We have a book at home, Wild Wonders of Europe, that showcases stunning pictures of amazing places in Europe alongside a conservation message. The waterfalls and lakes of Plitvice features in this book, which makes it sound like a beautiful, undiscovered wilderness. So we decided to pay it a visit on our way back through inland Croatia. In fact this was our furthest point East, close to the border of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

On reading the guidebook we realised that lots of other people probably had the same idea, so we prepared ourselves for a few crowds. What we didn’t expect were hour-long queues to buy tickets at 8am (at one entrance; the other having already sold out), more queues once in to get on a bus to the start of a strictly prescribed route (and more queues to get on a boat halfway round) and essentially a procession around the trails, with queues at all the viewpoints. In fact it bordered on unsafe at times as people pushed past each other on narrow boardwalks in search of the perfect picture.

The scenery was really stunning, and our pictures make it look reasonably empty and like we had a good day out. But in fact it felt like a theme park (or Scottish ski centre), with prices and queues to match, and was not a wholly enjoyable experience. It seems to be a bit of a victim of its own success, and we felt it could be managed much better. At least we’ll never regret not going, and Jess had a great day as she finds people (and dogs) much more interesting than waterfalls…

Impressive amounts of travertine (and boardwalk)

One of the waterfalls on the upper lakes

Many waterfalls and pools

Some of the waterfalls were underneath the boardwalk

Wishing my camera can do long exposures

Reeds adding foreground interest

Limestone encrusted trees – and incredibly clear water

Waterfalls across the lake

There were some great trees and reflections too

Countless smaller cascades all around the trails

And tree roots

Out and back to another viewpoint (Jess got waterfall fatigue before we did)

More cascades

The sun was annoyingly in the wrong place for some of the more impressive falls

I think this might have been the view described as “just a lot of drainpipes”

Varied vegetation

Snacking on the boat across one of the bigger lakes

Lower Lakes (significantly busier)

The imaginatively named Velika Slap (Big Waterfall), the classic Plitvice view

Our “premium” pitch at Plitvice Holiday Village. It had a nice view but some of the standard pitches were bigger and had more grass and shade. We wonder if we have different priorities to most people…

Waving goodbye to the friendly home comforts and animals of Camping Dvor, we left Istria and headed south on the Adriatic Highway for a taste of classic coastal Croatia.

The route officially begins at Rijeka, where we got off to a poor start by struggling to find anywhere to park, finally making our way down to a narrow and not particularly nice piece of shoreline which was full of people sunbathing, and having lunch on some concrete steps in the only available patch of shade. A further couple of hours’ drive brought us to a quite amazing campsite sandwiched on steep ground between the road and the sea. The tiny gravel pitches, hottest afternoon yet and exotic insects were made up for by a swim in a sheltered cove with the evening sun lighting up limestone islands across a shimmering sea.

In the morning we were back on the road early, but soon detoured off to walk over some scree to Zavratnica Cove, which was well worth it and relatively deserted. We then took a car ferry to the semi-island of Pag, stopped to buy some famous cheese, had lunch next to a salt flat and continued on to Bibinje, just south of the city of Zadar. Here there was a bewildering array of tiny campsites essentially in people’s gardens, backing onto the sea. Picking one at random, we ended up in an olive grove, which was lovely initially but less appreciated during the evening’s spectacular thunderstorm with olive branches battering on the roof.

The next day we cycled into Zadar along a highly varied route: beachfront Bibinje, an oil storage plant/industrial estate, and Zadar suburbs. We explored the old town by bike and on foot, including an ice cream parlour, climbing up the bell tower of the Cathedral of St Anastasia, and Dave got really excited by the sea organ (Jo thought it was pretty cool too). We liked Zadar.

Zadar marks the southernmost point of our trip. Although Dubrovnik was very tempting, we’ve decided it’s too far, too hot and too busy – and we’ll perhaps come back later on an Easter sailing trip instead. And so we’re now heading north again and on our (very slow) way home…

South from Rijeka on the Adriatic Highway

I got up all by myself!

Evening swim

Out tiny pitch beneath the highway

Tunnelling out of the campsite

Village of Jablanac

“Belvedere” viewpoint on the way to the cove

View of the flatter and less scree-y way out

Entrance to Zavratnica Cove (it goes a lot further back)

Heading further in

Jess getting the best view as usual

Scrambling up the road embankment

Novalja, with Velebit mountain behind

Driving south from Pag Town

Old Town of Zadar (in a square only accessible by steps…)

Cathedral of Saint Anastasia + roman columns

Cathedral tower and some fallen columns

Cathedral and some fallen wheelie bins

Narrow tower staircase

Jess spotting someone she knows

Cathedral tower staircase

View from cathedral tower of islands

Roof tops of Zadar

Top of the tower

Zadar sea organ (nearby because I failed to take a picture of the sound)

We woke up early to leave Slovenia, only to find ourselves stuck in the van. An overnight rain storm had brought down our tarp, and was preventing the side door from opening. The next easiest exit is to climb over the drivers seat and out the door, but I had leaned the bikes against that door. It took me a while to climb into the front, move the car seat and other bags backwards and slide out the passenger door (this only had a table outside to push out the way).

