Croatia: Part 10 - Day 8 Second half: Dip in Korana river

Here is a summary of what is spent on Day 8 second half.

8/8 Day 8 second half: Drove to Rastoke town. Took a dip in Korana River. 

Cost
(1) Parking fee at Slunj Central Bus station, located at Prilaj Centrali EUR0,40 per hour - 5 hours for EUR2

(2) Petrol Plitvice EUR1,54 per liter - 32,02 liter for EUR49,31

Food

(1) Drink in Bistro Kum, Rastoke - Jana iced tea 330ml EUR3,50

(2) Dinner a Rastokim Krovom, Slunj EUR26,67 - Shared cheese plate EUR14, Twist 500ml EUR4, fish trout with swiss chard and potatoes EUR18

(3) Grocery from Tommy store - Food for 3-days breakfast EUR13,89. Cost per person per day EUR4,63. We bought yoghurt, a loaf of bread, orange juice, ham slices, cream cheese. 

The Story

08082025 Second half: After the 5-hour walk in Plitvice Lakes National Park, our adventure continues to Korana river to take a dip and cool ourselves down. The drive took us 30 minutes. We parked in the parking lot in Slunj Central bus station. The hourly parking fees are much cheaper than in Plitvice Lakes National Park - EUR0,40 vs EUR2. 

Then, it was a 10 minute walk to Rastoke town where Slunjcica river flows into Korana river. We walked across a wide bridge where Slunjcica river flows under. The statue of St John of Nepomuk is on the bridge. This is the description of the statue placed on the bridge:

The Statue of St. John of Nepomuk was placed on the bridge in 1886, during one of the bridge reconstructions. Until then, the statue was located south of the bridge, at the part called Struga. What is specific about the statue is that it was made of cast iron. St. John of Nepomuk was a Czech priest and martyr who was thrown into the Vltava River by the orders of King Vaclav IV. Regarding that, he has become the patron saint of bridges and travellers and that is why his statues can often be seen on the bridges. The statue was thrown into the Slunjcica river in 1945 by the Partisans. The religious people took it out of the river and placed it on the wall by the church. The Serbian aggressor knocked it down from that place in 1991. After the Croatian War of Independence, the statue was restored and placed back on the bridge.

Here is a map of Rastoke town, Slunjcica river and Korana river. You can see that Slunjcica river flows into Korana river but I am unclear at which point. Here is a bit of geography and history of Slunjcica and Korana river. I am confused myself so I decided to research on these two rivers.

The Korana river is a synonym of a river with the most beautiful spring in the world. Its source is the end of the Plitvice Lakes, the oldest and most famous National park in Croatia and the water plunging down the Great waterfall (Veliki slap) merging in the gorge called Sastavci. The river officially starts from that gorge with bustling water and its total length until it ends in the Kupa river in Karlovac is 134.2 kilometres. Source from Slunj Rastoke.

The Slunjčica (locally also called Slušnica) is a river, which flows through the Kordun region in central Croatia. It partly flows underground through porous karst (limestone soil) and surfaces in the vicinity of the city of Slunj. At Rastoke the Slunjčica leads into the river Korana. The city of Slunj bears its name from this river. Due to its underground course the Slunjčica river has a quite cold temperature even during summer and the nearby situated towns use it as drinking water. Source from Wikipedia.

The yellow spot is where we took our dip.

After crossing the bridge (that has no name), we entered into Rastoke town. A very charming and small town. There is a scenic spot with a watermill and wooden house. Slunjcica river flows here. A small signboard along the river describes this:

The water temperature in river Slunjcica is between 7 and 16 degrees throughout the year. Because of such an even year-round temperature, the water of Slunjcica was used, and is still used today, for drinking. The water of Slunjcica is distinguished by its purity, clarity and freshness, which is why some locals drink it directly from the bed or at its source. 

I suppose that is why there are no signs that one can take a dip in this part of the river.

There is a bench to take a picture with the scenic spot in the background but it does not look good in the photo. Not good with me sitting or standing. So, we left the bench. 

On the way down to the bathing spot by Korana river, there is a better view of the scenic spot. I still don't look good in the photo though. The photo was not clear. Either a camera setting in the phone which I am not familiar with or I don't know how to capture a good angle.

Korana river, here I come! It was lovely to take a dip in the cooling river. It is not as blue or warm as the Adriatic sea but it was clear enough for me to see the fishes. I stood near the steps and could submerge myself under the water to cool myself down.

After the dip, we had a drink in a restaurant in Rastoke town before we headed to another restaurant to have dinner.

The place where we had our dinner was over the bridge (over Slunjcica river) and a right turn into a small lane which led us to Slovin Unique - Rastoke. There is a restaurant and a private area with some scenic spots and statues and fairytale stories on this property. Entrance fee is EUR7. We did not need to pay the entrance fee to eat in the restaurant.

For dinner, we shared a cheese plate and I had a very expensive fish trout. It would have been a reasonable price if the fish did not come with bones! 

It was a lot of work deboning the fish. And I got my Twist that resembles a Hidra. It is refreshing. I asked for a Hidra and the waiter said that they have Twist which is similar to Hidra. I just googled if both drinks are similar and the answer is no. Twist is an isotonic drink and I think it is good to drink isotonic drink when it is hot as it replenishes the electrolytes. Whereas Hidra is a carbonated drink. The price does not differ that much between Twist and Hidra, although one Hidra I drank on Sumartin island costs more at EUR4,30. Tourist price.

I drove back to the accommodation and we stopped by at a local grocery store, Tommys to purchase our yoghurt, bread, cream cheese, sliced ham, orange for 3-days breakfast. It costs us EUR4,63 per person per day compared to the EUR10 breakfast buffet provided by the accommodation. Fortunately, we have a mini fridge in the room so we could store our cold ingredients. We got back by 6pm and we hung out by the swing at the back of the building.

Tomorrow, we continue our walk in Plitvice Lakes National Park route K.