Best of Lika & Gorski Kotar, Croatia

The complete guide to Lika & Gorski Kotar: 116 hand-picked beaches, towns, viewpoints and hidden spots, mapped and honestly described.

Croatia’s wild interior. Plitvice lakes, the Velebit mountain, deep forests, waterfalls and almost no crowds. This is your complete guide to the 116 places we have mapped in Lika & Gorski Kotar.

What’s here

Cultural Landmark (22), Popular Beach (16), Waterfall (16), Natural Attraction (10), Viewpoint (9).

Browse every spot

Barac Caves Rakovica. map
Baraćeve špilje. map
Bathing platforms. map
Batinovački slap. map
Bijele Stijene, white rocks reserve. map
Biograd na Moru, a medieval croatian royal town where hungarian kings were once crowned. map
Brljan. map
Bunkeri. map
Cerovacke Spilje, largest in croatia. map
Dinara, at 1,831 m the highest peak in croatia, on the border with bosnia. map
Donji Budački. map
FKK Poljane. map
Gacka River, fly fishing. map
Galovac. map
Garevićev slap. map
Gligora. map
Gornja Baraćeva špilja. map
Gospić, the largest town in lika, standing on the edge of the velebit massif. map
Hrvojev slap. map
Jadovno Memorial, ww2 camp. map
Janjeće vode. map
Jarkuše. map
Jopića pećina. map
Kapljuvača. map
Klanac beach. map
Korana River. map
Kostelj. map
Kotlac. map
Kozjački slapovi. map
Kula Jankovića. map
Kulana. map
Kupa Source, karst spring. map
Labudovački slap. map
Lanterna beach. map
Lokvarka Cave. map
Lokvarsko Lake. map
Magazin. map
Manita Pec Paklenica. map
Manojlovac. map
Markov mlin. map
Milanovački slap. map
Miodrag gradina. map
Movie Set “As the Sea Rages”. map
Mrežnica River. map
Mrežnički Brig. map
Mrsinjgrad. map
Northern Velebit National Park, zavizan. map
Novi Dol, an abandoned highland settlement on the velebit mountain, left behind as shepherds and woodcutters moved down to the coast and towns. map
Obrovac, a town on the zrmanja river that serves as the gateway to its deep karst canyon, popular for rafting and kayaking down to the sea at novigrad (dalmatia). map
Odmorište Marune. map
Osridak - Gradina. map
Otočac, a town on the clear gacka river, a medieval military outpost on the lika frontier. map
Paklenica Climbing, rock climbing.
Paklenica National Park, velebit canyons. map
Petrova Gora Monument, a twelve-storey concrete monument on petrova gora, unveiled in 1981 by vojin bakić, commemorating the partisan uprising and a 1942 massacre of serb civilians in the kordun.
Pisak beach. map
Playa. map
Plaža Bilotinjak. map
Plaža Otrić. map
Plaža Plat. map
Plaža Škrapavac. map
Plitvice Lakes National Park, croatia’s oldest and largest national park, a unesco site since 1979. map
Plitvice Veliki Slap, 78m highest. map
Potkop Bukašin. map
Potkop Paprenica. map
Potkop Zagračina. map
Premuzic Trail Velebit, legendary trail. map
Pudarica. map
Rastoke Slunj, village waterfalls. map
Risnjak National Park, mountain. map
Risnjak Peak. map
Rodna kuća Luke Modrića. map
Rozanski Kukovi. map
Rošnjak. map
Sadilovac, a kordun village in the lika borderlands, emptied during the 1990s war when most of its serb population fled and could not return. map
Samarske Stijene. map
Samograd Cave Perušic.
Sjeverni Velebit Botanical Garden. map
Skrad. map
Slap Vilina kosa. map
Soldatica Beach. map
Spomenik NOB-u. map
Spomenik poginulim braniteljima u VRO Oluja. map
Stari Obrovac. map
Stari grad Klokoč. map
Stari grad Ljubač. map
Stražica. map
Sugarska Duliba Shelter. map
Sv. Bartul - Kulina. map
Sveti Ivan. map
Svetog Nikole. map
Tri glave. map
Tulove Grede, velebit. map
Ugrinića dvori. map
Utvrda Udbina. map
Vaganski Vrh Velebit, 1758m. map
Velebit Botanical Garden, zavizan. map
Velebit Nature Park, premuzic trail. map
Veliki Slap Mreznica. map
Veliki slap. map
View Korana. map
Vodice, a coastal resort town that grew from a fishing village into one of the busiest holiday bases on the šibenik riviera, with a string of marinas and pebble coves. map
Vrana. map
Vražića pećina. map
Winnetou 4. map
Winnetou 6. map
Winnetou 7. map
Winnetou Lager Pueblo. map
Winnetou Totem. map
World War II Memorial. map
Zavizan Velebit, mountain hut. map
Zavižan Mountain Hut. map
Zeljava Airbase, yugoslavia built objekat 505 in the 1960s as the largest underground airbase in europe, hewn into the base of pljesevica mountain. map
Šaule. map
Šušina kula. map
Ždrilo Mountain Shelter. map

When to visit

June and September are the sweet spot across Lika: warm, bright and thinner on crowds than high July and August. Winter is quiet and cheap inland, though coastal ferries run less often.

Part of the open Croatia library by Photograph by John, real places, real maps, no paywall.