Hiking in Plitvice

Don't worry! Croatia is not China! Tourism is carefully managed in Plitvice NP and there's no development that destroys nature. It's a very famous place so it's naturally crowded most of the time, but the crowds didn't spoil my enjoyment. European tourists generally still respect nature and behave better than the Chinese.

I didn't hike off the beaten track, because we made a daytrip from Budapest(!) and all we had was 2-3 hours to hike along the lakes and waterfalls. Basically you hike for a few hours(as fast as you wish), than you can take an electric boat across the largest lake and you can return by a shuttle bus(I think also electric, but surely environment friendly) to the entrance.

If you have time there's no reason why couldn't you hike off the beaten track(But don't stray off from the paths, because the area around(in?) the national park was heavily mined during the Independence War and landmines might still be around!).

As I said I don't have personal experience but as far as I know apart from the lakes and waterfalls there isn't anything specially beautiful in the national park, it's just a forest. If you're lucky(or unlucky) you might spot wild boars.

I think the real attraction of Plitvice is the lakes and waterfalls which you can see in 3-4 hours. If I were you I'd just see these and go hiking elswhere, there are much better places for hiking in Croatia: Velebit(Northern Velebit, Paklenica Gorge), Biokovo, etc.

OFF

I wanted to see China since a long time and I plan to spend some time in Sichuan as well, including Jiuzhaigou and Huanglong. Is it really that bad(apart from the outrageous entrance fee) that it spoils the experience? Is it still worth to see?

PS. If you buy something in Plitvice always check/ask the price first, because food and drinks are very overpriced! It's better to bring food with you!

I was there quite a while ago, but here goes. My husband and I chatted with a waiter at the Hotel Plitvice a few times, and he offered to take us on some hikes outside of the main park trail/boardwalk area. Unfortunately the weather turned and we moved on.
I did find the main park area quite extraordinary--but if I could have done more hikes I certainly would have.
I became interested in the land mine issue a few years ago, and I found this organization: Cromac They have maps showing the affected areas. I'll let them speak for themselves--no time to read them.
You may have already checked out Plitvice's website, but they describe another hike here I believe: http://www.np-plitvicka-jezera.hr/eng/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=58&Itemid=72

I hope you're aware that it would be foolish to attempt a hike with the map in the LP guide! Buy a real map!

Once you enter the NP Park through the main gate and pay the entrance fee, you can hike wherever you want along the marked paths;
you are not obliged to take the bus or the boat. If you are cought by the park rangers off the marked path AND have no ticket, you will be fined - rightly so. Since the marked pathways cover all the highlights of the park (and quite a few of those outside the main attractions are sparsely visited by the tourists) you can be on your own or part of the flock as much as you wish and still enjoy what the park has to offer.

Chances for lonesome hiking and trekking are much better at the nearby NP Sjeverni Velebit (breathtaking, too).

Wow, thanks for the very prompt replies everyone. A quick answer to some points:

Flachlandtiroler:
- don't worry, a map will be procured, this is just initial information seeking. However the official park website doesn't have any useful maps as they are cut off at the southernmost lake and so only one off-lake path is shown (to the NE - Medvedak).
- as for Jiuzhaigou, the entrance fee is outrageous, but at least it's outrageous for everyone (Chinese pay the same as foreigners). The development there looks similar to Plitvice and people are not allowed to stay overnight within the park (although if you go to one of the villages within the park and look foreign someone will invariably come and offer you a place to stay at their house). But the fact that you can take a bus to the furthest reaches of the park means that there are hordes of people everywhere and that the people don't cherish it, if they had to hike for a day to get to uppermost lake then they would have a greater respect for it. I didn't bother buying a bus ticket and walked the whole thing. Didn't go to Huanglong though.

dlmtn:
- definitely wouldn't go off the marked paths (especially if there are land mines). My only worry would be that since camping is forbidden in the park it's not possible to properly hike them as you would have to turn back to get back to your campsite/hotel, unless it's possible to completely traverse and exit the park in one day (so that you could pitch your tent outside the park boundaries).
- by NP Sjeverni Velebit do you mean Paklenica? (I'm definitely planning a few hikes around there)

Sjeverni Velebit means Northern Velebit. Paklenica is in Southern Velebit.

[http://www.summitpost.org/area/range/151564/velebit.html]

just to confirm some previous posts..there is a lot of off the beaten tracks in NP Plitivice, where you ll not meet other ppl and these hikes are very beautiful, you can explore it for days and if you are lucky (or hmm maybe not :) ) meet animals like bears and wolves.. i have done it couple of times, great experience....

The paths are designed in such way that you do not have to backtrack, unless you wish; the paths and suggested itinerary is clearly marked at the entrance, so you can plan your hike as desired. NP Sjeverni Velebit is different from NP Paklenica (as noted above, south of NP Plitvice). If you decide to go to NP Paklenica, I suggest to hike the wilder Mala Paklenica as well and not only the next door, and more touristy, Velika Paklenica gorge.