golfbuddy

My wife and I are planning a May-June trip, which will include the Plitvice Lakes in Croatia. I've been reading reviews about lodging in the area. We will have a car, but would like to have the option of a restaurant dinner one of our two nights (the other night being at the sobe or inn which we choose). So which lodging would you recommend? I should note that my wife is a light sleeper, so a place with traffic or noisy bathroom pipes will not due. Thank you for your help!

Andrew

I stayed at one of the park hotels - I think there are three, all run by the park. I stayed at the Hotel Plitvice (aka Plitvice Hotel), which as I recall was the "middle" one in terms of budget and comfort. It felt like it hadn't been remodeled since the communist days (I guess you could consider that a sort of kitsch charm), but it was comfortable and convenient. I seem to recall I ate breakfast there (included?) but not other meals. The hotel is near the little town which has a few restaurants and bars - a few km away. I found a little pizza place/bar there in the town.

One advantage of staying at a park hotel: you can enter the park consecutive days with the same entry fee (at least this was true in 2009). The park's front desk can stamp your pass from the previous day, so you don't have to pay again if you want to enter the park a second day. I took advantage of this, after having spent the previous afternoon in the park. I spent a few hours the next morning, before the mobs of tour groups arrived and when the park was relatively quiet. If you stay at the park hotels, you can get down and in there first thing. Of course, if you stay at a soba outside of the park you can still drive over and get there early, but it sure seems easier if you can almost roll right out of bed, if you want, and go right out to the park.

Judy

We also stayed at a park hotel. It was fine and quite convenient. We arrived late so even had dinner there which was very good!

rialtogrl

I always stay here:
http://www.plitvice-croatia.com/

Its a cute and family owned inn, they have a great breakfast and the dinners are fabulous. It is on the road though, so you do hear the occasional car pass and there is nothing to do to stop those birds from chirping.

golfbuddy

Thank you for your comments. I have made reservations at Villa Mukinja.

KTtravel

I am just starting to plan a trip for next fall and wonder if a one day visit of Plitvice park is sufficient or if I should plan two days. Any thoughts?

Andrew

You can easily get the gist of the park in 5-6 hours. But it can get crowded with tour groups by late morning. I spent a night and saw the park one afternoon (some random tour groups) and then for a few hours the following morning (no tour groups til I was leaving).

It's really up to you if you want to absorb more of the park and spend more time. Some people may want to spend 2-3 days there I guess, but I suspect few people do.

One strategy I advocate (but didn't quite follow) is to arrive the night before, stay in/near the park, and start exploring first thing the next day and leave by late afternoon or as long as you feel you need. You can enter the park early, but there are some shuttle buses and boats that may not start running until some point in the morning.

golfbuddy

We're planning to stay 2 nites: arrive late afternoon, then spend the next day at the park. Since it will take us about 4 hours to get to our next destination, we decided to spend a 2nd night - rather than rushing and arriving late in Ljubljana.

kja

One day in the park is sufficient, IMO. Part of what makes these lakes so magnificent is that each 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). Depending on where you are going to / coming from, a 2nd night in the area might be a good idea, but it might not be necessary. As Andrew notes, the park can get very crowded with tour groups, and one strategy is to get an early start. In contrast, I waited until mid-morning to start and got there just after most of the tour groups.

I hope your dinner at the Mukinja is as good as mine was - absolutely delicious!

Andrew

golfbuddy, if you aren't already planning a stop in Zagreb, I might suggest you consider spending the second night there. It's only a two hour drive from the park, and you might wind up going near/through Zagreb anyway depending on your route to Ljubljana. And in May-June the days should be fairly long, so you could arrive in Zagreb before dusk.

The main thing is that there is not much going on in/around Plitvice at night. While you can find a few restaurants in town, in Zagreb you'd find a fairly vibrant urban scene with a variety of restaurants. Zagreb wasn't my favorite city (much preferred Ljubljana), but I'd probably want to spend a second evening there vs. back in/near the park. Some people aren't fans of big cities, though, I guess.

golfbuddy

Andrew, we'll take a look at Zagreb.

Kja, Thanks for note about 6 hours; by staying a second nite we could take a break in between - especially staying that close to the lakes. Start out early before tour groups and perhaps do the same at the end of the day. Glad to know we can look forward to a great dinner at Mukinja!

kja

"by staying a second nite we could take a break in between" -- actually, I do NOT recommend that. My point was that to really see the lakes and their colors, you need to make a SINGLE loop, which you can't do by going in part way twice. There is a boat ride in the middle of the loop, though, so you do get a break.

packinglighttravel

I was very pleased with our decision to spend the better part of two days in the park. It gave us lots of flexibility to hike the less busy trails during the busier parts of the day. In the event this review of our visit is useful, I'll include a link:
http://packinglighttravel.com/destin...national-park/