“We now tell people Croatia is one of our favorite places in the world!”

LANDLOCKED LOVEBIRDS

Darren and Stephanie McCombs call themselves a couple of Landlocked Lovebirds, as they live in the landlocked midwestern state of Indiana in the United States. They have a passion for seeing the world and experiencing and learning about other cultures, people, food, and history.

„We have full-time jobs in the U.S. and only a few weeks of vacation time, but we do our best to travel internationally at least once per year, using air miles to help make our adventures more affordable. Plitvice Lakes National Park had been a bucket list item for Darren for several years. Over the years, we had admired photos and videos of the amazing waterfalls posted on travel sites and blogs. We could not believe that a place could be so beautiful, so in 2016, we decided to come and see it for ourselves.”

 

They say that their time in the park was like something out of a fairytale!

“The views as we entered near the Lower Lakes were incredible, and we made sure to take advantage of every open trail. Just when we thought the park couldn’t be any more stunning or we couldn’t find any more amazing waterfalls, we reached the Upper Lakes and were once again amazed by the experience. We stopped in awe at many of the great spots and took more photos and videos of waterfalls, wildlife, and scenery than we can count.”

“Our favorite moments at Plitvice were those moments when we would venture down a quiet path and stumble upon an incredible view all by ourselves. We both love hiking and being outdoors, so we’d recommend walking away from the board walks and exploring all the trails. After hiking through the park for a couple hours, we stopped for a picnic lunch overlooking the Upper Lakes. While the park was full of visitors that day, there were only a few other people on the trail. We were able to picnic alone, admire the stunning views in peace, and just listen to water flow.”

They would love to come back and experience Plitvice and Croatia in general again, and they’re constantly encouraging friends, family, and strangers to make a trip there.

“While visiting Plitvice, we stayed in the town of Rakovica at House Zupan. Our host was an amazing woman named Marijana, and will never forget her hospitality and her help in packing a picnic lunch for a day at the park. While Plitvice Lakes National Park is certainly an amazing site on its own, the area surrounding the park is just as beautiful. Rakovica and other nearby towns sit along quiet, rolling hills, and the region is much different than the bustle of Croatia’s coastline cities. We enjoyed every peaceful second we had inside and outside the park and loved getting to see this different and more rural side of Croatia.”

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“Croatia is so diverse and its people so welcoming. Any visit should include a visit to Plitvice, as we have seen nothing like it in all of our travels. We loved our easy drive through the country from north to south and the changing scenery, cuisine, and people we met along the way. There is a reason that people from all over the world are falling in love with Croatia. We now tell people that Croatia is one of our favorite places in the world!”

You can follow their adventures on Instagram  or their newly launched YouTube channel.

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