How to Have an Effortless Day Trip to Krka National Park from Split, Croatia
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Krka National Park is one of the most popular day trips tourists take from Split, Croatia. Only a 1 hour drive away from Split, Krka National Park offers some of the most stunning waterfall views in all of Europe!
We visited Krka National Park on a 8 hour day trip, where we took a boat ride right into the park and hiked an easy boardwalk trail around numerous waterfalls including the iconic Skradinski Buk, a huge multi-tiered waterfall which is the centrepiece of Krka National Park.
Whether you take a guided tour, or drive here on your own, visiting Krka National Park from Split is definitely a must-do day trip on your Croatia itinerary.
Table of Contents
About Krka National Park
Krka National Park was formed in in 1985 to protect the Krka River, which is the 22nd longest river in Croatia. This Croatian national park stretches from the town of Skradin to Knin, with the most famous section being a multi-tiered waterfall called Skradinski Buk.
Most guided tours of Krka National Park from Split only take visitors to the Skradinski Buk area, but there are many other areas to visit within the park such as Visovac Island and Roški slap waterfall. If you’re visiting Krka on your own, you can book these excursions upon arrival at the national park.
About Skradinski Buk Waterfall
The Krka River is known for its tufa barriers, which are natural geological dams that are rare worldwide, but are often seen in Croatia. Plitvice Lakes National Park is also known for its tufa barriers.
Tufa barriers are formed in rivers with mineral rich water, mainly dissolved calcium carbonate. The calcium carbonate gets trapped by aquatic vegetation like mosses and algae, which then crystallize and petrify the plants. This hardened substance compounds over time, and as the water spills over the tufa barriers it often creates picturesque waterfalls.
Skradinski Buk is not only the final and longest tufa barrier along the Krka River, it is also the longest tufa barrier in Europe!
Day Trip to Krka National Park from Split
We took this Krka Waterfalls tour, which included a stop in the town of Skradin. This tour is about 8 hours total, so it definitely makes for a full day trip. We spent around 2.5 hours in Skradin, and then took a boat ride into Krka National Park where we had 3 hours to enjoy the Skradinski Buk area.
Leaving Split – Bus to Skradin – 1 Hour
This tour was operated by Booker Travel Agency and we met at their office location in Old Town Split around 8:30 in the morning. After meeting our guide and the rest of the group, we walked about 10 minutes out of the Old Town to where the bus was parked and drove 1 hour to Skradin.
We were on a large air conditioned bus and during the drive our tour guide told us what to expect out of the day’s itinerary, as well as stories about Split’s history, and some nature facts about Krka National Park. She explained that we were to spend the morning in Skradin and visit Krka in the afternoon, as the national park would be less busy after the cruise passengers departed back to their ships.
Note: Admission to Krka National Park is not included in the tour price. We paid our fee in cash to our guide while on board the bus, who then sorted out the entry tickets for everyone in Skradin.
Entry fees to Krka range depending on the time of year. Visit the official Krka National Park website for full and up to date details. These are the ticket prices per individual adult as of 2026:
- 40 Euro – June, July, August, September
- 20 Euro – April, May, October
- 7 Euro – January, February, March, November, December
Exploring the Town of Skradin – 2 Hours
We were given about 2 hours of free time to explore Skradin on our own, which is a small town at one of the entrances to Krka National Park. We climbed up the Turina Fortress, which overlooks the town. Turina Fortress was built during the late 13th century to early 14th century, by the House of Šubić, who were bans (local rulers) of Croatia at the time.
Afterwards we headed back into the town and visited the local Church of St. Spiridon, a Serbian Orthodox Church that was built during the 1860s. We also stopped at a local cafe for a piece of Skradin cake, the dessert specialty of the town.
The recipe for Skradin Cake is believed to have originated during the 14th century, when women made it before their wedding night to impress their future husbands. It is a flourless cake that features honey, rose liqueur, citrus zest, and most importantly ground walnuts, and is then topped with a chocolate glaze and even more walnuts.
We then spent some time at the City Beach of Skradin. It is a pebble beach with many lounge chairs and umbrellas, and even some swans. We were here in October so we didn’t swim, (and we also didn’t want to get wet before heading into Krka).
As of 2021 you can no longer swim at Skradinski Buk in Krka National Park, so Skradin is the place to swim if you feel so inclined. A few people on the tour spent their entire time in Skradin swimming at this beach.
Exploring Skradinski Buk in Krka National Park – 3 Hours
Around 12:30 we met back up with our guide and the rest of the group along the riverfront, where we were given tickets into Krka National Park and boarded a boat that took us right into the park.
The boat ride was about 20 minutes and took us over emerald waters through a river canyon. The Skradin Entrance boat ride only runs from April to October, so if you visit outside of these months you can drive in to the Lozovac Entrance.
Be sure to not forget anything on the boat, as you will be leaving from the drivable Lozovac Entrance if doing a guided tour.
Skradinski Buk Waterfall Hiking Loop
After getting off the boat our guide took us to the park map and showed us the hiking loop around Skradinski Buk. She said we should head to the bridge at the base of the waterfall first, and then do the hiking loop and we followed her advice.
Even without battling with cruise ship passengers, the bridge view of Skradinski Buk is still extremely busy, but we did manage to get some photos without people’s arms and cameras in them. It was also super windy when we were here!
We then started to hike the Skradinski Buk Waterfall Loop, which is an entirely boardwalk trail, and it takes you to 7 different waterfalls, including Skradinski Buk. The boardwalk makes this an easy trail, and it only took us about 1 hour of leisurely walking to do the 1.9km loop.
Reminder: It is no longer permitted to swim at Skradinski Buk in order to protect the tufa barriers.
Skradinski Buk Ethno Village
At the end of the trail, there is a small ethnovillage which features a powerplant, a church, and some watermills which explains how locals lived around Krka before it became a national park. With the time we had left we visited most of these buildings and also had a small snack at the restaurant here. There’s also a cute gift shop!
With that we met back up with our tour guide and walked as a group to the Lozovac Entrance where the bus was waiting for us and took us the 1 hour back to Split.
Final Thoughts
I definitely think Krka National Park makes for a beautiful day trip from Split, and I enjoyed doing so on a guided tour so as to not worry about logistics. If you visit here on your own with a rental car, you can also directly book excursions to more areas of the park like Torak Lake spring ,and Roški slap waterfall.
There are also longer day trip options from Split to Plitvice Lakes National Park, which also features gorgeous hikes and gorgeous waterfalls. I would love to visit here on our next vacation in Croatia!
For more day trips from Split you can check out my visits to the Blue Lagoon and to Trogir and Ancient Salona. Also be sure to check out my 3 day Split itinerary, and my 10 day Croatia itinerary!