Wonder of Nature - Plitvice Lakes

“What should you visit in Croatia?” – often asked by tourists. The answer is obvious: Plitvice Lakes National Park!! An amazing creation of nature, which in its own way is beautiful at any time of the year!

As my tourists once noted: all the visitors to the park who came to meet us had burning eyes and smiles on their faces. This place leaves no one indifferent!

This is the first national park in Croatia, which received its status in 1949. It has been under UNESCO protection since 1979.

How did the park get worldwide recognition? Thanks to the discovery of Croatian scientist Ivo Pavelek: lakes are constantly changing, new barriers and new waterfalls are formed. What is the essence of Ivo Pavelek’s discovery? We will talk about this during our tour.

We will see 16 cascading lakes where one lake flows smoothly into another. There will also be many waterfalls on our way. How many waterfalls are there in the park? Why is the number of waterfalls approximate? Where do new waterfalls come from every year? We will find out during our excursion-walk-hike.

Once a year, the staff of the park organizes lectures for guides, where each employee talks about the research work done during the year related to the “residents” of the park: animals, birds, inhabitants of the aquatic world of lakes, insects and a variety of flora.

During the tour, we remember Milka Trnina (1863-1941), a Croatian opera singer, the world star of the opera scene. In Croatia, it is also known for the fact that at the end of the 19th century it gave part of the earned funds for the exploration and development of the territory around the Plitvice Lakes, the laying of the first routes. In her honor, one of the lakes and a waterfall are named.

In Croatia, there is a beautiful legend about the appearance of the name of everyone’s favorite chocolate “Milka”. According to one version, the owner of the Swiss chocolate factory Carl Russ-Suchard was a big fan of the composer Richard Wagner and was fascinated by one of the best performers of Wagner’s works of his time Milka Trnina, in connection with which the new milk chocolate received its name “Milka”.

A 30-minute drive from the lakes there is a fabulous place Rastoke. The houses of local residents stand on waterfalls that form the waters of the Slunchitsa River. In the center of this town is a real estate!, occupying several river islands.

We will be able to see how the locals lived for centuries, feel like a real miller, driving centuries-old millstones, and also, this is the place where movies were shot, and where real fairies live in the garden, who, as legend says, took horses from the locals at night and galloped around the neighborhood.