A Night in Zagreb
From Venice, Nico and I took quite a few different methods of transportation until we finally arrived at our destination, Zagreb, Croatia. The planning of all the logistics of getting from point A to point B was successful due to help from The Man in Seat 61.
First, We took a train from Venice to Trieste, Italy. It was about a two hour ride. From Trieste, we took a historic tram up to Villa Opicina. This was a really cool experience because the tram becomes a funicular as it ascends the steep escarpment out of Trieste. The views were beautiful. When we got to Villa Opicina, we began walking to the next train station. We got a little turned around at this point and began to panic about making it to our next train. Luckily, we found our way and made it in time. This next train ride was very scenic as we weaved in and out of valleys on the way to Ljubljana, Slovenia. For the final stretch, we caught a train from Ljubljana to Zagreb, arriving very worn out but content after a long day of travel.
Nico on the train
That night, we stayed at an AirBnB in the city. It was a funky attic apartment hosted by a very friendly artist. It was nice to have the small space to ourselves. Still tired, Nico and I walked downtown to get some dinner but planned on returning early enough to get a good night's rest. Although Zagreb wasn't originally on my list of cities I really wanted to visit, as we walked around town, I though it would be a really fun place to return to someday. It was lively with people out and about enjoying themselves and as Nico and I walked back to our AirBnb, we were stopped by a firework show happening overhead. I'm still not sure why there were fireworks that night, but it was a beautiful way to end the long day.
Hotel
Most people take buses to Plitvice National Park for day trips from Croatia's major cities. Wanting to maximize our time in the park and minimize our time on public transportation, Nico and I decided to stay at one of the hotels near the entrance of the park. We stayed at Hotel Bellevue, which wasn't very modern in design but it was clean and not too expensive. Staying close to the park was one of the best decisions we made because it was easy to enter the park in the morning and we got free access to the park the next day. Once the tour buses started to arrive around noon, the park became very overcrowded. With everyone constricted to narrow walkways and ferries to get from one side of the park to the other, guests would find themselves in dead stand-stills. At least the scenery was beautiful...
Hotel Bellevue (photo from internet)
Activities
Plitvice National Park is divided into two sections - the upper and lower park. On the first day, Nico and I arrived from Zagreb, checked into the hotel, and began exploring the upper section of the park. To get to the upper section, we needed to take a ferry across the main lake, which had a very short line since we arrived on one of the earliest buses. We walked around all of the upper loops, viewing the waterfalls and lakes from every possible angle.
Posin' with some falls
A rare image of the boardwalk without any people on it
The ferry boat
By the time we returned to the ferry stop, the park was extremely full and there was a standstill of people waiting to take the ferry back to the park entrance. Nico and I decided to skip the line by making the long hike to the lower part of the park instead. The hike ended up being a lot longer than we expected. It was very enjoyable, however, because there were hardly any other people on the trail. It was so nice to be away from the chaos and to get some good exercise. If I were to do it all again, I'd make the same decision.
On the long hike
Once we finally arrived at the lower park area, we had a late lunch and took the tram back to the hotel, leaving the lower park for exploring the next day.
The lower park was smaller so we explored it more quickly. I loved having another full day in the park. After walking around the boardwalks, Nico and I found a trail that wound around the cliffs above the lakes. Here we saw some of the most stunning views.
After hiking, we rented a rowboat and paddled out onto the main lake. It was very cool to be able to row right up to the falls. I'd recommend this to anyone visiting Plitvice Lakes.
Food
There weren't a lot of choices for dining in the Plitvice area. Nico and I mostly ate in the park or at the hotel. During this trip we did, however, get really into grapefruit radlers. They were delicious and we bought a couple in the park each day.
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