Things to do
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Barać Caves
Guided tours run through a limestone system near Rakovica, past flowstone columns, bone deposits and passages used as shelter during the wars of the region. Temperature inside holds around nine degrees all year, so a jacket matters even in August. Tours leave on a fixed timetable and the walk up from the ticket hut is steep.
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Kozjak Lake
Boats cross the largest lake in the park, a wooded basin dividing the upper terraces from the lower, on an electric ferry included with entry. The crossing takes about twenty minutes and links the two halves of the walking network. Queues at the jetty build through the early afternoon, when groups arrive from the coast.
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Plitvice Lakes National Park
Sixteen terraced lakes fall through a wooded limestone gorge, linked by travertine barriers that the water is still building, with boardwalks running at the level of the pools. Marked routes range from a couple of hours to a full day, and a boat and a shuttle bus link the upper and lower sections. Swimming is banned throughout.
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Rastoke
Watermills and timber houses sit where the Slunjčica drops into the Korana in a set of small falls, a village built on the travertine itself, half an hour north of the park. Several mills still turn and a few open as small museums or guesthouses. An hour covers it, and it works well as a stop on the drive from Zagreb.
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Veliki Slap
Water from the Plitvica stream drops 78 metres into the lower canyon, the tallest fall in Croatia and the end point of many walks through the lower lakes. The viewing platform below it is narrow and slow moving in season. Spring melt makes the volume, while late summer can reduce the sheet to strands.