Wanderlust: Plitvice Lakes

Each of Plitvice's lakes varies in colour, shifting between sparkling waters in shades of aqua, turquoise and azure; each one impossibly crystal clear. As you wander along the ramshackle wooden platforms that lead you around, above and beside the numerous waterfalls, it is difficult to tear your eyes away from the hundreds of fish swimming past,  weaving their way through the most tranquil waters imaginable.

If there's a downside to the UNESCO World Heritage Site, it's that every bone in your body is aching to leap into the inviting waters - yet this is strictly forbidden. The site would soon lose it's natural beauty if stripped down to a glorified swimming pool; yet all the same, the lakes look incredibly enticing.

The true beauty of the national park is unveiled as you begin an uphill climb, provided constantly with breath-taking lookout points where you can admire the paths that you have previously walked. From this bird's-eye view, the cascading falls that you admired as you passed them can be seen from a completely different perspective. Nothing quite prepares you for the site of the perfectly blue pools spilling down in layers of crashing water and foam.

For the experience detailed above,  I recommend route H, which leads you around both the upper and lower waterfalls before embarking on the uphill climb back to the entrance.

Get in touch for details of how to reach Plitvice from Zagreb.

 

All photographs by Emma Lavelle

- Emma