Day Trip to.plitvice-lakes from Zadar
 

I will be in Zadar in a few days and am wondering if it is doable to make a day trip to the national park. I know there would be many organized tours, but I rather do it on my own.
If it is doable from Zadar, are there public transportation from Zadar to the National Park?

Sure, they are daily direct buses:

https://getbybus.com/en/

but personally, I wouldn't go near Plitvice mid-day this time of year, unless you like big crowds. I always advise staying a night at the park and going in first thing in the morning so you can have an hour or two before the big crowds. This would be less of an issue off season, but now you are getting close to high season. I'll bet Plitvice would be miserable as a day trip in June.

Are you sure you aren't thinking of Krka National Park? it is north of Split (near Sibenik) south of Zadar. Plitvice is further north of Zadar.

An organized tour would make getting to either park easier but once you get there isn't required at all. It's quite easy to see either Plitvice or Krka on your own.

(Or unless you mean Zagreb not Zadar.)

Krka seems to be heavily promoted by the local tourism operators here in Split. You are right I got confused about Krka and Plitvice. i will see if I can make a trip to Krka while I am in Split, and plan to go to plitvice when I arrive in Zadar. I rather make my own trip rather than joining a group.
Thank you, again, Andrew. Being in this area for the first time I have not done any homework before I got here. I went to Spain for a month, and decided to have a quick visits to Former Yugoslavia countries.

Jumping in a bit late here, but you can visit either site on your own! There are routine buses along the coast (e.g., from Split to / from Zadar) that would allow you to visit the Krka National Park -- probably by stopping at Skradin. I agree with Andrew that it makes most sense to give the Plitivice Lakes a night -- but I'm not a morning person, and so wouldn't place the same emphasis on starting early. To each his/her own....

I made a day trip to Krka National Park from Split by joining a tour operator. It was too late to do some reasearch to see if I could take public transport. Yes, it is possible to take public transportation (leaves Split 9:30) and takes about one hour 10 minutes each way. Beautiful.

I did not overnight in the park because I did not have the time but made a day trip to Plitvice from Zadar on public transport. Leaves Central bus terminal about 8:30 am. Takes about 2 hours each way. Plitsvice is much larger and more spectacular. Admission costs about $23 that includes boat rides in the park. For a day trip, basically there is one bus to Plitvice and one or two return. Actually three buses a day (r/t) but it takes 5 hours or more to visit the park. So if you takes 2nd or 3rd bus not enough time to see the park. The park was indeed crowded because everyone must stay on the trails.

Well, I'm glad you made it to both parks!

What did your tour to Krka actually include? The park is actually larger than you might think - it's a series of attractions that are spread out, whereas Plitvice is pretty compact and cohesive. One part of the park is the Skradinski Buk cascading waterfall - surely you saw that, but did you go to the other attractions too? I saw only Skradinski Buk - I could have driven to another waterfall (I had a car), some Roman ruins, etc., but it just wasn't worth the time to me. The Skradinski Buk waterfall was amazing, more spectacular than anything at Plitvice, in my opinion, but overall I too liked Plitvice better - it's really amazing. They're both beautiful parks.

Thanks for your report, tominrm!


In case future travelers consult this thread, a few notes:

(a) The Plitvice Lakes National Park is enormous – according to the web-site, the 16 lakes cover just 1 percent of the park itself.

(b) There is no need for a car to visit any of the Krka National Park – one can walk or take a boat from Skradin to the entrance nearest Skradinsky Buk; walk on either side of the falls uphill to the start of the lake at the top of that set of cascades; and then take boats through (or walk along) the upper lakes. (One can’t reach the Visovac Monastery unless one takes a boat).

(c) Skradinski Buk is a magnificent waterfall, and a travertine one, like the other falls of the Krka NP and like those of the Plitvice Lakes NP. Unlike the Krka NP, the Plitvice Lakes are known not just for their waterfalls, but at least as importantly for the differing colors of the lakes.

I agree that they are both beautiful. I also think it is important that people know how they differ.

I was on a do-it-yourself Former Yugoslavia trip after my walk of Camino de Santiago in Spain, I was not well prepared or did not do my homework in advance. I just went there because I had not been in the region before.

I got help from you when I got to Split because one of my friends who went to Croatia in early May suggested I visit Klitvice.

I signed up for a day trip from a local tour operator. It was a 8-passenger van. Once we got there the van dropped us at the parking lot near the "starting" point of the trail. We only had 4 hour to see the park. So I know there is a monastery and all that, but we did not get to see other than the "main" area of the water falls.