Croatia National Parks: Walking All 8, With 2026 Tickets

Most lists of Croatia's national parks describe the scenery. This one gives the walk in each of the 8 parks and 4 nature parks, with its length, the 2026 ticket and the way in. Six of the eight national parks are walked, two are boat trips.

How Many National Parks Are in Croatia?

Croatia has eight national parks and, since Zagorske gore was declared on 6 March 2026, 13 nature parks: 21 parks in all. Dinara, added in 2021, is the other recent one.

The eight national parks lie in karst and cover 930 km², of which 235 km² is sea. Plitvice and Paklenica are the oldest, from 1949, and Northern Velebit the youngest, from 1999.

For a walker the parks split by how you move through them. Plitvice, Krka, Mljet, Paklenica, Northern Velebit and Risnjak have marked paths; Brijuni and Kornati are visited by boat. Entries are numbered for navigation, not ranked.

Map of Croatia's National Parks

The official Parks of Croatia map plots all 21 parks with their marked walking routes. It shows each route's difficulty and access point, so keep it open beside this list.

The Parks at a Glance

One walk per park and its 2026 adult day ticket, from each park's own price list, cheapest season first.

Walking Croatia's National Parks, Park by Park

Each entry gives the best walk, the 2026 ticket, the way in and the tour that walks it. Entry 1 is our self-drive week through three national parks and Biokovo, 7 days in all.

Summit days are left to our sister site's Croatia hiking guide. The best months for every park are gathered in one section after the list.

1. Croatia National Parks Walking Holiday: Plitvice to Biokovo in a Week

• Distance: 48.1 km on four walking days, 8 to 16 km a day

• Duration: 7 days, 6 nights, May to October

• Route: Zagreb airport to Plitvice, Starigrad-Paklenica, Šibenik and Makarska, ending at Split airport

• Surface: Boardwalks and gravel at Plitvice and Krka, rock at Paklenica and Biokovo

• Difficulty: Level 3 of 5, with 2,720 m of climbing in all

• Best for: Walkers who drive and want four parks in one week

The week is self-drive, from Zagreb airport to Split airport, with car hire on request. We book six nights in 3-star hotels with breakfast and supply the guidebook and GPS app, but park tickets are bought on the day.

Day 2 is Plitvice, 8 km and 140 m on the boardwalks. Day 3 walks the Velika Paklenica canyon to the mountain hut and the cave, 16 km with 1,050 m of climbing. Day 4 follows the river from Skradin to Skradinski buk and back, 10.8 km.

Day 5 drives the coast road through Split and Omiš to Makarska, and day 6 climbs from the hotel door to Vošac, 13.3 km with 1,400 m up and down. Easy and hard days alternate: boardwalk, canyon, riverbank, mountain.

The week starts at €790 per person, with the tourist tax extra. Drives between parks take 1 to 2 hours.

2. Plitvice Lakes National Park

• Best walk: Programme C from Entrance 1 or H from Entrance 2, 8 to 8.9 km

• Ticket 2026: €10 November to March, €23 April, May and October, €40 June to September

• Getting there: About 2 hours by car from Zagreb airport

Plitvice became Croatia's first national park on 8 April 1949 and joined the UNESCO list on 26 October 1979 for its tufa, the mineral barriers that dam the water into 16 lakes. Here every lake walk follows a park programme, lettered from two entrances.

Entrance 1 at Rastovača is by the Lower Lakes and the Great Waterfall; Entrance 2 at Hladovina is at the Upper Lakes. The electric boat on Kozjak and the panoramic vehicle are in the ticket. Our week walks 8 km here on day 2.

The Plitvice Lakes routes are the park's eight programmes on its 2026 page; the letters skip D, G, I and J.

C and H both cover the Upper and Lower Lakes. K1 and K2 are the only programmes walked almost entirely on foot, and both now reach the new Tomićevo pogledalo viewpoint.

The Plitvice Lakes trails also leave the lakes. One climbs from the Hladovina car park to the Medveđak viewpoints, about 2 h 30 to Oštri Medveđak at 899 m, and the 9 km Plitvica trail runs through forest from Labudovac to the boat dock.

Tickets are sold online for a time slot at one entrance, and summer morning slots can sell out. The summer ticket drops to €25 after 4 pm in June to August and after 3 pm in September. The classic lakes day is one of our best walks in Croatia.

3. Krka National Park

• Best walk: Skradin Bridge to Skradinski buk, 3.4 km, then a 1.9 km loop

• Ticket 2026: €7 November to March, €20 April, May and October, €40 June to September

• Getting there: Šibenik is about 13 km away; the Skradin boat runs April to October

Seven waterfalls step down the river inside the park, and the Krka National Park trails add up to 47 km on 20 marked routes. The last fall, Skradinski buk, is 17 steps over 800 m with a drop of 45.7 m.

