Plitvice is extremely highly rated in terms of natural beauty and the cleanliness and tidiness of the park

The GetByBus and GetByFerry platforms conducted a survey based on 500.000 of their passengers related to the Croatian tourist offer, which shows that even 89% of guests plan to return to Croatia, and them 91% would recommend our country as a holiday destination.

In the research, they specifically looked at the National Parks in Croatia, in which the Plitvić Lakes NP received all the praise as our most visited National Park. 

Plitvice Lakes National Park this season they are again the most visited national park and are highly rated in terms of natural beauty and the cleanliness and tidiness of the park. 

Although many may not consider them the most popular summer destinations, even 39% of the total number of respondents visited at least one of 8 Croatian national parks, and the largest part falls on Plitvice lakes and Krka waterfalls. 

Namely, Plitvice Lakes and Krka Falls are the most visited national parks in Croatia and according to GetByBus research.

Of the total number of surveyed travelers who visited the national park, 54% went to Plitvice National Park, and 28% went to Krka National Park. All other national parks account for a total of 17%, and the lowest percentage of visitors was achieved by NP Sjeverni Velebit.

Generally speaking, even 93% of respondents expressed satisfaction with visiting national parks. For as many as 6 out of 8 national parks, visitors did not express any form of dissatisfaction. 

Although travelers expressed high general satisfaction with all parks, the highest percentage extremely satisfied travelers were achieved by Plitvice National Park (35%), Mljet National Park (33%) and Paklenica National Park (31%).

How did guests get to the national parks?

In Croatia, 5 national parks are located on the mainland, of which Plitvice and Krka are the most connected by public transport. As many as 3 national parks are located on the islands and can only be reached by boat.

The largest percentage of our passengers came to the park by car. Given that 86% of our travelers stated that they came to Croatia by plane or bus, we can conclude that during their stay many of them rented a car for an easier tour of the country. 

However, Plitvice and Krka national parks because of their popularity they are very well connected by bus lines, which is why bus is the most used form of transportation to these two parks. More precisely, as many as 58% of visitors to Plitvice and 33% of visitors to Krka came by bus. 

Of course, all visitors NPs Mljet, Brijuni and Kornati they came by boat. However, while they mostly came to Mljet by regular ferry line, they came to Kornati and Brijuni by organized boat tours.

National parks as day trips

Most Croatian national parks offer accommodation within the park or in its vicinity. Nevertheless, on average as many as 75% of visitors declared that they did not spend the night in the national park during their visit. 

However, visiting some national parks is almost impossible without an overnight stay. If we take into account the size of the island and the relatively rare ferry lines, we were surprised to learn that even 33% of visitors did not spend the night in NP Mljet. We can conclude that it is most likely about 'island-hopping' or one-day trips from Dubrovnik. 

From the GetByBus data, it is evident that the respondents visited the national parks mostly visited as part of one-day trips.

Natural beauty as a key factor

We knew that Croatian national parks are enchanting. But now we also have a passenger's confirmation for that. Namely, in GetByBus they examined visitor satisfaction with two important factors - natural beauty and cleanliness of national parks.

On average even 96% of visitors said they were satisfied with the natural beauty that they experienced during their visit. Moreover, for 6 out of 8 national parks, respondents did not express any dissatisfaction with the natural beauty.

A similar situation has emerged with regard to the cleanliness and maintenance of parks. On average 94% of visitors said they were satisfied this aspect. For 4 out of 8 national parks, our respondents did not express any dissatisfaction with the cleanliness of the parks. 

Crowds and ticket prices are not a problem for visitors

Ticket prices for national parks in Croatia currently range between HRK 45 and HRK 300 in the middle of the season. That range depends on several factors, and to a large extent on the popularity of the park itself.

Even 68% of visitors to Plitvice and 77% of visitors to Krka consider these prices appropriate for what the parks offer. 

Among the "most expensive" national parks are Kornati and Brijuni. While they are ticket prices for National Park Brijune rated positively in as many as 77% of cases, not a single visitor expressed dissatisfaction with the tickets to the Kornate National Park.

National parks have the lowest ticket prices Paklenica, Risnjak and North Velebit. So it's no surprise that it's over 100% of respondents satisfied with the prices when it comes to these parks.

It's the same with crowds. For even 4 out of 8 national parks not a single respondent had any objections when it comes to crowds.

Source: getbyferry.com