A Guide for visiting KRKA National Park- Everything you need to know
A National Park that has endless waterfalls that end in one big lake with thousands of small fishes, sounds like a dream right? Well you can visit this place when you are making a trip to Croatia. The place is called the KRKA National Park and is open for visit the whole year.
What to see
The KRKA National Park is a big park with many things to do and see. Most people know the KRKA National Park because of the Skradinski Buk Waterfall. This is one of the highlights of the park, but there are more beautiful parts to the park that you don’t want to miss.
Down below I will tell you about the three best thing to visit in the KRKA National Park.
Skradinski Buk Waterfall
The most famous place in the KRKA National Park, is the Skradinski Buk Waterfall. There is a reason why everybody visit this place and that is because of the beauty of the waterfall. Skradinski Buk Waterfall comes together in one big lake and offers insane clear blue water. The sight is amazing.
After seeing the waterfall, you can explore more of this part of the National Park and wander around the park. It will bring you along lush nature, ponds and of course more waterfalls.
Once you have seen the whole park, you can make your way out of the park the same way you entered it.
Roski Slap
A less known place in the National Park, Roski Slap. There are two viewpoint there where you can climb up and have a view over the Roski Slap Waterfalls. The fist viewpoint is a rocky climb up, which we did. It is an intense climb, but worth it once you are up there.
The second viewpoint can be climbed up to with stairs. This one is a little bit easier and offers almost the same view. It’s up to you which route you take to get to one of the viewpoints.
The road to get to the Roski Slap Waterfall is beautiful and makes the experience even better.
Visovac viewpoint
Another one you don’t want to skip, is the Visovac viewpoint. In the lake of the National Park is located a small island with a monastery on it. This island can only reached by boat, but because of the size, it is only visited by the people living on it. But you can still have a look at it by going to the viewpoint.
Entrance fee & opening hours
When you go to the park, it’s best to get a ticket in advance. The park is really populair by tourist and is completely booked everyday, so make sure you have tickets before entering the park. It would be a shame driving all the way up there, only to find out it’s sold out for that day. You can buy your tickets on the following website: Official ticket website KRKA national Park
Down below I will list the entrance fee for the whole KRKA National Park:
- Children up to 7 – Free
- Children from 7 to 18 – 130 HRK
- Students – 130 HRK
- Adults – 210 HRK
When buying your tickets, you need to select a time of entering the park. This is so they can spread the busy moments in the park. Try to get to the park as early as possible so you can beat the crowds. The earlier you’re inside, the more quiet it will be.
For the updated opening hours, you can click here to go to the official website.
How to get around
Once you selected the date you want to visit the park, they ask you another question: At which entrance do you enter the park for visiting the Skradinski Buk Waterfall. There are two options, Skradin or Lozovac.
You are probably wondering, what is the difference? Well let me explain it to you.
Lozovac: The head entrance of the park is the Lozovac entrance. In front of the entrance, there is a big carpark where you can park your car for free. After you’ve parked your car, you can take a 10-minute shuttle bus ride and it will drop you off close to the Skradinski waterfall. From the point where the bus drops you to the waterfall is still a 15-minute walk, but the view is amazing so you can enjoy the walk.
In the winter months there are no shuttle busses and you can drive your own car into the park.
Skradin: Skradin is a small town located next to the KRKA National Park. You can park your car here in a paid parking lot. From here you can take a boat (that is included in the ticket) and within 25 minutes it brings you to the Skradin entrance. From the entrance to the Skradinski Buk waterfall is a 10-minute walk. After visiting the waterfall, you can take a stroll trough the rest of the park.
From November to April there are no boat running. These months you can only enter the park though the Lozovac entrance.
Extra information
How to get there?
The best way to discover the KRKA National Park is by going with a (rental)car. This way you have all the freedom of discovering everything at your own pace and see the things you want to see.
However, you can also go with a tour. This is the best alternative. A tour can be booked from many places close to the National Park, like Split, Zadar, Trogir, etcetera.
How long do you need at the KRKA National Park?
How long you need at the park all depends on how much you want to see. I recommend the following duration for the following places:
- Skradinski Buk Waterfall + park – 2/3 hours
- Roski Slap Waterfall – 2 hours
- Visovac Viewpoint – 15/30 minutes
What to bring to the Plitvice National Park?
So when you decide to go on this wonderful National Park, I recommend to bring the following stuff:
- Good walking shoes
- Your tickets
- Enough water
- Snacks/ breakfast
- Sunscreen (in the summer months)
- Camera
- Money
Best time to visit
The KRKA National Park can be visited all year round. It all depends on your favorite season when you want to visit the lakes. In the winter the park can be packed in white snow. In autumn the leaves will be full in its green color. In the summer the chance of good weather will be the biggest. And in the autumn the leaves will turn in beautiful colors. Try to decided what suits you and your needs the best.
Liked this blog? Also read The perfect one-week Croatia itinerary from Split
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