Plitvice National Park, Croatia

Plitvice is a beautiful National Park found in Croatia between Zadar and Zagreb. Full of waterfalls and turquoise lakes - it is a great place to spend the day hiking. I took an early bus from Zadar to Plitvice, spent several hours hiking, before catching an evening bus to Croatia's capital city - Zagreb.

One of literally dozens of waterfalls in the park. At this particular one, there were barricades set up in order to prevent visitors from going right up to the waterfall. The extensive network of boardwalks leading from one waterfall to the next was extremely well done, and followed the natural contours of the lakes and mountains.

There is no fishing allowed within the confines of the Nation Park, therefore there are plenty of visible fish in all of the park's lakes. They swarm the the banks hoping for handouts from hiking visitors.

Small waterfalls like this one connect lakes that have formed at different elevations. No shortage of organic life in the water - quite often it passes directly over moss and water-hardy grasses.

A view of neighboring turquoise lakes.

An overhead view of the naturally-curving boardwalk.

The water seems to gush over the edge of a grassy ledge.

This picture was taken at the start/finish. There are several different loops you can take through the park, with two points of entry. Park admission allows you to use various forms of transportation found within the park - multiple ferries that will take you from one side of the lake to the other; and shuttle buses that bring you from various pick-up locations back to the entrances. You could spend a couple hours - or easily the whole day - in this lovely park. I highly recommend it if you're ever visiting Croatia.