Eventually we got going and had an incredibly wet drive south to Croatia. A quick stop at a lake that boils and with no known bottom (the wild lake), and a lunch stop in the limestone karst near Skocjan and we arrived to our campsite while it was still raining.

A long morning of drying and sorting and shopping meant that we got going on our cycle after 11, and almost immediately felt hungry and stopped for lunch. The ride took us through inland Istria, to a medieval town. A local cycle route described the area as the green heartlands of Istria, although we found this an optimistic view. The town (Svetvincenet) had an old castle and a couple of cafes, but in general was very quiet. Quiet roads were great for cycling, but the area was strangely empty given the number of holiday apartments.

Our second day in Istria was a mish mash of everything. We went shopping in a hypermarket, drove past Pula Amphitheatre, had lunch in a nature park, swam in the sea and ate seafood for dinner.

Our final day in Istria we splashed out and went to the Brijuni national park. This involved a boat ride to an island, a ‘train’ ride around the island, pausing to stop at a safari park to see an elephant and turtle, and a brief introduction to the history (from Roman onwards). We then split from the official tour to have lunch in a garden, hunt down a hill fort and dip our toes in various bays.

These few days also let us stay in our best campsite yet. Notable features were: grass, huge pitch, swimming pool, proper washing machine. Downsides were the animals, including 4am barking dogs and mosquitoes.

Divje Jezero (Wild Lake), a karst spring at least 160m deep (as far as the cave divers have git)

Enjoying a wet (200 m long) walk

Hugely impressive sink hole near Skocjan

Medieval town of Svetvincenet. Very very quiet (but did sell ice cream)

The green heartlands of Istria

Cycling through inland Istria – very much not touristy

Enjoying sitting the wrong way round

Tasting rocks

Jess got incredibly excited by the animals that roamed the campsite

P for Pula Amfiteater

Attempting to find the least busy parts of the Kamenjak peninsula by fighting through a low flying pine forest

Rewarded with a peaceful lunch spot

Jess enjoying the bushwhacking (Daddy not so much)

Typical Kamenjak coastline

I can see the sea, but Jess isn’t interested

Leaving Fazana for the Brijuni national park

Typical view from our train ride

Bay with a (ruined) roman villain and around it

Lunch in the “Mediterranean garden” (given the location, is this not just a garden)

Paddling in the sea. The temperature was so warm it was like standing in cold tea, not refreshing at all.

Another typical Brijuni beach and shore line

Trees!

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

Boats

Cruising pen (needs high staffing levels)

Urrr, I splashed myself!

Our chosen campsite was full when we arrived at 3.30 (our earliest arrival yet) so we were directed to a repurposed railway carpark that charged for a gravel patch and portaloo. We elected to explore Bohinj Bistrica for the evening but as we set off, I read the guidebook which dedicated enough space to say there was nothing of interest except it being the largest town near Lake Bohinj. Luckily we found a nice park dedicated to a railway tunneler, a cheap ice cream shop (visited 3 times so far) and a restaurant serving traditional food (all forms of pork, various mush and sauerkraut) and local ale.

The next morning we took an early (9 am) dip in the lake, which was a welcome cool down from the previous night’s heat, and wonderfully quiet at that time. We then had a fight with a chaotic campsite check in, with tens of families trying to find pitches, check in and manoeuvre vehicles. The afternoon was spent catching up with organisation and logistics, and cooling off in the river at the back of the campsite.

Our second day at the lake was planned as a cycle along the cycle path that runs around the nearby valleys. It was another great tarmac off road route, but we soon detoured into the lake. We were tempted to cycle along the lakeside road, which was great fun, but so hot that we stopped for elevenses and jumped in the lake (Jess being restricted to paddling). A further temptation dragged us up through a old rocky forest towards a waterfall. Once we had climbed 200 m, overheated and had lunch we realised that the 20 min walk to the waterfall was too much so we retreated back to the original cycle path plan.

Not long after rejoining the cycle path, signs of thunderstorm showed. Jo assured me it would be like jumping in the lake, so we started to cycle through it. After a few minutes, it showed no signs of stopping and we were all wet, so we stopped under a handy shed. Although wet through, we never got cold. A lovely cycle back down into the campsite led us into another downpour, which we spent contemplating how to camp in the van in the wet. Luckily it dried up before we found out.

