Rastoke – a fairy tale made real

The generations who travelled before the motorway remember Rastoke as a handy stop on the way from Zagreb to the sea and back. Some call it little Plitvice, although the comparison is completely wrong, because these are two very different watery worlds. Back then there was usually no time to stop, as everyone was in a hurry to reach their destination as soon as possible, so this jewel of the Slunj area was like a kind of dream — within arm’s reach, and yet out of reach.

Once the motorway was built most of the traffic was drawn away from Rastoke and Plitvice, and so Rastoke has finally become a destination! Strange, but true. Today people come to Rastoke on purpose, not in passing.

And once again, there are two ways of seeing Rastoke: the superficial one that most people go for, even now that there is a circular trail, and the full one — the real and only right way.

Why is one wrong and the other right? Because Rastoke, being what it is, does not reveal everything at first glance; you have to dive into it, and only then can you really get to know it and discover all its charms. Only then do you realise that neither the season, nor the position of the sun, nor the weather on the day matters for feeling the magic of this fairy tale made real where the Slunjčica joins the Korana.

Visiting Rastoke

If all you want is to glance at Rastoke from the road, you can do that from the car as you drive along the main road. If you want to “race” through the shortest part of the circular trail, you will need half an hour, but if you really want to explore and get to know what Rastoke is, you should set aside some 3 hours. That includes visits to the museums, watching the tightrope walkers, the odd homemade cake in the café at the information centre, and plenty more besides.

Rastoke has a proper car park on both the northern and the southern side. The northern one runs down alongside the road towards the east, all the way to the small bridge that crosses the river Korana and leads into the centre of the village. Most people are a little puzzled in front of that bridge, not believing that you can drive across it. Yes, you can. We have often watched people turn around here and drive back uphill to the main road.

The circular trail starts wherever you have parked. If that is the top of the car park on the northern side, then the best thing is to set off along the footpath that winds down in hairpins towards the Korana and follows it downstream (to the right). The whole way you have an open view of the falls by which the Slunjčica tumbles into the Korana.

Once you are down by the river, after some 170 m you reach a footbridge that takes you over to the southern bank. Those who want more can head right and carry on downriver, but the circular trail turns left and climbs up into the village.

Rastoke is a village of millers that grew up on ground broken apart by the countless rapids of the Slunjčica. The rapids and falls (Prvi slap, Buk, Hrvojev slap and Vilina kosa, the “Fairy’s Hair”, are only the largest ones) spill over tufa barriers into a series of small lakes, before finally crashing over several large and many smaller waterfalls into the Korana, the river that comes down from Plitvice.

Walking through the village, tourists make the mistake of sticking to the road, because all the plots along the falls are private. Some of the properties have restaurants, but most of the ways through are blocked by chains, fences and water.

Here we warmly recommend a visit to the Pod rastočkim krovovima estate (“Under the Rastoke Roofs”). It occupies a central position from which you can reach many of the large waterfalls, walk down a wooden path to the river itself and explore the caves and hidden corners along the Korana. Here you can look inside the old watermills and get to know the variations in the technical solutions. Several museum displays have been set up on the estate, through which you will experience Rastoke as it once was. The story of the fairies is presented here in a very distinctive way, and it seems that the ever-present Winnetou had one of his bases here too, judging by the large totem pole.

The story of the fairies

Fairies have been part of the old Slavic mythology of people all over Croatia since time immemorial. They were believed to be born from the dew of autumn flowers, to live in deep forests and inaccessible places, and to favour lakes and rivers as their gathering spots.

Rastoke is a combination of the two worlds fairies love most, forest and water, so it is no wonder that a place like this is so thoroughly interwoven with fairy mythology. Walking around Rastoke it is very easy to imagine the mystery that pervaded every corner of it in those distant times, without electricity, in isolation, wrapped in darkness, mist and endless forests. And even with all the novelties of the modern age, a drop of something good is sure to conjure up all kinds of things as you step out of one of the restaurants into the dark.

Tourism arrives

Rastoke has a long tradition of tourism, but it always felt rather closed and reserved. What bothered us most was that there was no circular trail. Times have changed, and people have started thinking about developing tourism in the Slunj area. We can see that a great deal has been done in recent years, including that circular trail. EU funds have been drawn on as well (the Water Secrets of Slunj project), a beautiful tourist information centre has been built, boards with very interesting information have been put up, with QR codes for multimedia content online which (and this matters a great deal) actually work! So for the effort we have nothing but praise, and as for the nature and cultural heritage themselves, words are not enough — Rastoke should be not only on every keen day-tripper’s list, but a compulsory destination in our school curriculum.