved open by the series of Lower Lakes. Blissful visitors along the path may not realize the presence of landmines in the area during the Yugoslav Wars, when the first casualty on the Croatian side happened here at Plitvice.


14:00. Our cliff edge trail continued north towards the end of the Lower Lakes, joined on the side by the national park's tallest waterfall and emptying into the Korana River that would eventually become part of the meandering Danube. Most visitors would naturally follow the stairs down to the bottom of Veliki Slap, and missing arguably the most magnificent panorama of the Plitvice Lakes.


14:20. This is it -- the world-famous viewpoint of Plitvice Lakes that the government does NOT want people to know about, as it remains accessible without a national park ticket as of 2019. For readers planning a trip to Plitvice, the viewpoint is situated on the northern cliffs (see map) above Veliki Slap, accessed via a small trail from the vehicle road just north of the small bridge.


14:40. After the viewpoint we backtracked to the bridge and hiked down to the bottom of the uninspiredly named Veliki Slap, or Big Waterfall, where we rejoined the hordes of organized tours crossing to the opposite shore of the Lower Lakes. We're now nearing the end of our easy 7.5 km hike, taking less time than planned despite our constant photo stops.


15:15. Bidding the sparkling blue lakes farewell, we took the shuttle bus from the chaotic ST1 and returned to ST2 to pick up our rental car. By 16:00 we're back at the apartment that we were fortunate to be put up at the previous night, in time for a quick nap before going out for a dinner that I frankly had very low expectations for. I had learned my lessons over the years of what to expect at a tourist restaurant in a touristy town.

But I was wrong.

Restaurant Review: RESTORAN DEGENIJA (Plitvice Lakes) (Location Map)

This modest hotel-restaurant smashed my strongest presumptions about lackluster and overpriced food at national parks. Granted this is a couple kilometres outside park boundaries, but repeat clients are probably rare in a small town that sees a million guests passing through every year. As a result I was almost expecting a ruinous dry piece of meat when I ordered the classic dish of Roasted Veal under the Peka, except it arrived perfectly succulent and fork tender as one would expect anywhere else in Croatia.


But the real surprise was my wife's plate of Grilled Pork Neck, well-charred, deliciously chewy and flavoursome especially with a drizzle of the spiced olive oil. This might have been our favorite dish in any national park in any country, with the notable exception of the magical Miyajima in Japan.

Meal for Two Persons

Mushroom Soup	23 Kuna
Roasted Veal Under the Peka	115 Kuna
Grilled Pork Neck with Vegetables	85 Kuna
Bottle of Water	25 Kuna
TOTAL	248 Kuna (CAD$50.6)

Special thanks to our friends at House Marija and our hosts at Apartman Majetić who collectively came to our rescue on that disastrous night of arrival. For readers looking for a clean and functional apartment three minute's walk from the village supermarket, search up these two apartments a 5 minute drive (or taxi) north of the national park entrance.


So was it necessary to rent a car for Plitvice National Park? Perhaps it wasn't a necessity with the myriad of B&Bs and hotels within walking distance of either Entrance 1 or 2, but it allowed us the freedom to spend an afternoon at Zadar prior to arrival, and to efficiently reach our next destination in Istria on the morning of departure. The alternative of various bus connections, especially from Plitvice to Rovinj or worse Motovun, would have cost a day and a half out of our sightseeing itinerary.


After our brush with catastrophe I double checked the booking site for all our upcoming reservations, ensuring that we won't be cancelled again as we took our car north into the Istrian Peninsula. It did turn out to be a memorable 36 hours at Plitvice Lakes, and for the right reasons fortunately.

IF YOU GO

Plitvice Lakes is well-connected by highway buses from Zagreb (2.5 hours) and Zadar (2 hours), stopping at both Entrance 1 and 2 of the national park. Connecting with Rovinj or Pula in Istria is possible via buses passing through Karlovac en route to Zagreb, but would likely take the full day. Rental car is really the best option for an onward journey into Istria, trust me.

Balkan Road Trip - 12. Trogir, Sibenik and Zadar

We could have easily spent a week or more at Split with its abundance of day-trip options, including numerous UNESCO World Heritage Sites, national parks and a charming ensemble of Adriatic islands. Three days were certainly not enough when every choice seemed equally attractive.


