We left Belgrade around 08.40 on Wednesday morning to drive to the Plitvice Lakes National Park in Croatia. The Serbian motorway wasn’t particularly busy but again 5km out from the border the lorries started to queue to get into the Schengen area. It wasn’t too bad for us and only took about half an hour. The Serbian side weren’t too interested in us and the Croatian border control seemed even less so.

After we had sailed through we realised that the Croatian border official hadn’t stamped our passports so there was no record of when we entered the EU again after leaving it in Greece. This might not matter but, again, we had heard some horror stories of people trying to prove how long they were in the EU/Schengen area when their passports had not been stamped. We hadn’t realised until we were already on the motorway and gone through a toll. There was a rest area nearby that also went back towards the Croatian border so we turned around and headed back through the toll. We had only been on the toll for maybe 5 miles each way but obviously the system didn’t realise that and charged us the full amount of €25! We got back to the Croatian border, parked up and went to find the chap who had inspected our passports. Luckily, he was happy to just stamp them this time so we could avoid going back out of Croatia, into Serbia, back out of there and back into Croatia. It all could have been very messy!

Back on the road again, it was a lovely scenic drive to the National Park where we had decided to stay. This was the official Park campsite as they were the only ones running a shuttle bus to and from the park at this time of year so we could set up and leave the van whilst we visited it. The campsite, Camp Korana, (P4N#19349) looks like a country park but with many of the pitches at funny angles and sloping. However, as it was so early in the season (they had only opened a few days before) they were happy for us to park anywhere so we picked a flat piece of tarmac tucked away but near the facilities. Despite our detour, we were still there and sorted by 16.30. There is a tourist tax to pay in Croatia so the campsite registered us with the police. A lot easier than in Serbia!

The next morning, Thursday April 4, we were up by 07.00 so that we would be ready for the bus at 09.00. Packed lunch made and we were ready for the day. We got off at Entrance 2 in the park as we had been told that it was quieter first thing there and they were right. Very few people were around so we were able to take pictures galore with ease. The park itself is full of lakes of clear water with cascading waterfalls everywhere. They had panoramic vehicles and boats to take you between places so it was very well organised. Truly glorious. We managed to do the whole thing in around 4 hours so we caught the shuttle bus back to the campsite and had another lazy afternoon in the sunshine.

Miles driven since last post: 326

Total miles driven this trip: 3,135

Tolls: €60 (including the €25 mistake)