Croatia - Plitvice in October?
Jun 30th, 2011, 04:28 PM
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Croatia - Plitvice in October?
Has anyone been to Croatia in mid-October? How is the weather at the Plitvice Lakes during that month? Is it still warm enough to hike around the lakes?
Thanks for any input!
Thanks for any input!
Jun 30th, 2011, 07:00 PM
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I have not been to the Plitvice Lakes in October (I was there in May), but I would love to see it in all 4 seasons - I think it would be amazing and worth dressing for the occasion! Here's a link that might give you a bit more information:
http://www.adriatica.net/destination...litvice_en.htm
http://www.adriatica.net/destination...litvice_en.htm
Jun 30th, 2011, 10:27 PM
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I visited the park in early October in 2009 and the weather was terrific, fairly warm still. Fantastic hiking weather. I'm guessing mid-October would be fine on average, though of course one can never predict the weather for sure.
Jul 2nd, 2011, 06:22 PM
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At Plitvice, less crowded is best - there can be mobs of tour groups on the trails (there were in early October the time I was there). Even mid-October, on a weekend, I'd expect that especially if you have nice weather. Try to get into the park as early as possible to avoid the crowds - SO much more pleasant that way! By 11am I'm sure you'll see plenty of people, even though it's a huge park.
Jul 9th, 2011, 08:10 AM
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Me? I started in Italy and bused/trained over via Venice and Ljubljana to Zagreb. Then I rented a car in Zagreb and drove to the park, spent a night there, then drove on to Mostar and dropped my car in Dubrovnik a few nights later.
Easy drive from Zagreb to Plitvice, only about two hours. Driving in Croatia was very easy outside of the cities and even driving in BiH wasn't so bad. Only when I got to Dubrovnik did I have some stress.
Easy drive from Zagreb to Plitvice, only about two hours. Driving in Croatia was very easy outside of the cities and even driving in BiH wasn't so bad. Only when I got to Dubrovnik did I have some stress.
Jul 9th, 2011, 12:24 PM
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BiH = Bosnia and Herzegovina
I drove from Zagreb to Plitvice, night there, drove on to Baska Voda on the coast (small town a bit south of Split), night there, then one more night inland in Mostar in BiH. (FYI, because of the odd national boundaries, you must drive through a tiny sliver of BiH just driving down along the coast toward Dubrovnik, because a sliver of BiH touches the sea. But for Americans its a very easy border crossing each time; flash your passport and you are probably just waved through.)
Much of the drive down from Zagreb past Split toward Dubrovnik can be done on the super-modern A1 freeway, which looks like a nice new US interstate highway with blue signs (and turnpike-like tolls) instead of green signs. You do detour off the A1 for a while if stopping at Plitvice, on slower two lane highways (still not bad). They're extending the A1 all the way to Dubrovnik I believe but for now you have to drive another hour or so south past the A1 to Dubrovnik on the coast highway. Even so, the A1 is not nearly as scenic as the coast highway.
Driving on the A1 was super easy. Even the coast highway wasn't so bad, but I live near the Oregon Coast and have driven along the Oregon and California coasts before. To be fair, I was driving in October just past the peak season so the highways were not busy.
The scariest part of driving in Croatia on the two-lane roads was the aggressive passing of the locals. They tend to pass with what looks like not that much safe distance from the oncoming cars, but that's just how they drive there. Instead of slowing down and trying to be overcautious, I found it better (probably safer) to speed up (to some degree) and drive just like the locals. Once I got used to it driving was fine. I've driven in Israel before; by comparison, driving in Croatia was a piece of cake.
Durbrovnik on the other hand was a bit more stressful: pull-overs are limited, side streets are narrow, and you can wind up driving in circles. I was supposed to drop my Sixt car at the Hilton right in town. The Hilton was easy to find, but there was not a single sign outside for Sixt - where to drop it? Wasn't even easy just to pull up in front of the Hilton to run in to the front desk to ask. (This is where having a cell phone with the local Sixt number pre-programmed in was super helpful.) Turns out you have to pull into the Hilton parking garage and just find a marked Sixt spot, but there were no instructions ahead of time to do that. I also had forgotten to put petrol in my rental so I had to drive around to find a petrol station and I could find none anywhere near the Hilton (think: driving in circles, busy traffic, narrow streets, etc).
Had I known ahead of time how/where to drop the car and to put petrol in my car before getting into central Dubrovnik, things would have been much easier for me.
I drove from Zagreb to Plitvice, night there, drove on to Baska Voda on the coast (small town a bit south of Split), night there, then one more night inland in Mostar in BiH. (FYI, because of the odd national boundaries, you must drive through a tiny sliver of BiH just driving down along the coast toward Dubrovnik, because a sliver of BiH touches the sea. But for Americans its a very easy border crossing each time; flash your passport and you are probably just waved through.)
Much of the drive down from Zagreb past Split toward Dubrovnik can be done on the super-modern A1 freeway, which looks like a nice new US interstate highway with blue signs (and turnpike-like tolls) instead of green signs. You do detour off the A1 for a while if stopping at Plitvice, on slower two lane highways (still not bad). They're extending the A1 all the way to Dubrovnik I believe but for now you have to drive another hour or so south past the A1 to Dubrovnik on the coast highway. Even so, the A1 is not nearly as scenic as the coast highway.
Driving on the A1 was super easy. Even the coast highway wasn't so bad, but I live near the Oregon Coast and have driven along the Oregon and California coasts before. To be fair, I was driving in October just past the peak season so the highways were not busy.
The scariest part of driving in Croatia on the two-lane roads was the aggressive passing of the locals. They tend to pass with what looks like not that much safe distance from the oncoming cars, but that's just how they drive there. Instead of slowing down and trying to be overcautious, I found it better (probably safer) to speed up (to some degree) and drive just like the locals. Once I got used to it driving was fine. I've driven in Israel before; by comparison, driving in Croatia was a piece of cake.
Durbrovnik on the other hand was a bit more stressful: pull-overs are limited, side streets are narrow, and you can wind up driving in circles. I was supposed to drop my Sixt car at the Hilton right in town. The Hilton was easy to find, but there was not a single sign outside for Sixt - where to drop it? Wasn't even easy just to pull up in front of the Hilton to run in to the front desk to ask. (This is where having a cell phone with the local Sixt number pre-programmed in was super helpful.) Turns out you have to pull into the Hilton parking garage and just find a marked Sixt spot, but there were no instructions ahead of time to do that. I also had forgotten to put petrol in my rental so I had to drive around to find a petrol station and I could find none anywhere near the Hilton (think: driving in circles, busy traffic, narrow streets, etc).
Had I known ahead of time how/where to drop the car and to put petrol in my car before getting into central Dubrovnik, things would have been much easier for me.
