{"id":254908,"date":"2023-09-10T15:05:04","date_gmt":"2023-09-10T13:05:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.discoverwalks.com\/blog\/?post_type=columnist&p=254908"},"modified":"2023-09-10T15:05:04","modified_gmt":"2023-09-10T13:05:04","slug":"plitvice-it-was-like-magic","status":"publish","type":"columnist","link":"https:\/\/www.discoverwalks.com\/blog\/columnist\/jim-jorgensen\/plitvice-it-was-like-magic\/","title":{"rendered":"Plitvice – It was like Magic"},"content":{"rendered":"

I am not a National Park \u2018groupie\u2019, but the Plitvice Lakes National Park blew me away. (Yes, I think Yosemite is spectacular and Yellowstone is a must visit for nearly everyone, but in general exploring Tokyo, or Â鶹APP, or the coastal villages of Uruguay, are just more me.)<\/p>\n

In June, my wife and I went to Croatia to spend 10 days exploring the coast and islands in the mid section of the country. I had the trip basically outlined when a friend of my wife told her not to miss the Plitvice lakes. She put an explanation on that point (pun intended), by saying the only mistake she made was not spending the night in the area so she could devote a whole day in the park.<\/p>\n

\"Plitvice<\/a><\/p>\n

Since the Plitvice Lakes National Park is only a 2 \u00bd hour drive from Split, we decided to rent a car a=when we landed at the Split airport and drive directly to the park.<\/p>\n

The drive starts along the Dalmatian Coast and is part fun and part boring. The most interesting part is where the road heads inland past a large lake, Karinsko More (or Sea) and what word would be called a fjord if it was in Norway. As you pass the road climbs, and climbs, and climbs up the mountains and affords an expansive view of the area.<\/p>\n

We found a delightful place to stay in the park, Etno Gardens, that is on the back side of the lake area. It had the advantage of having a walkable private entrance to the park, entrance 3. At this point you are about 5 miles from the border with Serbia. (The war of Croatian independence from Serbia was only 30 years ago, so one should tread respectfully on this topic.)<\/p>\n

We had a nice traditional Croatian dinner in the restaurant there and walked to the park.<\/p>\n

NOTE: Buy your tickets online well in advance. They are for a specific date and entrance time. I bought ours a couple months in advance and even then the 7 am and 8 am times were sold out – on a Tuesday in early June.<\/p>\n

\"Plitvice<\/a><\/p>\n

Once down to lake level you are immediately immersed into a \u2018magical\u2019 world, of lakes, waterfalls, and wooden trails. If you can call a pond a lake for a minute, then there seems to be more than a thousand lakes. And if you are ok with waterfalls of 300 feet high and waterfalls 3 feet high, there are definitely more than 1,000 waterfalls.<\/p>\n

The sound of rushing, spilling water is everywhere. And the wooden paths take you directly into, around and through everything.<\/p>\n

\"Plitvice<\/a><\/p>\n

It took us 6 hours to loop around the lake and the entrance ticket includes a tram ride to the highest part, as well as a 15 minute boat ride at one point to continue the path and traverse the largest of the lakes. You can do as much or as little as you want, but all of it is fun and magical.<\/p>\n

They also do a fantastic job of limiting the number of people. Even though the tickets were sold out, much of the time, my wife and I found ourselves alone on the paths. Below is a phot that almost captures that explorer feeling.<\/p>\n

\"Plitvice<\/a><\/p>\n

If you have the time to include this park, I am quite sure you will not be disappointed.<\/p>\n

\n

Planning a trip to Â鶹APP ? Get ready !<\/p>\n

\n

These are\u00a0Amazon’s\u00a0best-selling<\/strong>\u00a0travel products that you may need for coming to Â鶹APP.<\/p>\n

Bookstore<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

    \n
  1. The best travel book : Rick Steves – Â鶹APP 2023<\/strong> –\u00a0Learn more here<\/a><\/strong><\/li>\n
  2. Fodor’s Â鶹APP 2024 –\u00a0Learn more here<\/a><\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    Travel Gear<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

