Victoria's Voyage

The Plitvice Lakes are a sheer wonder to experience if you find yourself in Croatia. While, unlike other similar locations, you can’t bathe in the crystal clear waters there, it’s almost a good thing. The lakes are so well preserved and you can tell visitors truly respect this natural site. There are two main routes you can take and you can complete both in the same day, but if you truly want to appreciate what the lakes have to offer, rushing round it all is not enough.

There are many of these lakes and the largest one you can take a boat across to get to other areas of the national park. Along the way you see a number of different waterfalls, each almost more beautiful than the last, and the best thing is that there is nothing in place to commercialise the experience or to ruin the overall effect of the views. There is one shop, but it is tastefully built to fit in with its surroundings, and the main thing I noticed was how there are no hand rails or fences up around the wooden walkways; it’s left as natural as it possibly can be. This is something to bear in mind if you’re planning on bringing children; they will need to be supervised to ensure they don’t fall in the water. As long as you’re careful, it makes the experience as authentic as possible.

The best time to hit the lakes is early in the morning, when it first opens at around 7am. The low morning sunlight reflecting off the water and the lush vegetation is stunning, and we were even fortunate enough to see an actual rainbow being created within one of the waterfall streams. These photos don’t have any filters, and they still don’t do it justice. Plus, there are far fewer people around, meaning at least for an hour you have your chosen area virtually to yourself. Seriously, even if you’re idea of the perfect holiday is lying on the beach and doing nothing, if you visit Croatia make time to go to the lakes. You won’t regret it.