Unfortunately, Lika continues to be a part of Croatia that most only get to see when driving through it, either from Zagreb down to the coast or back again. This gorgeous part of the country is lush and green, full of rolling hills and picturesque little towns and villages and even more history and nature.
Known for much more than just Lika potatoes and lamb (although they're both entirely worthy of their fame), Croatia's green heart has never particularly been associated with tourism, which is dominated by the coast, until somewhat recently. With the coronavirus pandemic having forced us into a ''new normal'' in which Croatia's strongest economic branch, tourism, is suffering, why not explore Lika for less?
As Lucija Spiljak/Poslovni Dnevnik writes on the 8th of June, 2020, more than half of the territory of Lika is located in the ecological protected network of EU Natura 2000.
This gorgeous part of Croatia and its numerous attractions will be even more accessible to visitors until the end of September this year, with benefits they can take advantage of by presenting a ticket for the famous Plitvice Lakes National Park.
They announced this from the national park itself and stated that kayaking on the Gacka river will be 35 percent cheaper, the cost of electric bike rental around Plitvice Lakes will be slashed by 30 percent, the price of quad safaris through the Gacka Valley and Velebit will be cut by 25 percent, there will be a 15 percent discount on the use of zip lines, and much more.
As the director of the Plitvice Lakes National Park, Tomislav Kovacevic, explained, this is all part of the destination project called Plitvice Experience in Lika, within the scope of which they decided to combine numerous opportunities for active tourism, and Kovacevic referred to the initiative as ''one of the best tourist-cultural-landscape-historical adventures in the Republic of Croatia''.
In addition to kayaking, rowing, exploring the flora and fauna of beautiful Lika and quad biking through the Gacka Valley and Velebit, a tour of the airplane museum and much more will be organised.
As previously touched on, more than half of the territory of Lika is located in the ecological protected network of EU Natura 2000, which unites the national parks of Plitvice Lakes, Northern Velebit and Paklenica, the Velebit Nature Park and many more stunning areas in Lika within a special biosphere reserve, along with its wild variety of natural phenomena.
The move rightfully brands Lika as a destination full of protected areas, where more than fifty species of different (medicinal) plants grow freely, and Lika food products are labelled as being of Lika quality.
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