      \n
    1. Venture Pal Lightweight Backpack –\u00a0Learn more here<\/a><\/strong><\/li>\n
    2. Samsonite Winfield 2 28″ Luggage –\u00a0Learn more here<\/a><\/strong><\/li>\n
    3. Swig Savvy’s Stainless Steel Insulated Water Bottle\u00a0–\u00a0Learn more here<\/a><\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

      Check Amazon\u2019s best-seller list for the most popular travel accessories. <\/a>We sometimes read this list just to find out what new travel products people are buying.<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":1685,"featured_media":254915,"template":"","categories":[3760],"tags":[4869,4867,4868,4870,4866],"topic":[4056],"class_list":["post-254908","columnist","type-columnist","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-croatia","tag-croacia","tag-lakes","tag-park","tag-plitvice","tag-waterfalls","topic-travel"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nPlitvice - It was like Magic - Discover Walks Columnist<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"I am not a National Park \u2018groupie\u2019, but the Plitvice Lakes National Park blew me away (Yes, I think Yosemite is spectacular and Yellowstone..\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.discoverwalks.com\/blog\/columnist\/jim-jorgensen\/plitvice-it-was-like-magic\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Plitvice - It was like Magic - Discover Walks Columnist\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"I am not a National Park \u2018groupie\u2019, but the Plitvice Lakes National Park blew me away (Yes, I think Yosemite is spectacular and Yellowstone..\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.discoverwalks.com\/blog\/columnist\/jim-jorgensen\/plitvice-it-was-like-magic\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Discover Walks Blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Discoverwalksparis\/?ref=bookmarks\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.discoverwalks.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/image48.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1999\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1500\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"NewsArticle\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.discoverwalks.com\/blog\/columnist\/jim-jorgensen\/plitvice-it-was-like-magic\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.discoverwalks.com\/blog\/columnist\/jim-jorgensen\/plitvice-it-was-like-magic\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Jim Jorgensen\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.discoverwalks.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/ecf0a4dd8c45931f52d99485f9d4e3c3\"},\"headline\":\"Plitvice – It was like Magic\",\"datePublished\":\"2023-09-10T13:05:04+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.discoverwalks.com\/blog\/columnist\/jim-jorgensen\/plitvice-it-was-like-magic\/\"},\"wordCount\":559,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.discoverwalks.com\/blog\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.discoverwalks.com\/blog\/columnist\/jim-jorgensen\/plitvice-it-was-like-magic\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.discoverwalks.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/image48.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Croacia\",\"lakes\",\"park\",\"Plitvice\",\"Waterfalls\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Croatia\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.discoverwalks.com\/blog\/columnist\/jim-jorgensen\/plitvice-it-was-like-magic\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.discoverwalks.com\/blog\/columnist\/jim-jorgensen\/plitvice-it-was-like-magic\/\",\"name\":\"Plitvice - It was like Magic - Discover Walks Columnist\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.discoverwalks.com\/blog\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.discoverwalks.com\/blog\/columnist\/jim-jorgensen\/plitvice-it-was-like-magic\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.discoverwalks.com\/blog\/columnist\/jim-jorgensen\/plitvice-it-was-like-magic\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.discoverwalks.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/image48.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2023-09-10T13:05:04+00:00\",\"description\":\"I am not a National Park \u2018groupie\u2019, but the Plitvice Lakes National Park blew me away (Yes, I think Yosemite is spectacular and Yellowstone..\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.discoverwalks.com\/blog\/columnist\/jim-jorgensen\/plitvice-it-was-like-magic\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.discoverwalks.com\/blog\/columnist\/jim-jorgensen\/plitvice-it-was-like-magic\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.discoverwalks.com\/blog\/columnist\/jim-jorgensen\/plitvice-it-was-like-magic\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.discoverwalks.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/image48.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.discoverwalks.