When planning my trip to Croatia, I knew for sure that I wanted to include two national parks of the country in my itinerary. The first was Plitvice and the second was Krka National Park. I found planning for Krka much more complicated than for Plitvice from the resources I had, so I hope this article can make planning and visiting Krka National Park easier for you. First of all, what is Krka? Krka is a river with stunning waterfalls. About two thirds of the course of the Krka River is part of the national park, which includes most of the river lakes and the two richest waterfall systems: Roski slap and Skradinski Buk. The most popular of the two is Skradinski Buk. It has 17 steps, spread over 800 meters in length. The width of the waterfall is 200 to 400 meters, with a total height difference of almost 46 metres. All park area is 109 square kilometres along the Krka River.
How much time do you need for visiting Krka National Park
After my trip, I had a virtual discussion with other travellers about the time needed for visiting the park. Their opinion was one hour and mine, one day. Both sides were right in a way. If you consider that all the park has to offer is Skradinski Buk waterfalls, then one hour is enough. If you start your trip from Skradin by boat, then walk by the waterfalls and then continue your trip by boat to Visovac Island and Roški slap (waterfall) and then make your way back to Skradin, it can take about 7 hours or more. If you are visiting this area, I would recommend choosing the second option but of course, it depends on how much time you have.
How much is the entrance
You should know that the park entrance fee in 2019 is 200 kunas (about 28 euros, or 30 USD) from June to September and 100 kunas (about 14 euros, or 15 USD) in April, May and October. It only includes a boat trip from Skradin to Skradinski Buk but does not include a return boat trip from Skradinski Buk to Visovac Island and Roski slap. It costs an additional 130 kunas. The boat trips are available from April to October. So the total price for seeing it all is 330 kunas (45 euros, or 50 USD) in the summer time. It is quite steep even compared to Plitvice entrance fee of 250 kunas (about 34 euros, or 38 USD), including all transportation inside the park.
How to organize your visit of Krka National park
The park has two main entrances: one in Lozovac, the other one in Skradin. I used the Skradin entrance. So here is what my trip looked like. I arrived to Skradin by bus in the evening before my Krka National park visit and stayed overnight there. In the morning I went to the park ticket office just to discover that one boat had left a few minutes ago and the next one would leave in one hour, so I had the time to walk around the town and even go up to the fortress on the hill for some nice views. 
At 10 am I boarded a boat for about 5 kilometres ride to the Skradinski Buk waterfalls. The transportation by boat is included in the ticket price. The boat ride lasts around half an hour and afterwards, you only have a few minutes’ walk to the bottom of the waterfalls. 
I walked around the waterfalls and then went to the information office and asked what to do next. 
They said that I have to go back by boat to Skradin and explore the rest of the attractions by car from there. My answer was that I have no car. Just after a longer discussion, I found out that there was a boat trip available for visiting Visovac Island and Roski slap (waterfall). Signposting and information is not excellent in the park but now I had the needed info and went uphill to the ticket office to buy a ticket for the boat trip, then followed the path to the boat stop. The boat was quite small, with just about 15 seats. The views to surrounding cliffs along the way were impressive.
The first half an hour stop was at Visovac Island, where the guide told us about the place and we had the time to walk around this beautiful tiny island and visit a 14th century Franciscan monastery museum and church.
Then we headed to Roski slap waterfall and had an hour stop there. The impressive Roski waterfall is named after the gardens Rog, the traces of which are not visible today. There are several eateries there and you can also walk around to see the area from the ground. 
Altogether, this boat tour takes 3,5 hours: 1hour to get to the waterfall, a 30 minutes break on Visovac Island, 1 hour at the waterfall and 1 hour to come back.
Why take a boat trip from Skradinski Buk to Roski slap?
- Beautiful views along the way
- The only way to access Visovac island is by boat
- The best view to Roski slap (waterfall) is from a boat
After my tour, I went back to the boat stop to Skradin, which took me about 20 minutes.
I arrived in Skradin at 5 pm, so all my visit was 7 hours from the departure at 10 am.
When is the best time to visit Krka Park
Shoulder season, particularly April, May, and October, could be the best option to visit the park because it is not as busy as in the summer; during the summer, there are up to 10,000 visitors per day in the park.
How to get to the Krka National park
The distance from Zadar to Skradin is about 80 kilometres and from Split to Skradin about 90 kilometres, so choose the one that suits you best. If you use public transport, GetByBus is a good website to buy your ticket online.
What to bring
You will need good walking shoes, a hat, and sunglasses.
As swimming in the park is allowed during the summer months, bring a bathing suit, sun lotion and a towel.
Appropriate clothing for visiting the monastery (women must have a scarf over the bare shoulders, men must have trousers or shorts of an appropriate length).
As always, bring water and some snacks.
Where to stay
I stayed overnight in a nice Studio Apartment Škatula, and I can recommend it. I liked the interior and the coffee machine, of course. It’s in some 10 minutes walking distance from park Skradin entrance.
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What did you think? Have you been to Krka National Park? Or perhaps you’re thinking of visiting there in the near future? Either way, I’d love to hear from you so please add your comments below.
Author: Anita Sane
About the author
Anita is a part-time traveller, passionate photographer and a retired career woman from Latvia, travelling mostly solo for more than 15 years. She is a skilled travel planner who plans and executes her travels by herself. Anita wants to show you how to travel the world and open your mind to new experiences. Follow her on Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, Twitter and Bloglovin.
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