Plitvice Lakes Private Tour 2026 - VIP Experience

LARGEST NATIONAL PARK IN CROATIA

Your guide will tell you many fascinating facts during this private tour. For example, did you know that Croatia has eight national parks? For a small country, that's quite an impressive number. However, covering almost 30,000 hectares, the Plitvice Lakes are the largest national park in Croatia. Although it is situated in the central part of the country, it is nevertheless close to Kvarner Bay and the northern Dalmatian coast. This makes Plitvice a great choice for a day trip from your seaside location. It's also an ideal stop on your way to or from the coast, as it stands roughly at the midpoint between Zagreb and Dalmatia. So, if you're still deciding how to visit, explore our Plitvice Lakes Tours to find out if there's one departing from the town you're staying in.

UNIQUE GEOLOGY AND MORPHOLOGY

On this Private Plitvice Lakes Tour, you will learn a lot about the typical landscape of this region, the 'karst'. It consists of carbonate rock formations such as limestone and dolomite rock. Such formations have a strong sensitivity to chemical and mechanical wear and the influence of tectonics. This has led to the creation of sinkholes, sinking streams, caves, and springs. It is believed that the lake system of Plitvice Lakes National Park was formed some 15,000 years ago. As you'll find out from your guide, it's the tufa barriers that helped create the 16 lakes of Plitvice. Tufa is a type of limestone, and it is formed when carbonate minerals precipitate out of water. As the tufa barriers grow, the water levels keep rising, increasing the volume of water in the lakes. Although the lakes are separated by these barriers, a series of cascading waterfalls form a connection between them. The tufa formation is an ongoing biodynamic process, which means that the lakes are constantly changing. So, in a way, each time you wish to explore the Plitvice Lakes, they'll be different!

A PRIVATE TOUR OF AN OPEN LABORATORY AND MUSEUM

As you will see during your private guided tour of Plitvice Lakes, this national park is like an open laboratory and a museum of natural history. Because of its unique features, it has attracted scientists since the time of the Habsburg monarchy. The first documented scientific research into the aquatic ecosystem of Plitvice Lakes began in 1850. It was conducted to establish the depths of the lakes. Since then, scientists have continued to do research in flora, fauna, geology, mineralogy, and various other fields. With a tradition dating back more than 170 years, this work is still ongoing. As a part of this tour, you will be riding on an electric boat across Kozjak Lake. You will also have the opportunity to ride on a train, enjoying the route that runs along the lakes.

CASCADING WATERFALLS AND THE VELIKI SLAP

On this guided tour, you will see many cascading waterfalls, which are the most prominent feature of Plitvice Lakes National Park. As you will see, the Plitvice Lakes form a kind of mosaic made of water, making them a unique aquatic ecosystem. It's as if Mother Nature decided to play with water to create the most fabulous shapes and curves. Cascading from lake to lake, the water sometimes trickles down and sometimes falls from great heights. There are twenty waterfalls higher than ten meters and six waterfalls that are higher than twenty meters! By the end of your private tour, your guide will take you to see the mighty Veliki Slap waterfall, situated at the very bottom of the Lower Lakes. Translated literally as The Big Waterfall, with a height of 78 meters (255 feet), it's the highest waterfall in Croatia and one of the most famous in Europe! This impressive natural wonder looks different depending on the season. For example, during periods of heavy rainfall, the Veliki Slap waterfall is truly spectacular and a sight to behold. And when winter sets in, it gets almost completely frozen and turns into a giant ice sculpture.