Croatia Day 4: Plitvice Lakes National Park

On Monday we were up early for our great hotel breakfast and then met our driver and his van in front of our hotel at 8:30 a.m. to drive to Plitvice Lakes!

It was a 2.5 hour drive and was the main reason we had Split on our itinerary (although I ended up loving the Old Town and am so glad we spent time there!).

We arrived about 11, scanned our tickets, and entered the park I'd wanted to see for 20 years.

I wondered if the real life views could possibly match the pictures I'd seen online.

They did.

I don't really have any words to add. It's just crazy impossibly beautiful. We hiked along a recommended path, marveling at the water and the waterfalls all around.

The pathways are built right on top of the water, so it's like you're floating and gliding along the surface.

We ate lunch at a spot by a lake that sold burgers and snacks and then took the boat across to cut off a few miles of hiking on the way back.

We met our driver about 3 and settled in for the long drive back.

Once back, the boys went to swim at their fancy natatorium and the girls worked very hard sitting by the hotel rooftop pool looking out over the ocean.

Cora even got in!

I looked up a restaurant in Old Town with great reviews right by the Palace, so we walked over there when the boys got back.

Sitting outside next to walls that are 2200 years old sipping an Aperol Spritz is now one of my favorite things.

Croatia has amazing bread and pizza, neither of which I could ever partake in, so I ate a crazy number of salads. But at this place, for the first time, gluten free pizza was on the menu!

We walked back to our hotel through the city, soaking in all the history and soft lights and gelato.

We packed up a bit and went to bed, knowing we'd be leaving on the ferry for Hvar in the morning!

Split, you started as a means to a Plitvice Lakes end, but I loved you and you gave us such a great start to our time in Croatia!

(By the way, I updated my Travel Logs page at the top of the blog page. It now lists all our travels with links to any blog posts I wrote about them. It mostly helps me find things, but in case it's helpful to any of you, I wanted to point it out!)