CHAPTER #6 … OF MANY
Krka National Park and Skradin, Croatia
You can’t take enough pictures here
It’s so beautiful, you can’t take enough pictures here.
We drove in from Šibenik on the coast, intending to stay two days, but immediately upon arrival extended our stay to four.
We’re in Skradin, Croatia, gateway to Krka National Park.
This is the view from our place.
Below, is drone footage of a set of waterfalls — Skradinski Buk — so stunning that they’re widely considered to be the most beautiful in all of Croatia.
That’s saying a lot because Croatia is packed with spectacularly beautiful places.
This — and plenty more — was an easy 4-kilometer stroll from our Airbnb in Skradin. And, we were able to approach the falls so closely in spots that we could have drunk the rushing water.
I say “plenty more” because there are 11 sets of falls in Skradinski Buk and that’s only a small portion of the vast Krka National Park.
Oh, and did I mention that we had the place nearly to ourselves?
That’s because we’re traveling off-season and by our observations, may be the only native-English-speaking couple in the area.
Here’s how it went down
We took a 40-minute taxi trip from Šibenik, on the coast, to the small town of Skradin, miles inland.
In season, it is possible to sail on the river that connects the two communities and runs through a National Park entrance nearly to the base of Skradinski Buk. We’ll return and do that little voyage another time.
After checking in at the Airbnb with a view over the boat harbor, we explored.
It was raining, but we got treated to gorgeous views of the harbor with hundreds of boats, an ancient fortress in ruins on the hill behind our home, and the few “city” streets with markets and restaurants, only a few of which were open.
The next day dawned mostly clear and bright, with temps so warm we walked most of the day in shirt sleeves, sweating at times as we climbed gentle hills.
The broad trail from Skradin to Skradinski Buk is a long “lollypop,” the “stick” of which is four kilometers in length and largely level. It’s generous enough to accommodate cars (three passed us all day), bikers and hikers.
The lollypop “loop” is two kilometers and is for pedestrians only. That’s the part that encircles and winds through the falls. Few signs guide you and you’re left to happily wander through the multiple falls, rushing rivers, trees, rocks, cliffs, mountains, a few ancient buildings, and occasional calm side streams that make up Skradinski Buk.
There are so many jaw-dropping sights that after a while my traveling companion, Qin M, and I, stopped screeching “Oh my God, look over here!” every few seconds while gesticulating wildly.
We just strolled about in slack-jawed astonishment, enveloped in nature, dazzling nature.
We even stopped along the way for a lightweight work-out.
That all happened yesterday.
Today, the warm glow of that extraordinary experience is still with us. I suspect it’ll be with us for life.
Given that our one-year “date-iversary” is happening this week, our visit to the falls and Skradin are part of the celebration.