Plitvice Lakes Accommodation: Park Hotel, Campsites and Villages

The closest place to stay at Plitvice Lakes is Hotel Jezero, the park’s own hotel, next to Entrance 2 and a short walk from Kozjak, the largest lake. A stay there comes with an extended park ticket, so you can spread the lakes over two or more days. The park also runs two campsites, Korana and Borje, on the edge of the park with buses to the entrance. Its two older hotels, Plitvice and Bellevue, are closed while they are renovated.

Beyond the park’s own places, there are private rooms, guesthouses, a hostel and a five-star campsite in the villages around the entrances, most of them listed by the Plitvice Lakes Tourist Board, and a hotel in Korenica, the main town nearby, about ten minutes’ drive away. This article explains what each option is like, how the extended ticket works, what is open in winter, and how to choose.

The short answer

Closest to the lakes: Hotel Jezero, next to Entrance 2. Extended park ticket included, free parking, spa, open all year.
Camping: Korana, 6 km from Entrance 1, and Borje, 16 km from Entrance 2. Both open from 30 March to 31 October 2026, both with a park bus and an extended ticket for stays of at least two nights.
Closed for now: Hotel Plitvice and Hotel Bellevue, under renovation. Check their status before you book anything that mentions them.
Private rooms and guesthouses: in the villages around the park; the tourist board lists most of them and charges owners no fees.
Town base: Korenica, about a 10-minute drive, with buses stopping in the centre.
In winter: the park says accommodation is available only at Hotel Jezero in the colder part of the year.

Why stay overnight at all

Most visitors arrive on a day trip, and the park itself argues against it. It suggests three days to see the different faces of the park, from the waterfalls of the Lower Lakes to the more open Upper Lakes. The tourist board says a one-day visit may be stressful and that the minimum for the lakes themselves is two days.

There are practical reasons too. Tickets are timed, and the number sold per hour and per entrance is limited, so arriving from the coast on a fixed coach leaves little room to choose your slot. Staying nearby lets you take an early entry and do the Lower Lakes in the morning light, then come back for the Upper Lakes on another day. Our tickets and routes guide explains the time slots and the eight programmes.

A longer stay also leaves time for the country around the park. The park suggests kayaking on the Gacka, the Nikola Tesla Memorial Centre and the Barać Caves, and the park ticket gives discounts at up to seven nearby attractions.

Finally, staying at one of the park’s own places saves money on tickets, as the next section explains.

The extended ticket for park guests

The park rewards guests at its own hotel and campsites. Guests of Hotel Jezero and the Korana and Borje campsites buy a ticket for the first day only and can enter free on each following day of their stay. You extend the ticket at the hotel or campsite reception before you set off.

Hotel Jezero: the hotel describes the extended ticket as included in the stay, and a one-day ticket can be extended at reception if you decide to stay longer.
Korana: an extended ticket for every day of your stay at no extra charge, with a minimum stay of two nights.
Borje: the same, again with a minimum stay of two nights.

The private rooms and hotels outside the park do not come with this benefit; their guests buy ordinary one-day or two-day tickets. The park’s packages that bundle a stay with a ticket are listed on its special offers pages, and an autumn package, for example, combines 1, 2 or 3 nights at Hotel Jezero with a ticket valid for the whole stay.

Hotel Jezero: inside the park

Hotel Jezero is right next to the entrance to the national park, beside Kozjak and about 300 m from the lake shore, with waterfalls, as the park puts it, just around the corner. Its rooms look either towards the park or towards the lake.

Size: 205 rooms and 19 suites, two of them adapted for guests with disabilities.
Included: the extended park ticket; free use of the whirlpool, Finnish sauna, Turkish steam bath and fitness room; free parking for guests; and a free shuttle to the Lička kuća restaurant.
Meals: bed and breakfast, half board or full board in the main restaurant, plus Waterfall, the à la carte restaurant.
Practical extras: electric vehicle charging, and pets are welcome.

The hotel’s great advantage is that you need no car once you have arrived: you can walk to the entrance in the morning and back in the evening. In the colder part of the year it is also the only accommodation the park keeps open, so in winter it is the obvious choice. For the cost of a room, check the hotel’s own booking page for your dates, as rates change with the season and the packages on offer.

