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Krka waterfalls- Best time and best hotel?

Krka waterfalls- Best time and best hotel?

Old Jul 17th, 2016, 11:17 AM
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Krka waterfalls- Best time and best hotel?

Me and my family are planning Croatia, Slovenia trip next May or June 2017.
Have some question about Plitvice Lakes National Park
1. Which is the best time of the year, so that there is good amount of water in the falls
2. Which is the most scenic location of the hotel
3. How many days minimum required for Plitvice Lakes National Park.

We are not hikers, but like to see the waterfalls.
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Old Jul 17th, 2016, 12:06 PM
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Typically the spring is a good time to visit to see active waterfalls. I visited Krka and Plitvice last May, and it seemed like a good time to go - the falls were all active I visited Plitvice in October a few years earlier - also a pretty good time to, actually, because the fall colors were starting and it was very pretty, but the water falls weren't as active.

At Plitvice, it barely matters. The attraction isn't really one particular waterfall but dozens of little waterfalls and huge lakes. Krka (a completely different park, nowhere near Plitvice) has a couple of big waterfalls, including the big cascading Skradnski Buk that most people see. I suspect those might be less impressive in October than in May.

One night is probably enough for most people to spend at Plitvice. You can easily get the gist of the park in 5-6 hours of moderate hiking. It's a highly developed park with boardwalks, etc. and getting around is easy even if you aren't active hikers, as long as you can walk. I prefer to spend the previous night in/near Plitvice and get in first thing in the morning when it opens (7am) to avoid the big tour groups. The park should be somewhat crowded by 10am, more so in June than in May probably.

There are a few hotels right in the park - overpriced but convenient.

If you are near Plitvice and want to see a truly big, amazing waterfall, you can travel into neighboring Bosnia to Una National Park, a very different kind of park from Plitvice. Una is not highly developed at all, and you have to drive a few kilometers over narrow, unpaved roads just to get to the waterfalls (though there is a parking area and good walkways at the falls itself.)

You can see my pictures here:

Plitvice:
http://www.portlandbridges.com/00,M2...0-croatia.html

Una:
http://www.portlandbridges.com/00,M2...,0-bosnia.html

Krka:
http://www.portlandbridges.com/00,M2...a-croatia.html
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Old Jul 17th, 2016, 05:52 PM
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You seem to be confusing two different national parks (NP) -- the Plitvice Lakes NP and the Krka NP. For both, spring would probably be best for volume, as that's when you get the run-off from melting snows, but I'm not sure how much difference it makes. I don't think you can actually see the falls from any hotel by either park, but I could be wrong about that.

IMO, the Plitvice Lakes National Park is the single most un-missable of Croatia's many splendors. Not only are the lakes connected by travertine waterfall formations, each lake has unique microbiota, and as a result, the lakes are different colors. The best way to see that is to make a single, long loop through the park -- something on the order of 6 hours or more (including time for the boat that connects the lower and upper lakes), and by all means, start at the lowest part of the park so you are facing the falls as you proceed. One night should be enough, though some people prefer two nights.

Despite the similarities, I was surprised by the differences between these two parks: As already noted, the Plitvice Lakes are, indeed, lakes, connected by gorgeous waterfalls, and part of the beauty of the park is that not only are there many, many waterfalls, but also, the lakes seem to be different colors. In contrast, Krka's most famous falls are along a river and the main set of falls are broader and contain more cascades (of varying heights and widths) than those of the Plitvice Lakes. You might do a google image search to see the differing images. Another difference is that swimming is permitted in part of the pool at the base of the major waterfall at Krka NP; to the best of my knowledge, no swimming is permitted anywhere within the Plitvice Lakes NP. For the Krika National park, you might want to plan on the better part of a day and you could stay in Skradin or (my preference) Sibenik.

Enjoy!
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Old Aug 17th, 2016, 09:15 AM
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Andrew & kja, Thanks for the detailed reply.
Searched Google maps and found the locations of all 3 National parks i.e. Plitvice- Una and Krka.
It also showed a photo of a beautiful waterfall at Doljani, Croatia near Una. Is it true?
Would ideally want to see all three.
Planning end of may or June.
Will I see Lavender bloom at Hvar in June?
How safe is it to Drive in Bosnia?
I am not keen on swimming.
Andrew, Amazing photos. I can see that you have done Slow shutter photography.
Did you use any ND filter?
Which time of the day is good to click these waterfalls.
I am planning to reach at 7 am.
Thanks for the suggestions again.
I can see that my 21 days for Slovenia and Croatia are not going to be enough
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Old Aug 17th, 2016, 12:31 PM
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Hi Paragkash. I'm not familiar with the waterfall at Doljani.

