After being distracted by several other alluring destinations during a recent holiday, I finally made my way to one of Southeast Europe’s oldest park and a UNESCO World Heritage Site, Plitvice Lakes National Park or the Nacionalni park Plitvička jezera in Croatian. Made up of 16 interlinked lakes, the park is noted by UNESCO for its “outstanding natural beauty”. Here are the top 10 photos from my hike in this waterfall wonderland.
Behind the falls is Milanovac Lake. This lake is the biggest of all the lower lakes. It is 470 metres long and its width varies from 50 metres to 90 metres, with a depth of 18 metres in the beginning section. The water colour varies from blue to green, depending on how bright the day is and also where you’re observing it from.
The Big Cascades, located in Gavanovac Lake. Cascades are Plitvice Lakes National Park’s speciality.
Veliki slap, or The Great Waterfall, the tallest waterfall in Croatia with a drop of 78 metres.
More waterfalls adjacent to The Great Waterfall.
Kaluderovo Lake on the left. The lake gets its name from “kaluder”, meaning a hermit who once used to live either in a semi cave next to the water or in the upper cave at the canyon edge.
Cascades at a tufa barrier between the lakes Gavanovac and Kaluđerovac.
Kozjak Lake is the largest lake in Plitvice. It got its name from a legend, which said that 30 goats drowned as they tried to cross the ice-covered lake while escaping from wolves.
High flow volume of water at another cascade.
The Great Waterfall and Sastavci.
Another set of cascades at the upper lakes.