Hotels Plitvice and Bellevue: closed for now

Two more hotels by the park entrance, Plitvice and Bellevue, still appear in older guidebooks, and both are currently closed. The tourist board’s accommodation list marks Hotel Bellevue as currently closed, and Hotel Plitvice is in the middle of a long renovation.

Hotel Plitvice is a listed building with a history. It was built between 1954 and 1958 to a design by the architect Marijan Haberle, and the tourist board says that when it was built it was the first A-category hotel in Croatia; it is now a protected cultural property. On 19 April 2025 Total Croatia News reported that the Križevci company Radnik would restore it for just over €27 million, with a contract period of 30 months. The plan is a five-star complex with 38 accommodation units and a wellness centre.

Hotel Bellevue next door worked as a garni hotel, offering rooms and breakfast only, with half-board guests eating at Hotel Plitvice. Croatia Week reported that it is being given a complete interior makeover, and that both hotels will get wellness zones and better access for guests with reduced mobility. The work is part of around €60 million of investment that also includes a new museum.

None of these sources gives a reopening date. If a booking site offers either hotel, check directly with the park before you pay.

Korana campsite

Korana is the larger of the park’s two campsites, set along the canyon of the Korana river, 6 km from Entrance 1. It covers 35 hectares, takes up to 2,500 campers and has 47 bungalows, each with two separate beds, for those without a tent.

Season: open from 30 March to 31 October 2026, according to the park’s spring page.
Getting to the lakes: an organised bus runs from the camp to the park entrance and back; ask at reception for the times.
Ticket: extended for every day of your stay at no extra charge, minimum two nights.
Food: the Korana Restaurant at the edge of the camp seats 400, with à la carte and self-service sections.
Good to know: the park says there is always enough space in its camps, so you do not need to book a pitch in advance, but tents and camping equipment cannot be rented on site.

For autumn 2026 the park advertises 35% off camping at Korana and Borje and 15% off Korana’s bungalows, valid for stays until 31 October 2026.

Borje campsite

Borje is the small, quiet alternative, 16 km from Entrance 2 on the edge of the park, between the Lička Plješivica mountain and the forested Mrsinj hill. It covers 6.5 hectares and takes up to 408 guests, with pitches in the shade of a pine forest.

Borje shares Korana’s season, its organised bus to the park and its extended ticket for stays of at least two nights. Its restaurant is a landmark in its own right: the park says it was built in 1977 as part of the auto camp, beside the busy road that was then the main route from northern and western Europe to the coast. The park recommends it today for a break on a journey and for organised groups as well as campers.

Rooms, guesthouses and hostels in the villages

Plenty of beds near Plitvice are not in the park’s hands at all. They are private rooms, apartments and small guesthouses in the villages scattered around the entrances. The Plitvice Lakes Tourist Board lists most of the private rentals with precise maps, and it charges owners no fees, which it says means booking direct may get you the lowest price.

The tourist board’s list also includes a few places that show the range:

B&B Plitvica Lodge, inside the national park, within walking distance of the Great Waterfall, the Lower Lakes and Kozjak. The Great Waterfall itself is beside the village of Plitvica Selo, close to Entrance 1.
Falling Lakes Hostel, with dorms and a shuttle to Entrance 2.
Camp Plitvice at Smoljanac, a few minutes’ drive from the main entrance, which the tourist board calls the only five-star campsite in the area. It is open all year and has seventeen mobile homes, thirty camping pitches and eight tent pitches.

When choosing a village, look at the map. Places near Entrance 1 put you close to the Great Waterfall and the Lower Lakes; places near Entrance 2 are closer to Kozjak and the Upper Lakes. Our article on the Plitvice Lakes map explains the local names you will see in addresses.

Korenica: the nearest town

If you would rather stay in a town, Korenica is the obvious choice. The tourist board lists Hotel Macola in the centre, a 10-minute drive from the national park at the foot of Mount Plješevica, on the main D1 road, with buses stopping right in front of the hotel.

A town base suits drivers and people combining Plitvice with other stops in Lika. The trade-off is that you need transport to the entrances each morning, and you will be buying ordinary park tickets. Likaline local buses run throughout Lika-Senj County; our guide to getting to Plitvice Lakes covers buses, parking and the main roads.

Eating near where you sleep

There are not many restaurants inside the park, so it helps to know where they are.

