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Plitvice Lakes NP accomodations

I see that many people make this stop a day trip from Zagreb. I would like to stay at least one night so I can hike the entire park before and after the crowds. The hotel in the park has generally poor reviews on Tripadvisor.com - especially for their price. Does anyone have a suggestion for a place they stayed near the park entrance that I can get to by bus? Thank you.

Posted by
6732 posts

All the details you need are in Rick's book - you do have that, right? We stayed in one of the government hotels in the park. Yep, the hotel experience was not exactly what I'd call a highlight of the trip. The place reeked of cigarette smoke (I have little tolerance for that), the rooms had all the charm of a 1970 Howard Johnson with an extra dose of eastern-bloc chic, and it was generally weird. Not a super value, but location, location, location. The front desk service was perfectly adequate, even a little friendly. The food was unmemorable. The architecture reminded me of something out of an old James Bond movie. It is what it is - I think the kitchy government hotels are part of the historical fabric of the place - c'mon, you're going behind what we used to call "the iron curtain" - might as well embrace the strangeness of it all. If I had to do it over again, I'd stay there again. Hope that helps.

Posted by
6732 posts

Hey, I never said it was miserable. It was charmless, it was convenient, it was weird, it was about what I had expected. But not miserable by any means. I actually got a perverse chuckle out of the experience - being a child of the Cold War era, it was all slightly surreal. You certainly can't beat the location - literally steps from the park trails. Free parking, they had an ATM on site, the setting was actually quite nice - it just was a bit worn and weird. Note that the OP seems to be trying to find a place that works if you're traveling by bus. We had a car, so I don't know for sure that the bus would stop right out front, but I'd guess it's more likely to be bus-friendly than the place recommended above, which does look perfectly nice, but is described on That Other Website as: "We really enjoyed it being remote, however, I would think it would be near impossible to stay here without a rental car..." and "10-15 minute drive" from the park itself (which sounds like a bit more of a walk than many would want). I'm certainly not trying to push the Warsaw Pact Holiday Inn on anyone, just sayin' that kitchy as it is, it's not a disaster. I'd stay there again (well, maybe).