From the Skradin Bridge a gravel track follows the right bank, shared with cyclists, and our day 4 walks it there and back. At the falls a one-way loop crosses the water on wooden bridges and passes the restored watermills.

Roški slap makes a second day. The 8.5 km trail from Stinice past Roški slap to Oziđana pećina is not circular and ends with 517 wooden stairs up to the cave.

Swimming was banned across the park on 1 January 2021, and Skradinski buk is still closed to swimmers. The park now allows it only at marked spots at Roški slap, Stinice and Pisak, from June to September.

4. Mljet National Park

• Best walk: The shore of Veliko jezero and the climb to Montokuc

• Ticket 2026: €20 October to May, €30 June to September, boat to the islet included

• Getting there: Summer catamarans from Dubrovnik to Polače and Pomena

A third of the island is park, around two salt lakes open to the sea: Veliko jezero, with a 9.2 km shoreline, and Malo jezero. The ticket covers the lake paths and a boat to St Mary's islet, where monks built a monastery between 1177 and 1198.

From Polače the park's route climbs to Montokuc, 235 m, in an hour, drops to Soline and follows 2.5 km of shore to the boat. Our Dubrovnik week walks 12 km round the lakes on day 4 and Montokuc on day 5, 7.7 km with 320 m.

Of the eight, Mljet is the national park where a walk ends with a swim: Malo jezero reaches 26 to 29 °C in summer. Tickets bought after 4 pm are 25% cheaper. The Best of Dalmatia island hop walks the lakes too.

Day trips work only in summer, when the TP Line catamaran leaves Dubrovnik at 09:15 for Polače. Our Dubrovnik walking guide covers the day from the city.

5. Paklenica National Park

• Best walk: Velika Paklenica canyon to the mountain hut, 6 km and 400 m one way

• Ticket 2026: €5 in winter, €8 in March, April and October, €10 May to September

• Getting there: About 30 minutes from Zadar airport

Two canyons cut into Velebit from the coast at Starigrad. Walkers follow the Velika Paklenica canyon floor past the climbing walls to the hut at 480 m, with a side path to the Manita peć cave, open April to October. Our week walks 16 km here with 1,050 m of climbing. Its trails and passes are in our Paklenica National Park guide.

6. Northern Velebit National Park

• Best walk: The Premužić path from Zavižan to the Alan hut, 14.8 km, 5 to 6 hours

• Ticket 2026: €7 a day, €10 for two days, the same all year

• Getting there: By car only, the last 7 km to Zavižan on gravel road

Running 57 km along northern and central Velebit, the Premužić path spends its first 14.8 km inside the park, with 26 information boards. Zavižan has Croatia's highest weather station, at 1,594 m since 1953, and a 0.8 km botanical garden loop.

Our guided hut-to-hut week walks Zavižan to Alan on day 2, 15 km with 410 m up. The stages are in our Velebit walking guide. The peaks are in the Velebit hiking guide on our sister site.

The park season runs May to November, and the week from May to September.

7. Risnjak National Park

• Best walk: The Leska educational trail from Crni Lug, a 4.2 km loop

• Ticket 2026: €8, or €11 in July and August, valid for two days

• Getting there: By car, turning off for Crni Lug just past Delnice

Named for the lynx, ris, Risnjak is a beech and fir forest in Gorski kotar. The Leska loop has 23 boards in Croatian and English and is walkable in trainers most of the year. The Kupa rises in the park from a spring shaft 154 m deep.

On the 1,528 m summit the mountain hut is closed for reconstruction, and the Vilje path to the top is shut with it. Check the park's notices before a summit day; such days belong in the Croatia hiking guide.

8. The Boat Parks: Brijuni and Kornati

• Brijuni ticket 2026: €35 October to May, €50 June to September, boat from Fažana included

• Kornati ticket 2026: Charged per boat; excursions build in €6 to €8 a head

• Getting there: Brijuni from Fažana, 8 km from Pula; Kornati from Murter or Zadar

Brijuni is a 15-minute crossing from Fažana to Veliki Brijun. The 3.5-hour visit is about an hour by train and the rest on foot, and dinosaur footprints can be seen at capes Ploče and Vrbanj.

Kornati is 89 islands, islets and reefs reached only by boat, and it has no marked hiking trails, only two short educational paths. Metlina on Kornat, 237 m, is the highest viewpoint. Both parks are half-day boat trips, not walking days.

Nature Parks Worth Walking

Four of the 13 nature parks earn a walking day: two on our tours and two in the wetlands of the east. The other nine, from Medvednica to Dinara, are outside this guide.

