Plitvice Lakes to Rijeka by Bus

Why are going to Rijeka? A transfer point for Istria or an island? Do you want to see Opatija? It is a lovely city but not too much to see. But to answer your question, yes it is possible. We have gone to Plitvice from Rijeka and back in the same day.

So the plan is to spend a night or two in Plitvice then move on to Rijeke. Why Rijeke?; because it seems like an interesting small city. Can you share any info on bus companies and associated details? Google is not being very helpful. Thanks in advance.

Rome2Rio.com says you can make that trip, changing buses in Karlovac. It's important to understand Rome2Rio's limitations. Basically, you cannot trust the travel times, frequencies or fares it displays. It is usually accurate as to the existence of buses or trains, and it generally identifies the proper transfer point(s). What you need to do is keep clicking through the website until you find the name of the bus company providing service. Usually there's a link to the company's website, where you should be able to find the schedule and some fare information (though the fare is likely to be low enough as not to be an issue). Be careful about dates, though. There could be a really significant difference between the bus schedule in December/January and in June.

Be sure you are clear on where you get the outbound bus from Plitvice. There's not a bus station in the sense of a building. With luck there will be a bus shelter by the side of the road. I'd try to avoid planning to take the last bus of the day. The schedule situation for my bus to Zagreb was a bit uncertain. I think the bus I ended up taking was not one I had been told about at the Zagreb bus station. Summertime buses to Zagreb are fairly frequent; what I'm not sure of is whether all the Zagreb buses make a stop in Karlovac.

If the bus driver or an assistant asks you for about $1 in kuna for each bag stored in the luggage hold, it's legitimate. That's pretty common in Croatia.

Thanks so much for your information!

You will not have trouble getting from the lakes to Rijeka via Karlovac. I would suggest Opatija as a better base, there are many bus companies so buy ticket for each leg of journey. www.getbybus.com

autotrolej is the name of the bus company. If you go through google, they will translate the website. the bus depot in Rijeka is near the port. The only hotel I know of is the Hotel Bonavia near the port. Any other accommodations will be apts. to rent. There is a boat/hostel in the port that looked interesting. Their website is botel-marina.com. There are a few museums in the city, you can walk the Korzo which is traffic free, and you could either take the bus or walk up to Trsat which has a church, cloister, and old castle. The town is small but quaint. Every Holy Day people make a pilgrimage to Trsat. The beach in Kantrida is the best in the area and a very short ride from downtown Rijeka. Taxis are very cheap so you can always grab one for anywhere you want to go.

We find Opatija to be too commercial and expensive to base in. The “new” part is too much like Atlantic City and the old section is overshadowed. A short bus ride from Rijeka to Opatija for the day would be sufficient. A walk along the Lungomare promenade is delightful with a stop for a drink or ice cream, but unless you are into nightlife, Opatija doesn’t hold the appeal it did in the 70’s.

Just to be clear, Autotrolej is the Rijeka area bus company and does not cover the Lakes or Karlovac area. Volosko is well worth considering as a base too, #32 bus run through it towards Opatija and Rijeka,

I cannot understand how Rijeka is appealing given the other nearby vastly better options.

I did a bit of research re bus Rijeka to Plitvice Lakes NP. Of course it is January now so options are very limited. I concluded that one could get accommodation in the area of the NP but would still require a way to access the park itself. And the available accommodations in January were quite far from the park. (Take a look on your fav site..there is lodging in the park but probably closed this time of year.) From Rijeka there were no tours to the park at all, but there was a transportation day trip by GetYourGuide from Zagreb operating a couple days a week. So I purchased the day trip, procured 3 night apartment in Zagreb and bought a bus ticket around $US 12. Problem #1. The purchase of bus ticket was on- line with delivery by email, however delivery was of a voucher that had to be printed. Fortunately the ticket was refundable and done. Living cheaply on the road does not lend itself easily to access to a printer, often I don’t even see my Airbnb hosts and it is labor intensive researching, traveling to and actually getting the printed voucher. So I just headed to the Rijeka bus station with 8 minutes to spare and purchased the ticket. Not a big problem #2, but still. The ticket was for the same bus company but more expensive and the luggage guy then charged me 11 more k for my bag. Hmmmm... lf possible, I would just go with FlixBus who have reliable online sales, e-ticket you can put in your “wallet,” an app that is useful and no luggage charge. Problem #3: I get to Zagreb and my trip to Plitvice Lakes is cancelled. No one else crazy enough for below freezing lake walking in January. Oh, well, I like Zagreb.
Regarding Rejeka, I liked that town also. A very good central hub for exploring. It sits in a great place..... you can go into Slovenia to the UNESCO underwater river cave and that is quite a sight. It’s only a couple hours by train to Divaca where there may be a free cave shuttle to meet the train ( or its a couple km to walk). Another 2 hours to Ljubljana, Slovenia’s capital, the perfect town. From Rijeka, the Istria peninsula is west with Roman ruins at Pula and a string of towns going north along the coast. South leads to the islands and coastline toward Zadar and Split, and east puts you where I am now, Zagreb. Plus it’s got good and cheap accommodation and food, convenient train (trains are limited in Croatia, but useful) and bus transportation and some street art down by the harbor if you like that sort of thing. Very very nice people and English everywhere.

Better luck for you than me on the park, but this is easy country to travel and you will love it!