Which national park is closest to Zadar?

Paklenica is the closest, about 45 minutes by car from Zadar at the foot of the Velebit mountains. Zrmanja canyon is a similar distance. Krka is about an hour, and Plitvice Lakes roughly an hour and three quarters.

Can you still swim at Krka waterfalls?

No. Swimming below Skradinski Buk, the main waterfall, has been banned since 2021 to protect the tufa barriers. If swimming matters to you, choose a Kornati boat trip or a kayak trip on the Zrmanja instead.

Do I need to book Plitvice Lakes tickets in advance?

In July and August, yes. Entry is limited by timed slots and summer dates sell out. Book online a few days ahead, or join an organised excursion where the tickets are handled for you.

How do you visit the Kornati islands without a boat?

The Kornati archipelago can only be visited by sea. Excursion boats leave from Zadar and nearby marinas for day trips that typically include lunch and swimming stops. Guests at Villa Mandolina can have this arranged at a discounted rate.

A guide from your hosts

Which national park should you visit from Zadar?

Five national parks sit within day-trip range of Zadar, and every summer our guests ask the same question over breakfast: which one? We have been sending people to all five for years. Here is the honest answer, park by park.

Park	From Zadar	Best for	Swimming?
Plitvice Lakes	~1 h 45 by car	the classic postcard	no
Krka	~1 h by car	waterfalls, shorter drive	not at the falls
Kornati	boat day trip	a whole day at sea	yes, at tour stops
Paklenica	~45 min by car	hiking and climbing	in the sea nearby
Zrmanja	~50 min by car	kayaking the canyon	yes, from the kayak

Wooden walkways crossing the turquoise lakes of Plitvice — the boardwalks over the lower lakes

Plitvice Lakes, the one everyone knows

Sixteen lakes stacked into a wooded valley, spilling into each other over travertine barriers. The photos are not exaggerating, the water really is that colour. It is the most famous park in Croatia and the furthest from Zadar, about an hour and three quarters each way, so it takes your whole day.

Two things to know. First, in July and August entry works on timed slots and tickets sell out, so book online a few days ahead or let us arrange the excursion with tickets included. Second, there is no swimming here at all. You come to walk, and you should: the boardwalk routes through the lower lakes are some of the finest walking in the country.

Our advice is to start early. If you are through the gate before nine you will have an hour of relative quiet before the tour buses arrive, and the light on the water is at its best.

The broad terraced cascades of Skradinski Buk in Krka national park — Skradinski Buk after the spring rains

Krka, waterfalls without the long drive

If Plitvice feels like too much day for the day you have, Krka is the sensible alternative. It is about an hour from Zadar, the walking loops are shorter and flatter, and the main event, the broad terraced falls of Skradinski Buk, is genuinely spectacular. On the way out, the little stone town of Skradin is a good place for lunch by the marina.

One correction to what older guidebooks say: swimming under the falls was banned in 2021 to protect the tufa formations. People still arrive in swimsuits and leave disappointed. If a swim is the point of your day, pick Kornati or the Zrmanja instead and enjoy Krka for what it is now, which is a waterfall park with very easy walking.

Krka is also the park we suggest to guests with small children or grandparents in the group. You can see the best of it in half a day without anyone needing carrying.

The bare stone islands of the Kornati archipelago in a deep blue sea — the archipelago from above

Kornati, a day that belongs to the sea

Kornati is not a park you drive to. It is an archipelago of nearly ninety bare, pale islands scattered across the sea south of Zadar, and the only way in is by boat. Excursion boats leave from Zadar's harbour in the morning and bring you back in the late afternoon, usually with lunch on board or on one of the islands, and two or three stops for swimming in coves you will think about for the rest of the year.

It is the easiest of the five to enjoy, because the day organises itself. You sit on a deck, the islands slide past, someone grills fish. If your holiday needs one day where nobody walks anywhere, this is that day.

Boats fill up in high season, so tell us a couple of days ahead and we will book you onto a good one at the discounted rate we get for our guests.

The steep limestone walls of the Paklenica gorge under Velebit — the gorge at Velika Paklenica

Paklenica, the closest and the wildest

Three quarters of an hour up the coast, where the Velebit mountains drop into the sea near Starigrad, two limestone gorges cut deep into the range. This is a park for legs: canyon walks, proper mountain hikes, and some of the best sport climbing in Europe. On a summer morning the lower gorge is full of the click of carabiners.

You do not need to be a climber. The walk up Velika Paklenica to the forest hut is steady rather than hard, and the views back down the canyon to the sea are worth every step. Bring water and proper shoes, the stone is polished smooth in places.

Because it is so close, Paklenica pairs well with a lazy afternoon. Hike in the morning, swim at a beach near Starigrad after, and be back at the villa in time for dinner on the balcony.

The emerald Zrmanja river winding through a pale karst canyon — the canyon from the Pariževačka glavica viewpoint

Zrmanja, the one the postcards missed

The Zrmanja is the least known of the five, which is exactly its charm. An emerald river winding through a pale karst canyon less than an hour inland, best experienced from water level: kayak and canoe trips run the calm stretches and small rapids between Kaštel Žegarski and Muškovci, with plenty of chances to slide out of the boat and float.

If you have already done the famous parks on a previous trip, or you simply want a day without crowds, this is our favourite recommendation to make. Guests come back sunburnt and delighted and ask why nobody talks about it. We do not entirely mind that nobody does.

So which one?

First time in Croatia, one free day: Plitvice. It earns its fame.
Small children or easy walking: Krka, half a day, flat paths, big reward.
You want to swim: Kornati by boat, or the Zrmanja by kayak.
You want to earn your dinner: Paklenica, boots on, morning start.
You have done the famous ones: Zrmanja, and keep it to yourself.

And if you are staying with us, just ask. We arrange excursions to all five at a discounted rate, we know which boats are good and which days to avoid, and we are happy to plan it over coffee in the garden.