Plitvice

Open any Croatian travel guidebook and you'll see turquoise ribbon of lakes lined up in a maze of awe-inspiring waterfalls.

That's World-Heritage-listed Plitvice Lakes National Park.

To prepare for our family trip this summer, I'd decided to buy the newest edition of Lonely Planet Croatia. I then checked out few more from the public library: National Geographic Traveler Croatia, Insight Guides Croatia, Croatia Unpacked. And then the pocket guide by Rick Steves.

If there's just one activity you can't experience from reading, I'd put money on getting up-close views of the travertine formations, a porous sedimentary rock also known as tufa, that make up Plitvice's many waterfalls. Nobody shall miss this forested karstic terrain in Croatia, period. We headed to the trails exploring the lakes early in the morning - on two consecutive days.

The water is real clear for you to count every trout. And why is this so? For one thing, I was told, it comes directly from high-mountain runoff. Water around Plitvice is supersaturated with calcium carbonate and spills over the edges of the lake. For that reason, the water calcifies everything it touches, preventing the creation of mud. Another mineral, magnesium carbonate, keeps the water highly basic, preventing the growth of algae and other plant life.

The sight of Plitvice, by itself, is a good reason to visit Croatia. You will never be able to experience the breathtaking natural beauty simply from guidebooks.