I found driving in Bosnia and Herzegovina to be safe enough. The roads were better than I expected. I do want to emphasize again what I said above about driving in Una National Park, though, that I had to drive a few kilometers over narrow, unpaved roads to get to the waterfall viewing area there.

Yes, I used an ND filter a couple of times, when it was extremely bright, to get long exposures on some of the waterfalls. But I also like to use a circular polarizer, which cuts down some of the light, but trying to use the ND as well makes things more complicated, so I rarely do that. I tried to stop the lens down as much as I could at the lowest ISO to get the slowest possible shutter speed. You can get that "misting" effect in the waterfalls even with only about a one second exposure - longer is better but I could live with less most of the time. You do the best you can!

The time of day varies a lot by which falls you are photographing (e.g. Plitvice). I visited the upper lakes in the morning and found I liked the light better than I might have in the afternoon. If I ever go back to Plitvice, I'll probably start at the lower lakes next time to try to get different light on the falls than I had on my prior visits.
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Old Aug 17th, 2016, 05:53 PM
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Glad you got it straightened out! I don't know the falls at Doljani, either, though they look beautiful.

I agree -- 21 days is not enough for Slovenia and Croatia!
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Old Aug 20th, 2016, 06:20 AM
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We were at both National Parks in May this year, I recommend at least 1 night (that's too speedy for me!) and staying at the Hotel Plitvice in a view suite with a balcony. At this hotel you can buy a 1 day ticket and visit the park 2 days in a row, terrific savings! You can hear the waterfalls from the hotel and see one of them with a zoom. I loved Plitvice in May, the spring rains made this park just magical - post all about it: http://rebeccasnyder.com/travel/ench...litvice-lakes/

Krka National Park is nice too, but it doesn't take that long to visit, the loop walk can be done in 40 minutes! We had so much time there we did the loop walk twice, plus visited the historic mill, had our picnic lunch, and spent a lot of time in the tiny museum. In order to spend more time in nearby Sibenik, I recommend driving to the top parking lot at Krka instead of taking the boat. We took the boat up the river, and you spend a lot of time waiting in queues for the boat to the park and waiting for a spot on the boat on the way back. Driving to the parking lot saves that time for more time in Sibenik. Although we stayed in Zadar, less than an hour's drive from Krka, consider staying in Sibenik. I really enjoyed our brief time there and it's not far from Krka.

The closer you get to summer, the more crowds there will be at these immensely popular National Parks, that's something to consider when deciding on May or June.

Happy Planning!
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Old Aug 20th, 2016, 08:33 AM
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It seems that RebeccaS did not visit Krka's upper lake area, with its Visovac Monastery. I missed it, too, but not for lack of interest -- I ran out of time.
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Old Aug 20th, 2016, 03:34 PM
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@kja Thanks so much for comment for everyone's edification! This has to be visited by boat and we didn't really have a keen interest to visit the Monastery.
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Old Aug 20th, 2016, 05:58 PM
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I'm sure not everyone wants to visit the Visovac Monastery, although it is supposed to be quite scenic and houses a very rare and very old illustrated copy of Aesop's Fables. I thought it would be helpful for people have a good sense of their options and the time it will require to visit them, not just a fast circuit of the lower park's walking loop.
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Old Aug 22nd, 2016, 09:58 AM
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RebeccahS, Andrew, KJA,
Thanks for your inputs.
I loved the images of Sibenik. Would love to stay there at least 1 night.
Visovac monastery has a picture post card setting. Would like to visit if time permits. It looks similar to lake Bled, Slovenia. So may not visit. Actually, all three National parks and waterfalls are somewhat similar and give a Deja Vu feeling. But I still want to visit all 3.
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Old Aug 22nd, 2016, 06:15 PM
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Sibenik is, IMO, delightful. The views from the hilltop castle and cemetery are magnificent, and the cathedral -- a UNESCO World Heritage Site in large part because of the unusual elements of its construction -- holds an absolutely stunning Renaissance baptistry. Lots of other stuff to enjoy there, too.
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Old Aug 23rd, 2016, 03:18 AM
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Kja,
Thanks for all those details. Sibenik was not on my radar.
But I studied it because you mentioned it. And with all those things to do and see, I feel I should have minimum 3 nights there.
Looks like my 21 days Croatia-Slovenia tour is getting expanded to 30 days
Any itinerary suggestions for 21 to 30 days trip?

