Plitvice

No fall in the country beats its 78 metres, and it closes off the lower chain. The spray spreads wide, so clothes get wet on the near approach.

Plank paths without a rail run a few centimetres above the surface. Trout passing underneath are visible right through the water.

A silent boat links three landings across the largest lake. With no engine there is barely a wake, and the water keeps its clarity.

The forest closes in here and the falls break into many separate threads. Fewer people come than to the lower part, and the walking distance is longer.

A hole in the lakeside cliff leads through and comes out on the path above. Light falls through a gap overhead and prints a circle on the floor.

From this spot the whole lower chain and the big fall fit into one frame. The rail is narrow, so when people gather a turn has to be waited for.

Here the growth of the barriers can be watched as lime fixes onto moss and algae. A touch breaks the crust, and a fence keeps hands off the edge.

A free vehicle runs the forest track between the upper points of the park. It has a roof but open sides, so passing trees come close enough to touch.

Brown bears live in the park forest, so boards at the trail heads set out what to do on meeting one. An actual encounter is rare and tracks are what most people see.

Near the northern entrance a small village has streams running between its houses. One mill has a glass floor, so the water is seen moving under the feet.

The biggest of the sixteen lakes, reaching 47m deep. Farmers kept goats on little Stefanija Island to save them from wolves, and the lake is named after the goats. Rowing boats for hire at the landing let you paddle out near the island.

At 636m the highest lake in the park; here the Crna and Bijela streams join and the chain of lakes starts. Forest closes in on all sides, and crowds stay at the waterfalls. Walk down from the upper shuttle stop and follow the shore on a quiet path.

At 25m the tallest fall in the upper lakes, with many threads of water dropping over mossy travertine. Legend gives the name to a bandit chief said to have died here. The boardwalk zigzags beside the falls, close enough to catch the spray.

A 79.5ha virgin forest in the park's north-west, where some beech and fir trees reach 700 years old. It lies far from the lakes, so walkers seldom get this far. Fallen trunks are left where they lie, coated in moss and fungi.

Limestone caves near Rakovica, north of the park, with stalactites and bat roosts. You walk a set section with a guide only. A summer heatwave outside makes no difference down there, so carry an extra layer.

A village refuge for brown bear cubs separated from their mothers and unable to survive alone in the wild. You see the bears up close in fenced woodland, and it is open all year. Villagers and volunteers run it, so drop something in the donation box.

Smiljan, a village beside Gospic, is where Nikola Tesla came into the world in 1856. His family home, by the church where his father was priest, is a memorial centre with models of his inventions in the yard. Easy to fit in driving from Plitvice to the coast.