The third day was spent booking campsites and washing. Due to a washing machine door popping open half way through, we spent a total 5 hours washing, for two of which we took a chair and camped out by the machine while Jess fed, slept and discovered washing and drying machines. We also managed another river swim and ice cream.

We’ve decided to keep further Slovenian treats for the homeward journey and head for Croatia directly, making the most of the forecast day of rain by travelling.

Modern restaurant serving traditional Slovenian food

Variety of pork-based items and tasty sides

Keeping cool and trying to get Jess to sleep in the park

Bohinj sunset

Lake Bohinj – only ducks for company at 8am

Church of St John the Baptist

Swimming in Lake Bohinj (crocs help keep dave’s long legs afloat)

Jess enjoying her early morning dip

Splashing!

SPLASHING!

Walking in Bohinj

The most photographed church in Slovenia, from the angle without mountains in the backdrop.

Campsite shade

Fields, view and a tarmac cycle path

Personal swimming spot

View from the middle of the lake

View of our swim spot from the middle (well, 50 strokes out)

Thunder approaches, but on a nice cycle path

Petrichor

RAIN ! So much fun cycling through this as it was so hot

Thunder stops, smiles come out

Our luxurious thunderstorm hiding spot

Happy to find mummy at the end of the bench

Bohinj Bistrica after (and before) rain

Do I chew or blow this?

Campsite swing

Another satisfying nappy drying line.

Eating the tasty bits from a while nectarine

Rather cold for washing

The funniest transport from the river

Assisted chair climbing

Story time (or rather page turning time)

Funny face competition

Our main day out from Kamnik was a visit to the high plateau of Velika Planina, an ancient summer pastureland still in use today. It was great to be up in the relative cool of the mountains and enjoy some elevation and views of the enticing-looking surrounding ridges, even if it was mostly achieved via cable car and chairlift! We meandered around the informative (if not always easy to follow) “in the footsteps of the herdsmen” trail, buying some mountain cheese for our picnic on the way. Even managed to get away from most of the crowds at the furthest reaches of the trail.

First experience of a chairlift

Lovely alpine meadow where Jess ate my half of boiled egg

Mountains! Good to be up high.

More mountains and the first of many herdsmens’ huts

High plateau

“In the footsteps of the herdsmen”

Velika Planina

Church of St Mary of the Snows

I’m so happy to have taken my hat off

Velika Planina and mountain backdrop

“Highland” cows (~1400m)

Very well educated too

Way back to the chairlift

Waiting for sweet cheese dumplings (a local delicacy)

We also explored the old town of Kamnik before leaving. A place of churches, castles and whitewashed shop fronts, which, with the blue skies, made it feel very Mediterranean (with an alpine skyline). On our way out we drove up to the head of the valley to have lunch by a pretty glacial pool.

Kamnik town, with the kamnik alps behind

Ruined castle and not ruined chapel

Kamnik main street

Kamnik church

Unexpectedly happy to be back in the car seat

We squeezed in a visit to Lake Bled between leaving the Kranjska Gora area and our next campsite at Kamnik, further east. It was full of people (literally) but that was OK because we were expecting it. We enjoyed a picturesque walk around lake, blew our budget on a nice lunch (including club sandwiches, and the best burger Dave can remember eating), went for a paddle, and Jo inspected the world championship rowing course.

Lake Bled

Escaping the crowds on a detour through the forest

Viewpoint near the castle

Outside the town hall

Lunch with a Bled view

(Original) Bled cream cake

Cream cake inspector

Castle looking imposing

Fountains are much more interesting than castles

Fountains!

Where’s the castle? No, that’s a dog…

Castle and island chapel (still Bled)

Although a busy day, this obviously didn’t tire Jess out because on arrival at Kamnik she was extraordinarily keen to climb all over the van…

Starting move of “Windscreen Direct” (with apologies to Joe Hobbs)

(Assisted ascent)

Summit Celebration

Carefully considering going solo

Happy upside down Jess

A few days cycling near Triglav.

Stayed in Dovje and had one day cycling to Kranjska Gora and beyond to Planika, then slightly beyond along a rough track for an ever elusive view.

Another day we started cycling the valley to the north face of Triglav but it was incredibly busy and dusty so we turned back and cycled to (and quicky back again) the non touristy town of Jesenice, finding an idyllic spot by the river for lunch on the return.

We found the trailer and heat hard work (especially on tracks), but Jess is relatively happy whizzing along.

Triglav from the camp

Kranjska Gora

Pizza!