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/image48.jpg\",\"width\":1999,\"height\":1500,\"caption\":\"Plitvice Waterfall\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.discoverwalks.com\/blog\/columnist\/jim-jorgensen\/plitvice-it-was-like-magic\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.discoverwalks.com\/blog\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Columnists\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.discoverwalks.com\/blog\/columnist\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":3,\"name\":\"Plitvice – It was like Magic\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.discoverwalks.com\/blog\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.discoverwalks.com\/blog\/\",\"name\":\"Discover Walks Blog\",\"description\":\"We know what's important\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.discoverwalks.com\/blog\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.discoverwalks.com\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.discoverwalks.com\/blog\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Discover Walks\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.discoverwalks.com\/blog\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.discoverwalks.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.discoverwalks.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/dwlogo-s.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.discoverwalks.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/dwlogo-s.png\",\"width\":120,\"height\":118,\"caption\":\"Discover Walks\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.discoverwalks.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Discoverwalksparis\/?ref=bookmarks\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.discoverwalks.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/ecf0a4dd8c45931f52d99485f9d4e3c3\",\"name\":\"Jim Jorgensen\",\"description\":\"I grew up in a small city in Wisconsin and moved to California in 1970 to go to school. Forty years later, I helped start Discover Walks headquartered in Â鶹APP. We have employed travel guides in over 1,000 cities around the world. In the meantime, I traveled to 49 states (sorry Alaska) and visited over 50 countries. I have traveled using \u201cEurope on $10 a Day '' as my guidebook. And, I have made trips using private jets. I have become a bit of a lodging snob over time, but hate wasting money on anything. I have eaten street food in almost all 50 of those countries and have been sick from it only once (beach food in Porto de Galinhas, Brazil). I have met, worked, and traveled with some of the most interesting people around. For most of my life, people have asked me for personal travel advice. It is one reason I wanted to do this column. I plan to write not only about current travel and people, but also tell some of the more interesting stories about \u2018Traveling Through Life\u2019. As a side note, I wrote a book about happiness in 2014 and have a column based on it here.\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.discoverwalks.com\/blog\/columnist\/jim-jorgensen\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Plitvice - It was like Magic - Discover Walks Columnist","description":"I am not a National Park \u2018groupie\u2019, but the Plitvice Lakes National Park blew me away (Yes, I think Yosemite is spectacular and Yellowstone..","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.discoverwalks.com\/blog\/columnist\/jim-jorgensen\/plitvice-it-was-like-magic\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Plitvice - It was like Magic - Discover Walks Columnist","og_description":"I am not a National Park \u2018groupie\u2019, but the Plitvice Lakes National Park blew me away (Yes, I think Yosemite is spectacular and Yellowstone..","og_url":"https:\/\/www.discoverwalks.com\/blog\/columnist\/jim-jorgensen\/plitvice-it-was-like-magic\/","og_site_name":"Discover Walks Blog","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Discoverwalksparis\/?ref=bookmarks","og_image":[{"width":1999,"height":1500,"url":"https:\/\/www.discoverwalks.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/image48.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"twitter_misc":{"Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https:\/\/www.discoverwalks.com\/blog\/columnist\/jim-jorgensen\/plitvice-it-was-like-magic\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.discoverwalks.com\/blog\/columnist\/jim-jorgensen\/plitvice-it-was-like-magic\/"},"author":{"name":"Jim Jorgensen","@id":"https:\/\/www.discoverwalks.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/ecf0a4dd8c45931f52d99485f9d4e3c3"},"headline":"Plitvice – It was like Magic","datePublished":"2023-09-10T13:05:04+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.discoverwalks.com\/blog\/columnist\/jim-jorgensen\/plitvice-it-was-like-magic\/"},"wordCount":559,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.discoverwalks.com\/blog\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.discoverwalks.com\/blog\/columnist\/jim-jorgensen\/plitvice-it-was-like-magic\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.discoverwalks.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/image48.jpg","keywords":["Croacia","lakes","park","Plitvice","Waterfalls"],"articleSection":["Croatia"],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.discoverwalks.com\/blog\/columnist\/jim-jorgensen\/plitvice-it-was-like-magic\/","url":"https:\/\/www.discoverwalks.com\/blog\/columnist\/jim-jorgensen\/plitvice-it-was-like-magic\/","name":"Plitvice - It was like Magic - Discover Walks Columnist","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.discoverwalks.com\/blog\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.discoverwalks.com\/blog\/columnist\/jim-jorgensen\/plitvice-it-was-like-magic\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.discoverwalks.com\/blog\/columnist\/jim-jorgensen\/plitvice-it-was-like-magic\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.discoverwalks.