How to visit Plitvice Lakes in one day

Plitvice Lakes is the largest National Park in Croatia and it’s one of the places you can’t miss during your trip to Croatia.

It’s hard to describe how beautiful this place is for someone who hasn’t seen it in real life. I am sure the pictures will already help you set your expectations for what you’re about to see, but trust me when I say that the Plitvice Lakes National Park is even more beautiful in person.

In this article, I’ve put together a guide for visiting Plitvice Lakes in one day with our itinerary and personal tips for making the best of your trip. We’ve made a few mistakes during our visit and I’ll share them below so you don’t have to do them as well.

Book your day trip to Plitvice Lakes:

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How to get to Plitvice Lakes National Park

Plitvice Lakes National Park is located in the mainland of Croatia, close to the border with Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Since it’s only 2h away from Zagreb, most people visit it as a day trip from the capital, but you can also get here from other destinations in Croatia.

Getting to Plitvice Lakes by car

In my opinion, having a car is the best way to travel around Croatia because it allows you to make up your own schedule and route.

Plitvice National Park is no exception… since it’s a nature-protected area, public transport here is scarce so traveling with your own car will make the trip more comfortable and flexible.

Plitvice Lakes is located just a 2h drive from Zagreb. Once you get here, you’ll need to choose which entrance to use: Entrance 1 or Entrance 2. 

Both of them have parking lots available but the entrance you use will play a big role in your route for exploring the park. I’ll give more details about which entrance we recommend later on.

Parking at Plitvice costs between € 1-2 per hour depending on the season (summer being the most expensive time of the year).

We always use DiscoverCars to rent our car. So far it has proved to be not only the cheapest option but also the most reliable one. We used DiscoverCars to rent our car for our trips through Slovenia, Montenegro, Serbia, Italy, and so many other countries, and we never had any issues. We even convinced all of our friends and family to use it. So that’s why we are also recommending it to you!

Read more: Driving in Croatia, a guide for foreigners

Getting to Plitvice Lakes by public transport

If you won’t be traveling by car, you can get to Plitvice Lakes by bus. 

The route will differ depending on your starting point so I recommend checking a transport comparison platform like Omio that will show you the bus options available. 

There are a few different companies operating in Croatia, I’d recommend you pick the one whose schedule best fits your needs.

Read more about Croatian public transport here.

Important tip: Bus websites normally use the park’s local name so make sure you search for Plitvička Jezera.

The main downside about visiting Plitvice Lakes with the bus is that you have to be really careful about the schedule. During the high season, it’s recommended to book the bus ticket upfront.

waterfall in plitvice lakes in croatia

Visiting Plitvice Lakes with a day tour

Another great option for visiting Plitvice Lakes is to book a day trip. This is a very convenient option because transport will be arranged for you and most tours also include a guide and entrance tickets.

There are tours available from many destinations around Croatia, see a few options below:

How to get around inside Plitvice Lakes National Park

If you will be visiting Plitvice Lakes in just one day, the most important thing is to plan your trip upfront to make the most of your time there. The park is enormous so planning is essential to make sure you’ll see everything you want.

Inside the park, there are a lot of marked walking trails and, for the longer distances, there are also bus lines and ferries. 

Both of these are included in the price of the ticket, all you need to do is make sure you check the timetable to know when they operate. Make sure you get the timetable brochure when you enter the park and plan your day around it!

When I visited Plitvice Lakes for the first time, we missed the last bus that would take us back to our entrance and ended up spending more than 1h walking back on foot, we even got a bit lost along the way since it started getting dark. Everything turned out ok but we lost a lot of time with this little mistake.

plitvice lakes seen from above

How much time do you need to visit Plitvice Lakes?

I truly believe one day is more than enough to visit Plitvice Lakes National Park. You’ll be able to see the main attractions and sights within a day.

However, this will be a full day of walking and exploring, so make sure you are in good physical condition for this. 

You can count on arriving early and leaving the park late afternoon (we stayed there until 17h). It’ll be a very tiring day but really worth it!

