Plitvice Lakes Guided Walking Tour with Panoramic Train and Boat Ride

Plitvice Lakes National Park

Plitvice Lakes National Park lies in the forested hills of central Croatia, roughly halfway between Zagreb and Zadar, and is the country's oldest and largest national park: founded in 1949 and inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage list in 1979. Its sixteen lakes are strung along a valley in two groups, the Upper and the Lower Lakes, separated by natural dams of travertine, a porous rock that forms when calcium carbonate in the water settles on moss and algae. The barriers keep growing, so the waterfalls slowly change shape.

The park is a Dinaric karst landscape, which is why the water is so clear and so intensely turquoise. Spring and autumn are the best time to visit Plitvice Lakes: the waterfalls are fullest after snowmelt and the autumn colours in the beech forest are spectacular. Summer is busiest, and in winter parts of the boardwalk may close. Plitvice Lakes opening hours change with the season, and the park sells timed entry tickets online, which you need before joining this walk.

The Lower Lakes canyon and the Great Waterfall

The tour begins at Entrance 1, which opens directly on to the most famous view in the park: the Lower Lakes seen from the canyon rim, with the Great Waterfall (Veliki Slap) dropping about 78 metres down a limestone cliff. From here the guided walk descends on wooden boardwalks that zigzag down into the canyon, crossing the water on footbridges built just above the surface, past the lakes Novakovića Brod, Kaluđerovac, Gavanovac and Milanovac.

This Plitvice lower lakes tour section takes about two hours and includes a short break. The canyon is the most dramatic part of the park, with cliffs on both sides, caves in the rock and the cascades of Sastavci where the waters of the whole lake system and the Plitvica stream meet. The guide points out the best spots for photos and explains how the travertine barriers formed. The path has steps and uneven boards, so comfortable shoes with grip are essential.

Lake Kozjak and the electric boat

At the top of the canyon the walk reaches Lake Kozjak, the largest and deepest of the sixteen lakes, about four kilometres long and almost fifty metres deep in places. The lake acts as the hinge of the whole park, dividing the Lower and Upper Lakes, and crossing it by the park's quiet electric boat is the easiest way to move from one half to the other. The ride takes about twenty minutes, with forested slopes on both shores and the water so clear you can see the trout below the boat.

The boat is part of the park's internal transport, included in this Plitvice tour with boat and train, and the landing stage on the far side is where the Upper Lakes walk begins. It is also a natural place for a rest, with benches and a small refreshment point at the pier; the guide will tell you how long the break lasts before the group continues.

The Upper Lakes

The Upper Lakes are the gentler, greener half of Plitvice: a wide valley where twelve lakes step down one into the next through forests of beech and fir, each separated from the one below by a travertine barrier covered in moss and small waterfalls. The boardwalks here lead along the shores of Gradinsko, Galovac and Okrugljak and past the Veliki Prštavac and Mali Prštavac falls, where the water sprays through the trees rather than plunging over a cliff.

The Plitvice upper lakes tour part of the walk lasts about two hours and is quieter than the canyon, because many day visitors only see the Lower Lakes. It is the best stretch for wildlife and birdlife and for close-up photos of the cascades, as the paths run right beside the water. Having a guide here matters: the trails branch in several directions, and the guide takes the loop that shows the most waterfalls in the time available.

The panoramic train and the return to Entrance 1

At the upper end of the park the group boards the panoramic train, an open-sided road train that runs along the ridge above the lakes. The ride of about twenty-five minutes gives a different perspective: instead of looking up at the waterfalls from the boardwalks, you look down over the whole chain of lakes through gaps in the forest. It also saves the long walk back, which is why the circular route of this tour covers both halves of the park in six hours without exhausting anyone.

From the train stop a final guided walk of about half an hour returns you to the cafeteria at Entrance 1, where the tour ends around mid-afternoon. If you have energy left, the viewpoints along the canyon rim near the entrance are worth a second look in the afternoon light. For anyone wondering what to see in Plitvice Lakes in a single visit, this loop is the complete answer.