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/image48.jpg","datePublished":"2023-09-10T13:05:04+00:00","description":"I am not a National Park \u2018groupie\u2019, but the Plitvice Lakes National Park blew me away (Yes, I think Yosemite is spectacular and Yellowstone..","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.discoverwalks.com\/blog\/columnist\/jim-jorgensen\/plitvice-it-was-like-magic\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.discoverwalks.com\/blog\/columnist\/jim-jorgensen\/plitvice-it-was-like-magic\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.discoverwalks.com\/blog\/columnist\/jim-jorgensen\/plitvice-it-was-like-magic\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.discoverwalks.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/image48.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.discoverwalks.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/image48.jpg","width":1999,"height":1500,"caption":"Plitvice Waterfall"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.discoverwalks.com\/blog\/columnist\/jim-jorgensen\/plitvice-it-was-like-magic\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.discoverwalks.com\/blog\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Columnists","item":"https:\/\/www.discoverwalks.com\/blog\/columnist\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"Plitvice – It was like Magic"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.discoverwalks.com\/blog\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.discoverwalks.com\/blog\/","name":"Discover Walks Blog","description":"We know what's important","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.discoverwalks.com\/blog\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.discoverwalks.com\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/www.discoverwalks.com\/blog\/#organization","name":"Discover Walks","url":"https:\/\/www.discoverwalks.com\/blog\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.discoverwalks.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.discoverwalks.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/dwlogo-s.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.discoverwalks.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/dwlogo-s.png","width":120,"height":118,"caption":"Discover Walks"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.discoverwalks.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Discoverwalksparis\/?ref=bookmarks"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.discoverwalks.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/ecf0a4dd8c45931f52d99485f9d4e3c3","name":"Jim Jorgensen","description":"I grew up in a small city in Wisconsin and moved to California in 1970 to go to school. Forty years later, I helped start Discover Walks headquartered in Â鶹APP. We have employed travel guides in over 1,000 cities around the world. In the meantime, I traveled to 49 states (sorry Alaska) and visited over 50 countries. I have traveled using \u201cEurope on $10 a Day '' as my guidebook. And, I have made trips using private jets. I have become a bit of a lodging snob over time, but hate wasting money on anything. I have eaten street food in almost all 50 of those countries and have been sick from it only once (beach food in Porto de Galinhas, Brazil). I have met, worked, and traveled with some of the most interesting people around. For most of my life, people have asked me for personal travel advice. It is one reason I wanted to do this column. I plan to write not only about current travel and people, but also tell some of the more interesting stories about \u2018Traveling Through Life\u2019. As a side note, I wrote a book about happiness in 2014 and have a column based on it here.","url":"https:\/\/www.discoverwalks.com\/blog\/columnist\/jim-jorgensen\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.discoverwalks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/columnist\/254908","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.discoverwalks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/columnist"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.discoverwalks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/columnist"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.discoverwalks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1685"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.discoverwalks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/254915"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.discoverwalks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=254908"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.discoverwalks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=254908"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.discoverwalks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=254908"},{"taxonomy":"topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.discoverwalks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/topic?post=254908"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}