August 3
This morning was a start to a new section of the trip. We had only been in Croatia for less than 12 hours and now we were to head to one of the most sought after locations of the trip. This was the world famous Plitvice Lakes National Park. With that in mind, we had a couple connections to get in order to get there, and they were all by bus, and we needed to get back to the station to get a night train ticket to Split. The first order of business was to get Croatian Currency, and for about $141 we were able to get 800 CK. This allowed us to be able to get through the more primitive towns of Croatia which only accepted cash. This was evident based on some of the scenarios we came through on the way up to here.
After the important part of gathering currency was complete and checking out the hotel was finalized (though we left our bags in storage for the day), we headed to the bus station located near the train station which is the primary means of transport to this park. We had to headed to the bus station in Zagreb in order to get there, and it cost about 16$ per person to get on the bus for the trip. This was going to be worth it, and once we arrived, we knew we were going to have to pay more for entry into the park.
The drive to get there was overall pretty smooth, over gorgeous landscape which changes with every turn of the car it seems. This bus stop brings you right to the main gates of the park, and there were already 200 people in line by the time we were able to get our spot in line. The cost to enter the park was a whopping $40 a person once converted, but for the experience it was worth it.
The park itself was well managed and pristine. It was obviously a huge source of tourism for the country and one could tell they were proud of their park with how much detail went into building walkways, and paths for tourists to walk, and explore the park. The entrance is located about 300ft above the waterfalls, and immediately as you enter you are presented with an amazing overlook to the plitvice waterfalls that have become world famous, even though this is just a taste of what one is in for once you start to explore. Unfortunately for us, since we had to connect by bus back to the city on time, we had to leave in about 2hrs 30 minutes so we wouldn’t miss our night train transfer. This is not enough time to explore the whole park, as we were only able to see about half of what is available to the explorer.
The pathway to the waterfall section is about a quarter mile of descending switchbacks and it splits into an east or westward path that comes to an end eastward at the highest waterfall of the park. The overlook form this one can see multiple waterfalls crashing into the bottom. This was a spectacular start to this tour, though it was very crowded.
We continued back to the split and headed westward, and this pathway leads along the multiple terraced lakes, and waterfalls created from them. The lakes had thousands of fish, and species which could be seen with crystal clear deep blue hued water. It was almost like a fairy tale to be honest. The colors and the natural beauty around us made us wonder in awe of the beauty we were being presented with.
As we continued along the path, we headed to the bat cave they had as part of the walking tour. This was a small cave which required a steep climb to get to which hosted the bats that come out at night. Though we didn’t see any bats, we didn’t get into the cave very deep either, thus we just enjoyed a little effort climbing, then continued our walking tour. Once again this tour continues along the lakes with countless waterfall terraces, until you reach the half way point which is a series of restaurants and family oriented eateries so people could relax halfway through their tour. We decided to have lunch here, and unfortunately after buying our salad, pretzel, beer, and snack, it started to rain on us. This was humorous but also a little disappointing as it cut about 20 minutes of our exploration time out, and we couldn’t see the next part of the park….explain.
This meant it was time to head to the bus stop, and head back to Zagreb. This was a good thing as we were ready to get back into a pattern so we knew we couldn’t be stressed about connections. We ended up making the bus stop on time, however I Was anxious because the bus was running late, and there was no way to know if we missed the bus or it was just delayed. Either way we made it, and enjoyed the ride back.
We arrived in Zagreb after dark, and needed to find dinner. We ended up finding a local restaurant and bar for dinner, and fortunate for us there seemed to be a local festival going on at the time. There were any people selling beer, and food and desserts outside, all while the center stage built in the cities main park was overtaken by performers, while locals danced and sang with the music. It truly was a nostalgic moment to be there among the locals, begin treated like one of theirs. Someone even bought us a beer when they heard we were visiting from America. We had an extreme appreciation for the site that night and with that in mind we headed to the train station as our 11pm departure was only about 30 minutes from leaving.
When we arrived we figured it was time for one more beer ( I swear Im not alcoholic), and we headed from there to out designated section of the train. This was our first night train ever, thus we were not sure what to expect, but after being put into the cabin like a sardine, we were able to get our things secured, and safe, and were able to fall asleep for about 6 of the 7 hours the train ran through the night. Time to explore Split tomorrow!
(bus from Zagreb) (16$)
Cost:16$ pp for entry
back to Zagreb dinner then
(11pm train nt 821 to Split at 6:45)
Walking Ideas
(6:42-12:38 direct ft 200)
(afternoon train from Budapest have dinner and explore town)
-cathedral
-art pavillion
-town square
-chapel
-tunel gric
148051439502 Youth hostel zagreb $43.33
ADD Plitvice $40 a person
EXPENSES
22 EU night train cabin
28 ukr room and tax and membership
WITHDREW 141$/ 800 croatian
14 donuts
14 drinks water
12 coffee
131 lunch plitvice
80 Euro 2 entry to Plitvice
2x16Euro for bus ride
42 snacks at gas station
71 beers
44 beers
136 dinner
36 beer
17 beer
Total – 98.35 EU (255+16=271 total over)