I recommend arriving as early as you can so you can enjoy the first moments before the park gets busy with tourists.

That being said, if you have any mobility issues or you will be traveling with kids at a slower pace, you can visit Plitvice Lakes in two days instead of one. If this is your case, I’d recommend visiting the Lower Lakes on one day, and the Upper Lakes on another. 

Read also: 7-day itinerary in Croatia

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Where to stay near Plitvice Lakes

If you would like to stay near the park, there are a handful of accommodations available. Ideally, we recommend getting a place as close to the park entrance as possible to make your visit smooth in the morning.

These are our suggested places to stay near Plitvice Lakes:

Visiting Plitvice Lakes: 2025 Ticket prices

The price of the entry ticket varies depending on the time of the year, see below:

Season

2025 Price (adult)

November to March

€ 10

April, May, October

€ 23

June to September (day entrance)

€ 40

June to September (entrance after 15/16h)

€ 25

They also have special prices for students, groups, etc. Check their official website for more information.

Pro tip: If you decide to book a day tour to spend a day at Plitvice Lakes, check whether the tour includes the entrance ticket or not! A lot of the tours already include the ticket so you don’t need to worry about this part.

Do I need to buy the Plitvice Lake entry ticket in advance?

There is no need to buy your ticket in advance if you will be visiting outside of peak season

I do, however, recommend buying your ticket upfront if you will be visiting in July and August just to make sure you’re guaranteed to be able to visit on the day you want to. Also, this will help you avoid the ticket booth lines at the entrance.

You can buy the ticket online on their website or in person at the park’s entrance

friends at plitvice lakes in croatia

When to visit Plitvice Lakes National Park?

Even though the park is officially open during the entire year, your visit to Plitvice Lakes will look very different if you go during the summer vs during the winter.

High season at Plitvice Lakes goes from June to September, which is when the park has its busiest days. It’s also when nature is lush and green, like most pictures you see online.

The low season at Plitvice Lakes is during the winter, between November and April. It is common to see snow during the peak of winter at Plitvice Lakes, which makes the landscape look a bit like a scene from Frozen. It’s still magical but in a whole different way.

My first visit to Plitvice Lakes was during the month of April. It was a great time because the park was empty but as you can see from many of the pictures, the vegetation was still dry from the winter because spring hadn’t hit off fully yet.

I personally think that the best months for visiting Plitvice Lakes are May and June.

Pro tip: Regardless of the time of the year you decide to spend a day in Plitvice Lakes, just make sure you pick a sunny day if you can. Sunny weather is essential to make the blue color of the water stand out as you see in the pictures.

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One-day visit to Plitvice Lakes

Now that you know all the essentials for visiting Plitvice Lakes, let me guide you through our one-day itinerary.

As I said at the start, the most important thing is that you need to decide your starting point.

  • If you start on Entrance 1, you will walk upwards so you’ll have a frontal view of the waterfalls but the path will be a bit more demanding since it will be uphill.
  • If you start on Entrance 2, you’ll start close to the Upper Lakes and you’ll make a descent towards Entrance 1. This direction is less demanding.

We decided to start our day at Plitvice Lakes on Entrance 1 so we would have the best views of the waterfalls. It was also great because we went straight for the boardwalk path through the waterfalls, so we had the place almost empty before the crowds came in.

I highly recommend organizing your visit this way!

Map of Plitvice Lakes

To help you plan your visit, here’s a map of Plitvice Lakes National Park.

map of plitvice lakes

Visiting the Lower Lakes

plitvice lakes in croatia

If you start your one-day trip to Plitvice Lakes at Entrance 1 as we did, you’ll start your day exploring the Lower Lakes. This is the most iconic part of the park that is featured on all the postcard views.

As soon as you walk inside the park, there will be a fork where you’ll need to pick between a forest trail and the boardwalk path. Go to the boardwalks so you can walk next to the river.

You’ll pass countless waterfalls and have really incredible views along the way! I loved this part of the visit.

Don’t miss Veliki Waterfall, the largest one in the park with over 78 meters of height.