Lička kuća, at Entrance 1, has a tradition of more than 50 years and serves Lika cooking: lamb, trout, local cheeses and dishes baked under the bell. Hotel Jezero runs a free shuttle there for its guests.
Black River, a steak and pasta house, is at Entrance 2.
Waterfall is Hotel Jezero’s à la carte restaurant, and Kozjak Caffe & Pastry is the place for coffee and cake.
Korana Restaurant and Borje Restaurant serve the campsites, and Borje also suits a stop on the road.

Some of the bistros inside the park, such as Hladovina, take payment by card only. In the colder months most of these facilities close, so in winter plan meals around Hotel Jezero or bring supplies.

Getting between your bed and the gate

From Hotel Jezero: walk. Entrance 2 is next door, and parking is free for guests.
From Korana or Borje: take the camp’s organised bus, or drive and pay for parking.
From the hostel: use its shuttle to Entrance 2.
From a village or Korenica: drive, or check the Likaline bus times. Parking at Entrance 1 and Entrance 2 is paid when you leave.

Whichever base you choose, buy your timed ticket for the entrance you will actually use. The entrances are about 3 km apart, so a ticket for the wrong one costs you time.

A short history of staying at Plitvice

People have been sleeping beside the lakes for more than a century and a half. The park dates the first accommodation to 1862: the Tourism House, a wooden building on the Velika Poljana plateau, meant for 12 to 15 travellers and able to serve food. (The Croatian Encyclopaedia gives 1852 for the first inn.) In 1880 an inn opened by Prošćansko jezero, and in 1890 the Senj trader Devčić built another between Prošćansko jezero and Okrugljak, later known as Pansion Labudovac.

The first Hotel Plitvice went up from 1894 to 1896, with 40 rooms for up to 80 guests. Villas and summer houses followed between 1890 and 1912, mostly at Velika Poljana. The hotel burned down in 1939, and none of these early wooden buildings survives.

Building and conservation have always pulled against each other at Plitvice. The park records proposals for settlements for 20,000 people, high-rises, casinos and hydroelectric plants. In 1948 the architect Zdenko Strižić drafted rules allowing only single-storey and two-storey buildings adapted to the terrain, and his low Kozjak restaurant was completed in 1949. Hotel Plitvice, begun a few years later, is now itself a protected building.

Which base suits you

No car, first visit, want the most time on the trails: Hotel Jezero.
Camping, with or without a car: Korana for space and facilities, Borje for quiet; both include the extended ticket from two nights.
Families who want more comfort: Camp Plitvice at Smoljanac.
Independent travellers on foot: the hostel with its shuttle, or a guesthouse within walking distance of an entrance.
Touring Lika by car: Korenica or a village guesthouse.
Winter: Hotel Jezero, the only park accommodation open in the colder months.

If you are staying near the park and want a guide for your first walk, a guided walk that meets you at the park, or one that enters at opening time, are on our tours page.

Frequently asked questions

Where is the best place to stay at Plitvice Lakes?

For the easiest access, Hotel Jezero, the park’s own hotel next to Entrance 2. It includes an extended park ticket and needs no car once you are there. Campers can choose the park’s Korana or Borje campsites, and there are many private rooms in the villages around the entrances.

Can you stay inside Plitvice Lakes National Park?

Yes. Hotel Jezero is within the park area, and the tourist board lists a bed and breakfast inside the national park within walking distance of the Great Waterfall. The park’s Korana and Borje campsites are on its edge.

Do hotel guests get free entry to Plitvice Lakes?

Guests of Hotel Jezero and the Korana and Borje campsites buy a ticket for the first day only and can then enter free on each following day of their stay, after extending the ticket at reception. The campsites ask for a minimum stay of two nights for this.

Is Hotel Plitvice open?

Not at the moment. Hotel Plitvice is being renovated into a five-star complex, with a 30-month contract reported in April 2025, and the tourist board lists the neighbouring Hotel Bellevue as currently closed. Check with the park before booking either.

Where can I stay at Plitvice in winter?

The park says that in the colder part of the year most hospitality facilities close and accommodation is available only at Hotel Jezero. Its campsites close at the end of October; some private accommodation nearby, such as Camp Plitvice at Smoljanac, is open all year.

How far is Korenica from Plitvice Lakes?

The tourist board describes Korenica as a 10-minute drive from the national park. It has a hotel and bus connections on the main D1 road.