A fairytale winter wonderland in Plitvice National Park

A fairytale wonderland in Plitvice National Park winter. In this post I will showcase the true beauty of Plitvice Lakes National Park in the winter! This is certainly one that should be near the top of any bucket list.

Lets get started…

Plitvice Lakes is Croatia’s top natural attraction and a Unesco World Heritage Site since 1979. Plitvice Lakes National Park is a beautiful place to visit at any time of year, with its stunning hikes, walkways, viewpoints and hundreds of waterfalls.

However why not visit Plitvice Lakes National Park in the winter time? Accommodation, flights, park entrance will all be cheaper and you will have the park more or less to yourself.

Check out how stunning of Plitvice National Park winter is with this stunning video:

Personally the best and most spectacular sight is of course when the national park is covered in snow, which happens almost every winter. With the daytime temperatures averaging -10°C you will find that a lot of the waterfalls at Plitvice Lakes National Park are frozen turning it into an amazing winter wonderland like something out of Narnia.

If there has been heavy snowfalls it’s possible that the park closes for safety reasons, however this is rare. Sometimes only the lower park is open if the weather conditions are really bad. Even so it’s still worthwhile visiting Plitvice National Park in winter.

Here are some advantages if you decide to travel to Plitvice Lakes National Park in the winter

You can easily travel to Plitvice Lakes National Park in winter with a rental car, just be sure to check the weather forecast in case of heavy snow and the road / park condiditons.

You can get to Plitvice in winter by taking the bus. Most buses run from Zagreb, Split and Zadar, with a few from Dubrovnik as well. Be sure to ask your driver which stop to get off at as you approach the lakes as both entrances are not always open during the winter.

Another option you could take is booking a tour via TripAdvisor, as there will be tour operators in your location. They will provide a days guided tours with all your transportation.

During the winter most of the hotels run National Park are closed, however Hotel Jezero is open all year around and is located at entrance 2 at Plitvice National Park.

However there are other locations you can stay such as Smoljanac which is located approximately 5km from entrance 1.

If you are looking to save a little bit more money, it might be worth checking out Airbnb for cheap accommodation near the lakes. Personally we always tend to rent a car, that way you can travel around at your on leisure and taking stops where you want.

Tip: Zadar would be a great hub to stay as you are near Plitvice Lakes and Krka National Park both with stunning waterfalls.

The Park is open daily all year round, with longer opening hours during summer (usually 7am to 8pm). There’s an entrance fee which acts as a contribution to the Park’s upkeep and protection.

The prices vary depending what months you are visiting, for a winter trip for adults it’s 55 Kuna (£6/€7.50/$8) between November – December and January – March.

It’s 110 Kuna (£12.50/€15/$16) between the months of September and October

There are discounted tickets for children aged between 7 and 18 years old. Children under 7 are free.

If you wish to explore Plitvice in all its glory it might be worth purchasing a 2 day ticket which could provide further discount and you don’t have to rush around the park to try and squeeze everything in. If you are limited on time it might be worth getting a 4 hour guided tour of the lakes.

For more information and full ticket prices can be found on Operating Hours and Prices page of the Plitvice Lakes National Park website.

Plitvice National Park in Croatia is considered to be one of the most beautiful natural sights in Europe. Due to its natural beauty and significance, this system of 16 interlinked lakes and a large forest complex around it were set aside as a national park in 1949. In 1979 the park was inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List. source: wikitravel.org

Here’s another video with a sideshow of some absolutely stunning images of Plitvice National Park winter:

Check out the conditions for Plitvice National Park winter: –

Finally one last video that shows the unreal beauty of Plitvice National Park in winter. So what are you waiting for? Get your bags packed, passports ready and head to Croatia.

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