The Plitvice Lakes are home to the most popular national park in Croatia which houses precious jewels that earned it a place on UNESCO’s world heritage list. There are a total of 16 enchanting lakes within the park’s borders finished off nicely by scintillating waterfalls cascading over an array of overflowing contours amidst a backdrop of beautiful vegetation. If you are in Split and looking to make your way to Plitvice lakes to take in the sights and wonders for yourself, here are the various travel options at your disposal:
1) Travel by car
The journey spans anywhere between 2 and 3 hours by car with the exact duration depending on which route you take. From Google maps, you could take one of two routes with the first passing through E71 and A1 and the second, longer alternative traversing the highway route through Knin D1. The best thing about driving yourself is that you get to explore all the places you want and, if you leave early enough, you’ll still have some time left indulge in a tasty native treat of janjetina.
2) Taking the bus
Don’t have a lot of cash on you or aren’t too familiar with the travel path? Then travelling by bus should suffice as it is the cheapest means of getting to the park from Split. You can get the right buses at the town’s main bus station situated in Split harbor just adjacent to the train station. Be sure to check the travel schedules form the station’s website so that you can plan according. Making the trip back and forth in a single day is particularly difficult by bus so you should also have accommodation arrangements in place as well.
3) Catching the train
While there is no direct rail linking Plitvice Lakes and Split, you could still take a train that’ll get you pretty close and make up the remaining distance by bus. From the train station in Split, you could take one to Gospic- which is quite close to your destination and is about three and a half hours away from Split- or you could go to Knin first then connect the rest of the way. However, travelling by train can get tricky especially for first timers because you need to bridge various stops so it’s not a very advisable means of travelling to Plitvice Lakes.
4) Opting for private transfers
No travel option beats the comfort and convenience of travelling by private transfer. Sure you’ll pay a little bit more but you won’t need to worry about anything other than taking selfies as a team of professional takes care of all your transport and accommodation needs.
5) Day tours
Day tours are also just as convenient and will set you back about €80 per head but that’s all you’ll have to pay for an all-round package encompassing a personal guide, transportation and a few other bonus features. There are plenty of excursion companies providing such services in the area with their offers relatively around the aforementioned price. Day trips are a wise choice if you don’t own a car or are priced out of renting one.
And that rounds off how you can travel from Split to Plitvice Lakes.
