Plitvice National Park is a sight to behold, but if the entrance fees keep increasing, there won't be that many willing to behold it, especially when it comes to people from Croatia.
The fairytale scenery and incredible waterfalls don't have any problem in attracting countless tourists every year, with each passing tourist season bringing in more and more visitors to the national park to experience its truly mesmerising ambience.
With controversy continually knocking at the park's management doors and ticket prices on the rise once again, it seems that the situation within the famous national park is almost as rocky as its landscape.
As eZadar writes on the 21st of July, 2018, while what Plitvice Lakes offers to visitors is indeed priceless, it doesn't appear to be reflecting in such a way in reality.
The national park's management has estimated that asking for 250 kuna for an adult ticket is justified. Is it a lot? Not for a perfect selfie or for invaluable memories of a dream wedding, at least when foreigners are asked what they think of the fee.
For a typical Croatian family outing, the situation is somewhat different.
A mum, dad and a child older than seven will need as much as 600 kuna for a visit to the country's oldest national park during the two peak season months of July and August. With parking and lunch included, a day at Plitvice will now set the average family back by just a little less than a thousand kuna.
Although Plitvice has been in UNESCO's bad books for years because of the concerningly large number of tourists visiting the national park, the new, higher prices have not succeeded in their probably aim of reducing the park's huge numbers whatsoever. In fact, during the first half of this year already shows that there will be at least six percent more tourists visiting this stunning but deeply burdened national park than the the current record holder, which is 2017.
