If I follow Rick Steve's advice this June: entrance 1, trail G (yes I know its mainly for groups, but we are not avid hikers), detour to Slap waterfall, but skip the caves, then take the boat across the lake, walk the lower half of the Upper lakes, then take the Train back to entrance 1 at Stop 3: approximately how long will that hike be? and what is the latest I can be at Stop 3 of the train to get back to my car at entrance 1? Thank you.

Here's my report of our hike there. Hope it helps some.

Rain and cool temperatures greeted us this morning. Maybe not the best circumstances to tour the park. Skipping the 9:00 breakfast at the sobe, we arrived at entrance 1 at Plitvice. Perhaps, not surprisingly, we were the only people entering the park. A day ticket is 100 kuna in July. We needed jackets and umbrellas, but the weather wasn’t to bad yet.


We were going to hike uphill, from the lower lakes to the upper lakes. It’s a very gradual path, so wasn’t steep at all. I was very happy we had decided on this route because we were walking towards the waterfalls, so the view of them was much better than if we had walked the other direction. Following the G2 trail we walked down a path with several switchbacks to the water level. Boardwalks wind through the park, and for the most part you stay on them. There are places you’ll want to take the dirt paths though. It was getting muddy, with all the rain, so it can be hard on your shoes.


The water is crystal clear. There are so many fish, so easily seen. No fishing allowed here! It took us maybe 1 ½ hours to see this portion. It is the most beautiful place I’ve ever been! We passed no other people in this time. Such peace.


We arrived at Lake Kozjak where you’ll take a boat ride which connects the Lower and Upper lakes. Again, we were the only ones here, but they still ran the boat just for us. This is a large rest area, with a restaurant, picnic tables, outdoor food booths (if they are open) bathrooms etc. It would be a good place for lunch if the weather was nice and it was later in the day! I think other people started their visit later than this early morning hour, and started at entrance 2 and walked downhill.


Again, we followed the C and G2 trails up to Gradinsko Lake. We did start meeting other people along the way, coming from the other direction. This was even more beautiful, if that’s possible. We continued up to the top of the Upper Lakes and finished at shuttle bus stop ST4. We took the shuttle from this spot, back down. We spent 4 hours here in total.


The beauty here is unimaginable. Hundred of waterfalls, all sizes and shapes made me feel as if I was in the Garden of Eden. I think it’s the most beautiful area Croatia has to offer.


We needed to drive to Rovinj where we were to spend the night. This is a long drive. I had consulted viamichelin.com about the best route to take. I had two possibilities. I also had the Rough Guide map of Croatia. I didn’t really understand where the toll road was open and where it wasn’t completed yet. We wanted to see some of the countryside so we exited the park to the right, and drove down Highway 1 to 52, took it south and connected to 50. This was very scenic and we passed by several women selling honey, lace, cheese and more in small booths along the way. We stopped at one booth and bought some smoked cheese for lunch. She was a great saleswoman and we ended up buying honey also! We also saw a fair amount of war damage along the way, in the villages. My heart really went out to these people.


Although there is great beauty here, this route was taking a very long time to travel. I knew we’d better pick up the pace. We came to the toll road, and one sign said it went to Rijeka. Great, we needed to go through Rijeka, so we got on the toll road. What we didn’t realize was that this road actually went North towards Zagreb. We drove on this toll road, north, for quite awhile before realizing what we were doing! In the end it probably worked out ok, since we were going so quickly, and eventually it did veer towards Rijeka, but only after going north for many miles. We saw more of Croatia than we planned on!

Hey, we did basically what you suggest when we were at Plitvice last summer. I think it took us 3.5 hours and we are decent hikers and went pretty quickly. If one were to walk more slowly, it might take 5 hours or so. Some of that depends on how long it takes to catch a boat! I think (emphasis on think) that the last bus (I think it was a bus but perhaps it was a train?) you can catch at stop 3 is between 6:30 and 7. That's part of why we hiked so quickly.... Have fun, Plitvice is stunning!