Struggling with the rough track

High point of the track

Ski jumps (looked even more ridiculously steep in real life)

Typical cycle path and hay drier

Where’s mummy?

post ice cream snooze and play

Splashy happy (I was constantly walking back and forward to refill this)

An impressive attempt to create enough washing line

View from a dusty road

Jess nice in Jesenice

Pre lunch snooze

Multitasking lunch and paddling

Jess exploring water in her cup

Eating everything from the snack box

Lunch by the river

Having a glacial paddle

NB this is now a couple of days out of date – somehow blogging is always at the bottom of the to do pile…oh well…

We’ve spent the last three days mainly travelling, about four hours a day with at least one long stop/leg stretch. Doesn’t seem a lot but we’ve found it’s about the most we can pleasantly manage. We’re also getting better at entertaining Jess/getting her to calmly nap while driving, which is helping!

After leaving the Bodensee we followed the Deutsche Alpenstrasse for a couple of days. Some great high roads through the meadows and villages of Allgau with views of the Alps to the south. We tried not to get too annoyed by slow campervans and tractors! We paused in Bad Hindelange to walk to a viewpoint for lunch, then ended up driving later than intended because none of our target campsites had any space, but we found a small friendly one and even had time for a lake swim and a beer (the downside was the entirely gravel pitch, which meant anything Jess touched was a potential choking hazard…)

Next morning we spent a couple of hours getting almost nowhere (wrong turns and slow traffic) so we hopped on the Munich-Salzburg motorway and were soon within touching distance of the Berchtesgaden national park, where we planned a long lunch stop. But we were thwarted by a closed road and ended up walking along the River Saalach at Schneizlreuth (we just liked the name) instead, followed by Eiskaffee and Apfelstrudel – not a bad exchange. Onwards to Zell am See (unfortunately missed the See due to accidentally driving into a 4km long tunnel) and a campsite in Fusch at the bottom of the Gross Glockner pass.

The main excitement of the next day (other than ending up in Slovenia) was driving over the pass. We went for a wander at the top and reintroduced Jess to snow, had a slightly random lunch in Winklern, then powered on east and crossed the border via the extremely badly maintained Wurzenpass.

We’re now settled in at Dovje in the main valley north of Triglav national park and plan to stay here several nights exploring the area.

First use of the rucksack carrier at Bad Hindelange

View from our lunch spot

Jess in carrier

Gravel galore at Bad Tolz

Meadow at Schneizlreuth

Wander along the Saalach river

Carrier selfie

Heading up the Gross Glockner pass

Van in its natural habitat

Higher up

View back down the pass

Casual wander up a scree slope at the top of the pass

Spot our van

Plateau-y at the top

The Gross Glockner itself

Heiligenblut?

Nappies washed and drying at Dovje

And another one just cos they’re pretty in the evening sun (I may have gone a bit nappy mad)

One week down and tomorrow (today by the time we find enough signal and time to post this) we leave the Bodensee after three days and perhaps will traverse our first alpine pass. We’ve found our plans highly susceptible to disruption, through a combination of our tiredness, Jess’s willingness to travel and if campsites have space (and will accept Jess/have a working washing machine/will freeze our freezer blocks).

The last three days have included some excellent cycling around the Bodensee, joining the masses of other cyclists along the coastline. The first day we met up with Simon and Jane for a 45 km ride through Stein am Rhein, in both Germany and Switzerland. The next day was a day of sleeping, washing, travelling and beach visits. After that recuperation, we did a short ride to Meersburg from our campsite near Friedrichshafen. The historic seaside towns were good, Jess enjoyed flammkuchen for the first time, and we somehow completely failed to find an ice cream by the sea.

Bodensee paddling at our campsite at Gaiaenhof

Jess spent the evenings mostly looking cute and charming all the passers-by

Stein am Rhein (“just to prove we went somewhere “)

Family portrait next to the model railway in Stein am Rhein

Jane took Jess paddling in the Rhine. Jess likes to splash. Jess got very wet…

More paddling – lunch on our day off cycling

Swimming! (doubling as a wash…)

It was empty before we let her play with it…

Nearly full moon over the Bodensee at Fischbach

Saying hello to the swans on a perfect morning

Karabiner chewing

Exploring Hagnau on the way to Meersburg

Just chillin

Slightly odd sculpture at Meersburg

Post-flammkuchen walk near Meersburg

Still wobbly

Bodensee views

We crossed the Belgium-Luxembourg border on a single track road during an interesting Google “shortcut”. It was actually quite nice, with rolling hills and pretty villages. We stopped at one of them, Esch-sur-Sure, in a rather dramatic river valley, to camp for the night and stretch our legs before continuing towards more interesting terrain the next day (an unplanned night in a dodgy campsite near Karlsruhe only got slightly in the way…)

Evening stroll by the river, with atmospheric mist following a couple of thundery showers

Esch-sur-Sure from below

And from above – we visited all of the towers on all of the hills

Jess enjoying the view

We found a playground on the way back to the campsite