Visiting the Upper Lakes

The Upper Lakes are a different section of the park that is rarely featured in the pictures and postcards. Here, the narrow waterfalls and lake sections give way to wide, calm lakes.

The view is beautiful and really peaceful!

To explore the Upper Lakes, you’ll need to use the ferry to cross from one side to the other. The water is crystal clear so you can spot tons of fish swimming in the lakes.

plitvice lakes in croatia

Infrastructure at Plitvice Lakes National Park

Especially around the Upper Lakes area, there are a lot of picnic tables that you can use whenever you need to take a break. We highly recommend bringing a water bottle and some snacks since you’ll be spending the entire day at Plitvice Lakes.

There are also a few toilets and restaurants spread around the park. We recommend scheduling a break time around noon so you can have some time to relax your legs and eat something.

The park is very well organized. Since this is a highly protected area, make sure you respect the environment! Take back any trash you generate and don’t leave out any traces, especially when it comes to snacks that the local animals could take advantage of.

Our personal tips for visiting Plitvice Lakes in one day

  • Wear comfortable walking shoes. The path can be quite slippery because the boardwalks are really close to the water. Don’t come in flip-flops or sandals, they won’t do you any good.
  • If you visit right after a rainfall, you can expect to find some mud along the way, so closed shoes would be the best fit.
  • Bring a refillable water bottle like this one.
  • If you will be visiting Plitvice Lakes during the peak of summer, it gets really hot during the day so make sure you bring sunscreen, sunglasses, and whatever else you need. It’s also important to take breaks during these really warm days.
  • Arriving early is key to making sure you’ll enter before the big groups. Those moments we had before the crowds came in were some of my favorites, I highly recommend the early wake-up call!
  • The park is really enormous, so it’s easy to get distracted by the incredible views along the way. If there is any specific view or picture you want to take, make a note of it upfront to guarantee you won’t miss it during your visit.
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FAQ – Popular questions for visiting Plitvice Lakes in Croatia

Can you swim in Plitvice Lakes?

No, swimming in Plitvice Lakes is strictly forbidden because this is a natural protected area.

Every visitor must stay within the marked trails only.

Do you need a guide for visiting Plitvice Lakes?

It’s up to you!

We honestly did not feel the need to hire a guide for our one-day visit to Plitvice Lakes. The trails are well-marked and the park is very well-organized, so you can easily do it all on your own.

That being said, if we had a guide we would not have gotten lost or missed our bus, so I guess there is some advantage to guided tours.

Guided tours are also a good option if you want to get to know more about the nature and history of Plitvice Lakes. If this sounds interesting to you, check out this guided tour.

Which entrance is better for visiting Plitvice Lakes?

Entrance 1 is closer to the Lower Lakes and entrance 2 is closer to the Upper Lakes. It’s up to you which one to start at.

I personally think it’s better to start your day at Plitvice Lakes from Entrance 1 because they’re closer to the waterfalls, which are the views most people are interested in! 

The Lower Lakes are also the busiest part of the park since the boardwalks are quite narrow, so it’s good to see them right at the start of the day before the crowds come in.

Is Plitvice better than Krka National Park?

Both Plitvice and Krka National Park are really stunning nature spots in Croatia. 

A lot of people used to prefer Krka National Park because swimming next to the waterfalls used to be allowed, but that’s no longer the case.

I personally like Plitvice National Park better because it is larger and more diverse than Krka National Park.

But they are both really incredible places and if you have the time, I’d highly recommend visiting both!

Organizing your trip

To help you plan your trip to Croatia, we have put together our favorite planning resources: 

  • Flights: Get affordable flights to Croatia on Skyscanner.com
  • Travel insurance: Make sure you are protected during your trip. We use SafetyWing whenever we are traveling abroad. 
  • Renting a car: We always use Discover Cars to get the best car deals. 
  • Accommodation: Find the best hotels and apartments on Booking.com
  • Activities: Get fun ideas of what to do and buy unique activities with Get Your Guide. 
  • SIM Card: Stay connected during your trip with Airalo. 

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