Best National Parks in Croatia

The Plitvice Lakes National Park is a mesmerizing natural wonder to behold Plitvice Lakes National Park is located in Croatia and is famous for its stunning lakes, waterfalls, and forests. Visitors can explore the park's 16 interconnected lakes and cascading waterfalls on a variety of walking trails.

Krka National Park is located in Croatia, near the city of Sibenik. It is awash with breathtaking beauty, with its undulating falls of crystal-clear water offering stunning views of the Krka River and its waterfalls. Visitors can swim in designated areas, hike on several trails and take boat tours.

Kornati National Park, called a ‘nautical paradise’, is a pristine archipelago nestled in the Adriatic Sea off the coast of Croatia. While a small park (only 320 sq. km), this captivating natural wonderland is renowned for its extraordinary beauty, comprising 89 stunning islands, islets, and reefs.

An adventure sport lover and botanists delight, the Biokovo nature park is a must visit for all travellers to Makarska. Biokovo Nature Park is located on the southern Dalmatian coast, towering about 1500 meters over the Makarska Riviera in Croatia. This mountain rampart offers panoramic views over the sea and nearby islands and is a popular destination for hikers, with numerous paths winding through olive groves, vineyards, and pine forests

Mljet National Park is located in Southern Dalmatia near Dubrovnik. The park covers the entire northwest part of the island and is known for its two salted lakes, Veliko and Malo Jezero, and an old Benedictine monastery on St. Mary's Island. Mljet National Park is also known for its diverse flora and fauna, making it a unique and stunning destination for visitors. The park offers a range of activities, including swimming, hiking, cycling, kayaking, and sightseeing.

Paklenica National Park is located slightly inland from the coast of North Dalmatia, about 47 kilometers north (northeast) from Zadar, Croatia. It is famous for its two impressive canyons, Velika and Mala Paklenica, which are vertically cut into the mountain from the sea to the Velebit’s highest peaks. The park's highest peak is Vaganski vrh, which stands at 1,757 meters high, and it is well known for its numerous geological highlights, diverse plant and animal species, and a wide range of outdoor activities such as hiking, climbing, and wildlife observation.

Brijuni National Park is located in the Croatian part of the northern Adriatic Sea, on a group of fourteen small islands separated from the west coast of the Istrian peninsula by the narrow Fažana Strait. Brijuni National Park is known for its scenic beauty and is a popular holiday resort and Croatian National Park. Some of the protected marine organisms in the waters of Brijuni include pen-shell and date-shell, while sea turtles and dolphins are also occasionally seen in the area. The park's ethno park presents a typical Istrian homestead with its autochthonous animal species

Risnjak National Park is located in Gorski Kotar, the most mountainous and heavily forested region of Croatia, about 15 km inland from the Adriatic Sea. The park covers an area of 63.5 square kilometers, including the central part of Risnjak and Snježnik massif and the source area of the river Kupa. It is famous for its diverse flora and fauna, including being the home to all three large European predators: wolf, bear, and lynx, from which the massif Risnjak got its name.

Northern Velebit National Park is located in Lika-Senj County, Croatia, covering 109 square kilometers of the northern section of the Velebit mountains, the largest mountain range in Croatia. The park is known for its diverse flora and fauna, including more than 950 plant species and subspecies, 40 of which are endemic, and the strict nature reserve Hajdučki i Rožanski kukovi, declared as one of the most interesting speleological phenomena in the world. The park's karst landscape, dense forests, sedimentary rocks, rolling grasslands, caves, and numerous mountain trails, including the epic Via Dinarica mega trail, make it a popular destination for hikers, alpinists, and naturalists.

Učka Nature Park is located in the eastern part of the Istria Peninsula in northwestern Croatia, encompassing the homonymous mountain and a part of the hilly plateau Ćićarija, along the north Adriatic. The park is known for its diverse flora and fauna, with at least 1,300 different plant species, and it serves as a meeting point for the region’s Mediterranean and continental climates. Učka Nature Park offers beautiful views, rich biodiversity, and sunny weather throughout the year, making it a hiker’s paradise and a significant tourist attraction in Croatia.