Zagreb is a probable entry and exit point with good air connections.
We would try and rent a car throughout our journey into Slovenia and back to Croatia. Don't know if that is convenient and economical to take it to Hvar.

Thanks again.
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Old Aug 23rd, 2016, 06:21 PM
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If it helps you plan, I visited everything I wanted to see in Sibenik itself in just over a day, and used a second day for a day trip to the Krka National Park and Skradin.

I spent 30 very, very busy days in the area, and had to skip a lot. You just need to consult some good guidebooks (I found the Rough Guide to be the most useful, by far, of the half dozen I used when planning my time) and decide what you most want to see and do.

Consider some alternatives to flying into and out of Zagreb, as that routing would force you to backtrack about 600 kilometers (assuming Dubrovnik is in your plan).

Whether to take a car to Hvar depends on what you want to do there and whether you will have or want a car just before or after.

I didn't take a car into Slovenia and back -- check into the fees for doing so. There is an easy train connection between Zagreb and Ljubljana, and you can rent a car in Slovenia.
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Old Aug 26th, 2016, 11:06 AM
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Kja Thanks a lot.
would love if you can share your itinerary and notes on my email [email protected]
Have based my itinerary roughly on Rick Steves suggestions.
I think I should post a new thread for the itinerary.
Would love your valuable comments
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Old Aug 26th, 2016, 07:02 PM
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First and foremost, let me note that of the half-dozen or so guidebooks I used for planning my time in that area, the Rick Steves book was BY FAR the least useful. In fact, I found it essentially useless. The MOST helpful, BY FAR, was the Rough Guide. YMMV.

My notes are not in a format that can be shared, but I am always happy to answer questions to the best of my ability.

As for my itinerary, keep in mind that it is NOT one I recommend to anyone else, because it was tailored very specifically to MY interests and MY travel style (which is HARD -- on the go from breakfast until nothing else can possibly be done that day, and sometimes even then a bit of a walk). That said, here it is:

- Overnight flight to Sarajevo; 2 nights (not nearly enough)
- Train to Mostar; 1 night
- Bus to Dubrovnik; 3 nights (parts of days in Trsteno and Lokrum; car rental for 1 day to visit Perast & Kotor)
- Bus to Korčula; 1 night
- Ferry to Split; 1 night (not enough)
- Ferry to Stari Grad; 2 nights (part of a day in Hvar Town)
- Ferry & bus to Trogir; 1 night
- Bus to Šibenik; 2 nights (day trip to the Krka National Park & Skradin)
- Bus to Zadar; 1 night
- Picked up a rental car; stop in Nin en route to Rab Town; 1 night
- Stop in Senj en route to Lovran; 1 night; brief stop in Opatija while walking the Lungomare
- Stop in Bale en route to Rovinj; 1 night
- Stops at the Limski Kanal, Porec, Tar, Motovun, and Beram en route to Gračišće; 1 night
- Plitvice Lakes National Park; 1 night
- Čigoč and the Lonjsko Polje; 1 night
- Stop at Veliki Tabor en route to Varaždin ; 2 nights (part of a day in Čakovec)
- Returned car in Zagreb; 3 nights
- Train to Ljubljana; 2 nights
- Picked up rental car; stops at the Škocjan Caves, Predjama, and Lake Bohinj en route to Bled; 2 nights (part of a day at the Vintgar Gorge)
- Flight home

I'll look at your new thread in a little while.
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Old Sep 2nd, 2016, 08:33 PM
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@ Paragkash: Maybe you had nothing to say in response, but I wondered if you might have missed this reply?
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Old Oct 25th, 2016, 09:08 AM
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Hi Kja, yes I missed this post as you were giving me advice on the other thread.
Am flying to Mauritius tomorrow for a week. was a bit busy planning the trip and completing the projects in my hand before that.

Would have loved love to study from your notes.

Loved your itinerary.
It has places that i haven't even heard of. Will study more.

I like to see a lot, but may not have the stamina at the age of 50. We do stretch our day.

My typical day is; leave early by 6 or 7 am. roam till 1 pm. Come back to the apartment for lunch and a nap.
Out again at 4 to be back by 10 pm.

Am yet working on the itinerary.
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