UNESCO Plitvice Lakes in Croatia: Nature at its finest

Our bus ride from Slovenia into Croatia was uneventful. We were delayed about ten minutes during our trip by road construction, but that is nothing different from travel in the USA.  Our hotel in Zagreb (the capital city of Croatia) was renovated in 2022 while it was closed for Covid and is still very nice. For four euros more a night, I selected the deluxe room, so we have plenty of space and a real king-sized bed. We've been happy with all our hotel rooms except the one that developed the bad smell in Bologna, Italy.

I selected a visit to Zagreb not for the city itself; it is a rather simple Balkan city with an old part of town and a newer section, fresh fruit and flower markets and many cathedrals. We are here so that we could travel to Plitvice National Park and its four UNESCO-designated lakes and waterfalls. Sixteen named waterfalls and hundreds of other waterfalls based on the rainfall and lake water levels. We did a 10-hour tour yesterday to Plitvice Lakes and the waterfalls were spectacular! We made a stop enroute at Rastoke, where waterfalls channeled thru the houses and, in olden times, turned mill stones. The entire town's population ground grain using the water channeled thru the lower level of their house.  

Rastoke watermills

We arrived at the main event, Plitvice Lakes shortly before 11 am. Phillip and I were in a group of 8 people, led by Bojan, our tour guide. He knew the right route to take to avoid the worst crowds and the best spots to get great pictures. My Fitbit showed over 20,000 steps, 8.67 miles, by the end of the day. We began with a walk along the upper edge of the lakes, then went lower, right on the edge or even over the lakes. The beginning and ending photos of this series are the same waterfall, just from a different elevation and angle.  

Most walkways were these wooden platforms 

Some walkways were barely above the water level