While we could have picked the emerald waterfalls of Krka National Park or the historic island of Hvar, we adopted the sensible plan to visit all four UNESCO World Heritage Sites along this central stretch of the Dalmatian coastline, making our way from Split to Trogir, Šibenik and finally Zadar.


With all four cities conveniently linked by highway buses, we gave up the rental car and traveled spot-to-spot by bus and ferry, eventually arriving at Zadar on our third day where we would pick up a car for the upcoming long drive towards Istria. And it would all start with charming little Trogir.


Largely overshadowed by neighbouring Split as a tourist destination, the island city of Trogir is among the most impressive Venetian maritime strongholds in Dalmatia along with world-famous Dubrovnik and Kotor, only with a small fraction of the visitors.


Over 2000 years of successive developments by Greek colonists to Roman and Venetian overlords have resulted in an impressive concentraion of historic architecture for a diminutive island barely 500m in length. Here scenes of the Nativity embellish the Cathedral's main portal, handcrafted by the town's favorite son Radovan and considered the finest work of Romanesque sculpture in Croatia.


Started in the 13th century and unfinished for another few hundred years, the Romanesque-Gothic Cathedral of St. Lawrence witnessed multiple evolutions in architectural styles that led to its unique combination of a Romanesque baptistry, Gothic rose windows and Renaissance ornaments.


Trogir's unique mishmash of Romanesque churches, Venetian Gothic windows and Renaissance palaces can be best appreciated from the Cathedral's bell tower, offering panoramas of its historic harbour and across the narrow channel to the adjacent large island of Ciovo.


Getting lost within Trogir's maze of cobblestone alleys seemed compulsory for every first time visitor, under constant distraction by its miscellany of little shops flaunting summery linen dresses and handcrafted jewelry. More bargains could be found at the Green Market across the bridge where lavender extracts and other local souvenirs were relatively cheaper compared with Split.


The 15th century bastion of Kamerlengo offers a different panorama from the western edge of Trogir, overlooking the petite island as a preserved medieval fortress that once functioned as an indispensable link in the chain of Venetian maritime defence along the Adriatic coastline from modern day Slovenia to Greece.


Last but not least, one of the best kept secrets about Trogir is the cheap sunset cruise back to Split in the form of the last scheduled ferry at 18:00, departing a small pier (see map) southeast of the Ciovo Bridge and coasting through the calm azure waters between the Adriatic islands and the Croatian mainland.


Split's glitzy waterfront promenade came back into view a little over an hour later, now becoming illuminated to the delight of the two dozen drunk college students on our ferry. This was our last evening in Split as we would take a 09:00 bus to Šibenik the next morning before continuing to Zadar in the afternoon.


The next day we arrived at Šibenik and allowed ourselves a short 4-hour window for left luggage, sightseeing, lunch and a little shopping before our 14:30 bus to Zadar. Fortunately our itinerary was straightforward with just two obligatory stops, starting with the UNESCO World Heritage Site known as Cathedral of St. James.


Conveniently situated 500m away from Šibenik's bus station, the 15th century cathedral is considered the important Renaissance architecture in Croatia with a spectacular baptistery and an octagonal dome fashioned after the Cathedral of Florence.


Priceless relief sculptures of the Twelve Apostles adorn the Western Portal crafted by Italian stonemasons at the height of Renaissance. In retrospect we could have spent more time at this underrated attraction, but our other unmissible stop awaited with even stricter hours of admission -- it's Bakalar Day at the jam-packed Buffet Šimun.

Restaurant Review: BUFFET ŠIMUN (Šibenik) (Location Map)

This is one of two restaurants out of a dozen in Dalmatia that stood heads and shoulders above everything else (the other being the magical Ficović). It was also the only occasion during our 22-day Balkan road trip where we were nearly turned away from a restaurant due to its extreme popularity.


A half-century-old institution here in Šibenik, Buffet Šimun is widely known among locals and tourists alike for its faithful rendering of Dalmatian classics, simmering fresh out of its homestyle kitchen and served to its regulars at blue collar prices. We knew the place would be packed on Fridays when the chefs show off their time-consuming recipes of reconstituted Bakalar, but it was near impossible to find two seats until two friendly Slovakian ladies invited us to share their table.