1. Biokovo Nature Park

• Best walk: Makarska to Vošac, 1,422 m: 6.6 km and 1,146 m one way

• Ticket 2026: €10 April, May and October, €15 June to September, Skywalk included

• Getting there: The path starts in Makarska; Split airport is 90 km from the park

Behind Makarska rises Biokovo, and the Vošac path climbs it straight from the town. Our day 6 leaves early to stay in the morning shade, reaches the top and comes back down to Makarska, 13.3 km in all.

The park road is a different visit: 23 km of single-lane asphalt, limited to 20 cars an hour and closed from November to March, to the Skywalk at 1,228 m. Sveti Jure, 1,762 m, on foot is a hiking day for our sister site.

2. Učka Nature Park

• Best walk: Poklon to Vojak, 1,401 m: 4 km and 474 m, about 1.5 hours

• Ticket 2026: Free; the Poklon visitor centre museum is €6 to €10

• Getting there: About 30 minutes by car from Opatija

Unlike every national park here, Učka charges nothing to walk in. From the Poklon pass at 922 m a beech-forest path climbs to Vojak, the highest point in Istria, where a stone lookout tower from 1911 marks the top.

Our Walk and Wine Istria holiday crosses the park on day 6, from Poklon down to Lovran, 11.2 km with 1,410 m of descent. The Vojak walk is another of our best walks in Croatia.

3. Kopački Rit Nature Park

• Best walk: The white water-lily boardwalk from Kopačevo, 2.6 km, about an hour

• Ticket 2026: €3, or €15 with the boat into the reserve

• Getting there: By car from Osijek via Bilje; there is no public transport

Where the Drava meets the Danube, Kopački rit floods on average 99 days a year and has about 300 recorded bird species. The boardwalk runs from the reception centre to Sakadaš lake. Boats leave at 10, 12, 2 and 4 and must be booked by phone; the deer-rut evenings are not running in 2026.

4. Lonjsko Polje Nature Park

• Best walk: Staza Posavaca, a 4.2 km loop from the Čigoč centre, 2 to 2.5 hours

• Ticket 2026: €5

• Getting there: By car through Sisak

In 1994 Čigoč was named Europe's first stork village, and it holds about 30 active nests. From Krapje, the 5 km Staza graničara reaches the spoonbill colony at Krapje Đol, Croatia's first bird reserve. Paths are field tracks, so bring rubber boots after rain.

Best Time to Walk Croatia's National Parks

May, June, September and October suit every park here. At Plitvice and Krka the April, May and October tickets cost €23 and €20 against €40 in summer, so a shoulder-month ticket costs about half.

Summer brings sold-out slots at Plitvice and crowds at Skradinski buk; an early start or an afternoon ticket helps at both. Mljet's day-trip catamarans run only in summer.

The mountains keep their own calendars. Northern Velebit's season runs May to November and Biokovo's road is closed from November to March. Winter Plitvice costs €10, though single trails can close in bad weather.

How to Get to Croatia's National Parks

Zagreb airport is about 2 hours by car from Plitvice, Zadar airport about 30 minutes from Paklenica, and Split serves Krka and Biokovo. Dubrovnik is the port for Mljet, with summer catamarans and a year-round car ferry from Prapratno to Sobra.

A car is the practical way to link the mainland parks: Risnjak has one bus a day and Kopački rit none. Brijuni's boat leaves Fažana, 8 km from Pula, and Kornati excursions leave Murter and Zadar.

How Much It Costs

Park tickets are the main extra on a walking week. The four parks on our week cost €40, €10, €40 and €15 from June to September, €105 per person against €63 in May.

Late tickets cut the bill: Plitvice drops to €25 after 4 pm from June to August, Mljet is 25% cheaper after 4 pm, and Krka's newest price list adds a €30 ticket after 3 pm in summer. The week itself starts at €790 per person with six nights and breakfast; car hire and tourist tax are extra.

What to Pack

Our week's kit list is walking shoes or boots, a 25 to 35 litre pack, a waterproof jacket, a sun hat, sunscreen, poles and some cash. Trainers do on the boardwalks, but the Paklenica and Biokovo paths are rock and want boots.

Carry your own water: few of Biokovo's 15 marked trails have any, and most Risnjak trails have none. At Plitvice keep your ticket on you until you leave the park.

Plitvice or Krka: Which Park to Walk

Choose Plitvice for a full walking day: programmes up to 17.5 km and boardwalks over 16 lakes. Choose Krka for a half day near the sea, 3.4 km from Skradin to the falls and a 1.9 km loop. If you can, walk both, two days apart, as our week does.

Mljet suits a swim after the walk and Velebit a night in a hut. Of the best national parks in Croatia, only Brijuni and Kornati are boat days.