Day 13- Rastoke Village
Hiking through the Risnjak National Park and staying at the mountain top hut was an unforgettable experience.Next, we drove towards Rastoke Village in the Slunj town of Croatia to witness another natural phenomenon. From Risnjak National Park, this village is just under 2 hrs (110 kms).
On the way,we stopped for coffee at Bistro Kosare. The place is huge with both indoor and outdoor seating.Here,we ordered pancakes along with coffee and devoured them.
Speciality of the village: There are several waterfalls and watercourses flowing throughout the village and the houses are constructed in such a way that the water flows underneath them. How cool is that!
Stay : Slovin Unique. It's a great location for sightseeing! The waterfall view from the window was fantastic. During the night, we could hear the sound of the water from our room.(Felt like sleeping in a forest)
Cost: 4000/night
After checking in, we took a stroll through the village. For dinner, we walked to Bistro Centar(There's a restaurant in Slovin Unique too but we felt the menu was limited and open till only 9pm) which is about 1.5kms from the stay. The place is located on the mainroad with parking just beside.The fungi pizza I had here is the best I have had in Croatia. The service was as excellent as the food.
Day 14-Rastoke Village
In the morning, we woke up early so that we could check out the gardens of Slovic Unique.Gladly, we had the whole place to ourselves.
Generally, there's a entrance fee for people who wish to see the gardens, watermills and various other artifacts located inside the place.(It's free for people who wish to stay here!)
I can't get over the serenity of the place yet. According to me,this village is a must visit for people travelling to Plitvice Lakes.(Just 26 kms from the national park!)
Day 14- Plitvice Lakes
Along with Dubrovnik, Plitvice Lakes National Park is one of the most visited place in Croatia.This park is one of the oldest one in Croatia. We drove towards Plitvice Lakes National Park at around 9.30 am from Rastoke Village(20 min drive).
There are 2 entrances to the park.(Make sure to remember where you park your car,else it would take a lot of time to find it!). There are 16 lakes which can be seen from the surface that are divided into upper(12) and lower lakes(4).
Entrance Fee: 150 kuna in September(varies according to the month of the visit)
Some useful insights:
1. 130 kms from Zagreb( Tourists can visit the lakes for a day trip from the capital)
2. All the transportation (bus and boat) inside the park is included in the ticket
3. Wait time for the transport may range from few minutes-several minutes depending on the number of tourists visiting that day.
Frequency : Every 30 minutes.
4. Click a picture of the map at the entrance before heading in. It might come in handy.
5. There are restaurants inside the park or you can get your own food and organize a nice picnic!
6.Look out for Veliki Slap for the best view of the lakes
7.Head early to avoid the crowd and to get some amazing shots
8. The park is huge,so getting from one point to another by walking is not the only option available. Look out for the signs located throughout the park for bus or ferry service.
There are as many as 8 different routes that one can explore with the journey time ranging from 2.5 hrs-8 hrs. We entered through the entrance 2 and hiked for about 8 kms (Route C). We spent approximately about 4 hrs in the park while also using the ferry and bus services provided.
A word of advice: As we were yet to recover from our previous hike, we couldn't hike for more time at Plitvice Lakes. So, it's better to plan to visit to these 2 national parks with some days apart.
We exited the national park at around 3 pm, stopped for late lunch at Bistro Center and started towards Zagreb, our final destination in Croatia. By the time we reached Zagreb and found parking(it was very difficult to find parking space as there's is no parking area near the apartment so we had to find a spot in the streets) it was 8 pm.After parking, we checked into the apartment, spoke to the host for a while and after freshening up went out to grab some dinner.
Stay: Apartment Oldtimer(Amazing place,right in the centre of the shopping district and the best of all our stays.)
Cost: 4500 ₹/day( we spent 2 nights here)
Day 15- Zagreb
The next and the final day of the trip we spent our time at leisure and shopping.
For lunch, we visited Wok by Matija which is a 5 min walk from the apartment Oldtimer. It's a narrow snug little space,comfortable for 2 people. The food served was great and after a relaxed lunch, we went out to continue our shopping.
The rest of the day was spent strolling the streets of Zagreb, looking for souvenirs for friends and family.The next morning we headed to the Zagreb Airport, dropped off the car and headed home!
I hope you guys will find our travelgram of Croatia informative and helpful.If and when you plan to go, hope you will enjoy it as much as we did.
Keep exploring & keep travelling!