Plitvice Lakes National Park has two main entrances and parking lots, Entrance 1 and Entrance 2. If you’ve never visited the place, you might wonder which one is more suitable for your tour.
Although there are no substantial differences between the two entrances, we would like to share a couple of tips to help you make an informed decision.
You might have heard of a third entrance. The truth is, there is a third entrance, but you cannot buy tickets there, there is no parking area, and it is also really high up in the mountains. It only serves those people who have accommodation on that side and are coming through from there. They leave their cars at the hotels, walk a lot and already have purchased tickets to show at the gates to the guard. So, if you are not one of them, then you should choose from Entrance 1 or 2.
Why It’s Important
First, let’s discuss why you have to choose before getting there between Entrances 1 and 2 at Plitvice Lakes National Park is important.
It’s highly recommended to buy your tickets in advance. While you can purchase tickets at the entrances, only a limited number are issued every hour. So, during the high season, you might find yourself unable to enter if you haven’t bought your ticket online.
Moreover, the ticket is only valid for one of the entrances, so you have to make a decision in advance.
Facts to Consider
Both entrances have their pros and cons; none is categorically better or worse than the other. Here are some facts to consider when choosing your entrance.
Parking
Each entrance has its own huge parking lots, nestled deep in the forest and offering many parking spaces. Both parking areas are on the opposite side of the road from the entrances, but there is a small bridge to cross the road and reach the entrance.
Entrance 2, or Parking 2, is 3 km further from the direction most visitors come from. This means you have to drive an additional 3 km to get to Entrance 2, so just a few minutes. However, for this same reason, many people choose Entrance 1, they just stop right at the first one.
Generally, Parking 2 and Entrance 2 are less crowded than Parking 1 and Entrance 1.
Tourist Routes
There are four different tourist routes starting from both entrances, marked with capital letters. These routes represent varying degrees of difficulty and offer different opportunities for viewing the lakes and waterfalls. More on this later.
If you’ve chosen a specific route, you must go to the entrance where it starts.
The green and oranges routes actually are practically the same routes, kind of mirrored to each other, only starting from the opposite sides.
View and Slope
Generally, routes starting from Entrance 1 offer better views because they head towards the waterfalls, while those from Entrance 2 follows the direction of the water, cascading down from lake to lake. So, you are mostly walking away from the waterfalls, having to stop and turn back to look at them, and take pictures. But anyway you would be doing this.
On the other hand, routes from Entrance 2 generally have a descending slope since they follow the river’s course. This means you’ll be walking downhill for the entire route from Entrance 2, while routes from Entrance 1 involve an uphill walk. But this is just occasionally, when you go from one lake to the other. So, most of the time, you will be walking alongside the lake, comfortably, on level ground.
It’s important to note that you still get amazing views on the routes starting from Entrance 2. Much of the trail passes through the water, before the falls, so you’ll have plenty of opportunities to immerse yourself in the wonders of the lakes. It’s just that there are no straight sections on the routes from Entrance 2 where you can approach and admire a waterfall for hundreds of meters while walking.
Overall, both entrances have their advantages and disadvantages: better views but a slightly uphill walk from Entrance 1, while less direct waterfall views but an overall downhill slope from Entrance 2.
It’s Your Choice
Both starting points offer a lots of opportunities to marvel at the natural wonders of the lakes and waterfalls at Plitvice Lakes National Park.
Our choice: We always arrived by car, so it was very easy to find both entrances and park the car in the parking area. We have returned on many occasions, and tried both entrances but personally, we prefer starting from Entrance 2 because it’s generally less crowded and we’re a bit lazy to walk uphill, and we don’t mind turning back for the view.