Once we found a place to sit though, everything came out perfectly beginning with this creamy Rizot od kozica with fresh, flavoursome Adriatic shrimps melting deliciously with grated cheese and risotto rice into a beautiful consistency. This was by far the tastiest -- and ironically the cheapest -- risotto we had along the Balkan coast from Montenegro to Istria.


And then this -- one of my most delicious memories of Dalmatia.

This signature dish is the reason why this family eatery gets packed every Friday. Gracing virtually every table was the traditional Dalmatian favorite of Bakalar bianco, a simple recipe of hand-shredded salted codfish mashed in with potatoes, minced garlic and of course, copious amounts of quality cold-pressed olive oil for the right consistency and irresistible aroma. Perhaps the most amazing part was the price of merely 60 Kuna, or 8 euros, for one of my favorite dishes in Croatia ... of any budget.


I could not refrain from drizzling more olive oil for that extra dose of Adriatic herbiness and velvety mouthfeel. To readers visiting Split and vicinity, plan to arrive on a Friday ideally before 11:00 for a shared table with its regular clientele. We arrived at about 11:50 and nearly gave up finding seats. You've now been warned.

Meal for Two Persons

Bakalar bianco	60 Kuna
Rizot od kozica	57 Kuna
Bread x 2	4 Kuna
Bottle of Water	25 Kuna
TOTAL	146 Kuna (CAD$29.8)

Somehow we still found 40 minutes for shopping at the open-air market despite our self-imposed four-hour window in Šibenik. With another hour I would have loved to scale the Barone Fortress for an unobstructed view of the old town, but we had a rental car to pick up at our next destination of Zadar.


Two hours later our bus arrived at Zadar's bus station where we were scheduled to pick up our rental car at 16:00, only to be foiled by the rental company's staff who had to make a hospital trip for some sort of emergency. So we switched up our plan and picked up water and grocery at the Konzum supermarket across the road, left our grocery with the car rental office then took a quick taxi to the far end of the Old Town, instantly recognizable by the unique monument known as Greeting to the Sun.


Consisting of more than 300 solar panels arranged into giant discs representing the sun and the eight planets, Greeting to the Sun not only stages a vibrant light show every evening, but also powers the LED street lights along Zadar's waterfront promenade.


The oldest city in Dalmatia brandishes its 21st century swagger with not one but two avant-garde monuments next to its medieval fortifications. Steps from the solar-powered light show is the popular Sea Organ, an audible installation consisting of a giant underground resonator actuated by crashing waves and attracting sunbathers of all ages to this unofficial public beach with smooth marble slabs instead of the typical Adriatic pebbles.


At the heart of the Old Town stands the most important pre-Romanesque architecture in Dalmatia, the 1200-year-old church of St. Donatus with its circular Frankish architecture from the same era as world-famous Aachen Cathedral, incorporating marble columns and slabs from the ancient Roman Forum on which it still sits.


Zadar's credential as a UNESCO World Heritage Site is best appreciated from the bell tower of its 13th century cathedral where the former island's Venetian fortifications -- several kilometres of medieval ramparts, crenellations and saltwater moats that frustrated the advance of the Ottoman Empire for centuries -- is revealed in its full glory. After the fortresses of Corfu, Kotor, Dubrovnik and Trogir above, this would be our last visit to a Venetian maritime stronghold on our 22-day journey along the Balkan riviera.


Our rental car was being readied as we slowly walked back to the bus station, the ailing staff now substituted by a young manager who upgraded our BMW 1-Series to an Audi A4 in the top trim, still keeping a diesel engine that would minimize our fuel cost over the next four days as we drove nearly 600 km from Zadar to Plitvice National Park to numerous Istrian hill towns before returning the car at Rovinj.

IF YOU GO

Trogir is located closer to Split Airport than Split itself, and Zadar has its own airport. Both airports are served by seasonal flights from Western Europe operated by low-cost airlines such as Easyjet and Ryanair. Once arrived at Split or Zadar, frequent highway buses easily connect between Split, Trogir, Sibenik and Zadar, in this order from east to west.