I don’t have enough superlatives to describe our experience today. We had an early start out of Zagreb and drove to the Plitvice Lakes National Park which was a couple of hours drive. It is one of the oldest and largest national parks in Croatia and is famous for its travertine barriers and waterfalls.

The vast majority of the water in the park comes from underground karst springs fed by rain and melting snow from the surrounding mountains. There are 16 interconnecting lakes which are not standard rock basins that are created by living tufa barriers that act as natural dams. This also means that the lakes are at different levels as is shown in the cross section of the map below (the box closest to Thomas).

Tufa is formed as the water travels through limestone terrain and absorbs calcium. When this water emerges into the fresh air it crystallizes – especially over and around fallen trees and branches. Over thousands of years, this mineral encrustation hardens into a porous rock that grows continuously. This means that over time the waterfalls don’t corrode and erode the rock face, but it actually gets stronger. 

The water was the cleanest and greenest I have ever seen and we did a 8 km walk around the lakes. We also took a boat across the largest lake, and claimed the banks to the highest waterfalls. The vibrancy of the colours of the water surrounded by the lush forests and the constant back drop of the falling water made it one of my greatest holiday experiences.

We found an idyllic place to stop for a drink

Walking through the cleanest water I have ever seen.

Waterfalls in different levels across the various lakes