PLITVICE LAKES NATIONAL PARK - Croatia and Slovenia - page 155

South of Plitvice
$$$ Plitvice Miri ć Inn, ontheroadjustsouthofPlitvice'shotelsandthevillageofMukinje,
offers the friendliest welcome in the region. The Miri ć family (daughter Lili speaks great
English) offers 13 tidy, modern rooms. While a bit pricey, it comes with lots of good
travel advice (Db-€105/€80, optional dinner-€20, air-con, free Wi-Fi, Jezerce 18/1, mobile
099-214-2250 or 098-930-6508, www.plitvice-croatia.com , [e-mail] ) .
In Mukinje Village: Just south of the park is the village of Mukinje, which feels like a
holdover from communist times: It's basically a planned workers' town, where crumbling
concrete apartment blocksmingle withnewerchalet-style homesrentingroomstotravelers.
Unfortunately, attitudes here seem trapped in communist times, too; most of the sobe I've
inspectedherearerunbylocalswhoaregrouchyandindifferent,andthepricesaretoohigh.
While you could drive into town and check a few options, you'll find a warmer welcome at
some of the places listed earlier.
Eating in and near Plitvice
Local cuisine is hearty countryside grub, offering a nice, landlocked change of pace from
the seafood-heavy and Italian-flavored menus of most of Croatia's tourist towns. You'll see
mushroomsoups,softspreadablecheeses,andgrilledtroutpulledfreshfromthelakes.Res-
taurants here are functional—don't expect high cuisine.
At the National Park
(See “Plitvice Lakes National Park” map, here .)
The park runs a variety of equally uninspired restaurants, with institutional food and ambi-
ence. If you're staying at the hotels, you have the option of paying for half-board with your
room (lunch or dinner, 90 kn each). The half-board option is worth doing if you're here for
dinner, but don't lock yourself in for lunch—you'll want more flexibility as you explore Pl-
itvice (excellent picnic spots and decent food stands abound inside the park). Most people
optingforhalf-boarddineattherestaurantsinside Hotel Jezero and Hotel Plitvice, butyou
can also use the voucher at other park eateries (you'll pay the difference if the bill is more).
Restaurant Poljana, behindHotelBellevue,hasthesamepark-lodgeatmosphereinbothof
its sections: cheap, self-service cafeteria (30-45-kn meals) and sit-down “national restaur-
ant”withopenwood-firedgrill(65-110-knmeals);bothpartshavedrearycommunistdecor.
All of these eateries are open long hours daily.