In the Plitvice Lakes National Park, western Croatia

 "I prefer winter and fall, when you feel the bone structure of the landscape — the loneliness of it; the dead feeling of winter. Something waits beneath it, the whole story doesn’t show." -- Andrew Wyeth

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(in western Croatia) As Croatia’s oldest and largest national park, the Plitvice Lake National Park is reputed for its 16 emerald lakes and magnificent waterfalls -- including Veliki Slap, the country’s largest waterfall. The park is broken up into the upper and lower falls, with a boat ride connecting the two. Various hiking loops are available, with a panoramic train ride that goes through lush forest too.

+ Croatia's top natural attraction and the highlight of Croatia's Adriatic hinterland, this glorious expanse of forested hills and turquoise lakes is exquisitely scenic -- so much so that in 1979 UNESCO proclaimed it a World Heritage Site. The name is slightly misleading though, as it's not so much the lakes that are the attraction here but the hundreds of waterfalls that link them.

+ The national park was founded in 1949 and is in the mountainous karst area of central Croatia, at the border to Bosnia and Herzegovina. The important north–south road that passes through the national park area connects the Croatian inland with the Adriatic coastal region. Each year, more than a million visitors are recorded, making this park the most popular tourist attraction in Croatia.

+ The national park is world-famous for its lakes arranged in cascades. Sixteen lakes can be seen from the surface. These lakes are a result of the confluence of several small rivers and subterranean karst rivers. The lakes are all interconnected and follow the water flow. They are separated by natural dams of travertine, which is deposited by the action of moss, algae, and bacteria. The particularly sensitive travertine barriers are the result of an interplay between water, air and plants. The 16 lakes are separated into an upper and lower cluster formed by runoff from the mountains, descending from an altitude of 636 to 503 meters over a distance of some eight km (5 mi.), aligned in a south–north direction. The lakes collectively cover an area of about 0.77 square miles, the water exiting from the lowest lake forming the Korana River. The lakes are renowned for their distinctive colors, ranging from azure to green, grey or blue. The colors change constantly depending on the quantity of minerals or organisms in the water and the angle of sunlight.

+ The park has been divided into two sections, the Upper Lakes and the Lower Lakes, based on their geological features. The twelve Upper Lakes were formed on impermeable dolomite rock. The names of the lakes are Prošćansko Jezero, Ciginovac, Okrugljak, Batinovac, Veliko Jezero, Malo Jezero, Vir, Galovac, Milino Jezero, Gradinsko Jezero, Burgeti, and Kozjak. The four Lower Lakes were formed in permeable limestone and cut deep into a canyon amid dramatic cliffs. They are Milanovac, Gavanovac, Kaluđerovac and Novakovića Brod.