Visiting Plitvice in May and can't decide if one night and 1/2 day sightseeing in the Park is enough? Any recommendations. We would arrive in the late afternoon and visit the Park when it opens in the morning. Should we book two nights there? We will be staying in private accommodations, not at a Park hotel. This forum is such a good help, the guide books are o.k. but this is better!

We also arrived in late afternoon and saw the park the next morning.

We were tired after hiking for so many hours. We also had our small daughter with us. We stayed the extra night and left early the next morning.

This also gave us more time with our private accommodations--more time to talk with the locals etc. If you have the time to spare, spend more time here.

You can go through Plitvice faster than we did. It just depends on what you like to do. If you like to hike and take pictures, spend a second night!

We spent 2 nights. We are hikers so walked on nearly every trail including beyond the tram road out to the next village. As mentioned, it depends on your interests.

Keep in mind that Plitvice is like few places on this big planet, so at least be flexible to extending your stay once you're there. The upper lake area is very different than the lower one, plus there's many trails outside the main ones. You're right to hit the park at opening - that will give you and hour or two of peaceful bliss. I was there in May as well, and it's lush with lots of flowing water.

It is absolutely stunning.

Regards, Bruce
Croatia Travel Photos -- http://www.brucegcollier.com/galleri...level2_all.htm

Thanks, Bruce! Your photos are amazing, certainly makes me anxious to get there. We will be making our decision today as to whether to spend 1 or 2 nights. So much to see and so little time. We will heading to Istria/Slovenia after Plitvice and will be flying out of Zagreb. Still have to make all those reservations. Since both couples are in their 70's, we like to know where we are staying. We may "wing" it in the Slovenia countryside, tho. Looking for a place to spend our final night in Zagreb, any ideas? Sasi

Thanks for the nice comments, Sasi.

All I remember about my stay in Zagreb, both coming and going, was that it was a nice little family run pension (sobe) that we found while in the airport. It was in the neighborhood adjacent to the airport and all we were looking for was convenience. Sorry I don't have the name, but I will say that we had zero problems finding a room in any city during that month (May). As long as you inspect the room and like the price (negotiate if you don't), you'll be fine. It will also be cheaper than advance booking a hotel, but probably won't give you the peace of mind you're looking for. I stayed in both hotels and apt/sobe's, and the latter were always of better value and most were as nice as any hotel. Pick up a good guide book (Fodor's) or two. You could also do a search on this board as this question comes up often.

Have a great time!

Bruce
www.brucegcollier.com -- Fine art travel photography