rialtogrl

Andrew, agreed, it would be beautiful in the snow! But snow is one thing, ice and cold rain are another. You know how slippery those wood paths can get without ice or rain. Just imagine what they are like when it is icy.

Flexibility is key.

kja

Re: driving after dark. IME, the major roads would likely be fine (assuming no snow, sleet, ice, etc.), but the back roads – including those of Istria and in/around the Plitvice Lakes -- are not roads that I wanted to drive after dark. Some of these roads will be dark, narrow, and twisting; some locals drive well above the speed limits and in the middle of the road, etc. And even if conditions are generally clear, small patches of snow or ice can lurk in shady patches of these roads.

FWIW, I think rialtogrl has given you some excellent advice.

kja

@ Andrew – I would like to thank you for your response to me. Really, I would LIKE to do so. IMO, your … uh … (non) response speaks volumes about your capacity for graciousness. Be well, Andrew.

ks1234

@ Rialtogrl

Thank you for the inputs. Below are the travel times I have worked out.

Zagreb to Ljubljana - ~2 hrs by train - Early morning train reaches at 9:30
Ljublana to Bled- ~1 hr by Bus - There is one bus nearly every hour both to and fro
Ljublana to Rijeka - ~2.5 hrs by train - Early morning train reaches at 10:00
Rijeka to Plitivice - ~3 hrs by Car, similar by bus
Rijeka to Zadar- ~3 hrs by Car, similar by bus

We'll probably play Plitvice by the ear depending on weather. Can we do krka NP instead? How is that like during Feb? or we may directly head to and spend the night in Zadar.

Will surely report back.

rialtogrl

Rijeka to Plitvice is less than three hours... depends on trucks and traffic once you get off the highway part.

I can't comment on Krka, maybe someone else can! I am glad you are flexible!

Andrew

One note about Google Maps (which I otherwise found fairly accurate in Croatia): when you plot a course to Plitvice, for some reason it chooses the edge of the park but not the actual entrance (which has a good public road right through it). The entrance is on the east side of the park, east of the lakes. Anyway, I'd add another 20 minutes to Google's estimates there.

Krka is a lovely park. The highlight (which is all I actually saw) is the magnificent cascading waterfall called Skradinski Buk. There's nothing like this at Plitvice. There's an old power station and an old house of some sort, and you can walk up the (not vertical) falls and around and back the other side.

You can probably drive close to the Skradinski Buk in Feburary, assuming the roads are open - I think there's a parking lot which I didn't use. I think the park is open all year - check their website. Otherwise, you can do what I did - if this goes in February - and take a boat from the town of Skradin up the river to the falls. It's a nice little trip.

There is more to Krka than just Skradinski Buk: another tall waterfall, some Roman ruins, etc. Check the park website. You have to drive to it piece by piece or take a guided boat tour. Plitvice is different in this respect: it's pretty much a single experience, where you park your car and go into the park and see everything. (The upper and lower lakes trails are connected by a 20 min boat ride on one of the lakes in Plitvice - or by a shuttle "train" (bus) - but otherwise it's really one coherent experience at Plitvice.)

In terms of comparing the parks: Krka is great, but I prefer Plitvice, hands down. It's got literally dozens of waterfalls (mostly small, a few big) and big lakes and lots of trails in between and over little bodies of water. Just a little wonderland. If you can't get there, you can't get there. Krka is still very much worth your time, but I wouldn't consider it a substitute.

kja

There are several entrances to the Krka National Park. The one Andrew describes is the Skradin entrance. According to the park's web-site, the boats don't run in winter, but one can walk to the park from Skradin. The other main entrance is at Lozovac, and it sounds like drivers are allowed access to that entrance during the winter, when the boats don't run -- but I don't know for sure. Consult the park's web-site.
http://www.np-krka.hr/stranice/about-us/1/en.html

The lower part of the park includes Skradinski Buk and a set of falls up-river to either side of islands that split the river; most visitors make a loop including both sides.

At the top of that part of the park, there is a dock from which you can get a boat upriver, and at least one boat beyond that. As already noted, the boats don't run in winter.

It's a lovely park. I agree that doesn't substitute for the Plitvice Lakes, but it might make more sense given your constraints.

ks1234

We'll try for Plitvice if not then Krka. If even that is closed or inaccessible then we'll head straight to Zadar.

Fingers crossed for good weather.