The most beautiful lakes in Croatia

Croatia's coast gets the attention, but its lakes are some of the most extraordinary water in Europe — turquoise terraces, blood-red karst sinkholes, and saltwater lakes that breathe with the tide. Here are the ones worth a detour inland.

Plitvice Lakes

The headline act: sixteen terraced lakes linked by waterfalls, the water an unreal turquoise from the travertine barriers that keep growing. A UNESCO site and Croatia's most visited park. See our full Plitvice guide.

The lakes of Krka

Closer to the coast, Krka National Park strings waterfalls and pools down a river canyon, with the islet monastery of Visovac floating in the middle. Easiest of the great water parks to reach from Split or Šibenik.

The Red and Blue Lakes of Imotski

Inland from Makarska, two vast karst sinkholes sit side by side. The Blue Lake fills and empties with the seasons (locals have played football on its dry bed); the Red Lake is a sheer-walled pit nearly 300 m deep, among the largest collapse dolines on Earth. Eerie and unforgettable.

Mljet's saltwater lakes

On the island of Mljet, two connected saltwater lakes open to the sea, with a 12th-century monastery on an islet in the larger one. Swim, kayak or cycle the shaded shore — the most serene water in the Adriatic.

Vrana and Baćina

Vrana Lake, near Biograd, is Croatia's largest natural lake — a birdwatcher's nature park just behind the coast. Further south, the linked Baćina Lakes near Ploče are a quiet, swimmable surprise off the main road.

Most of these pair naturally with a coastal base — see our boutique stays across Croatia, or the national parks overview.