Day one: give the lakes their own day.
Choose a Plitvice entrance and walking programme in advance, then keep the rest of the day light. Travel time, your pace and seasonal park arrangements will shape what is realistic. Stay overnight in the region rather than treating the park as a pause between distant cities. Your first evening can simply be dinner and time to settle in.
Day two: exchange cascades for springs.
Move towards Otočac and the Gacka valley. Pair a spring such as Majerovo vrilo with a museum visit, a local meal or time in town, depending on what is open. This is a change of scale after Plitvice: a working landscape, a smaller discovery, a conversation. You do not need to visit every pin on the map to have spent the day well.
Day three: follow your curiosity.
Smiljan and Gospić make a cultural final chapter. If you prefer mountains, consider Krasno and a Northern Velebit visit instead, but build that day around the forecast, access and your experience. Do not simply add a mountain outing to an already full plan. Choose one direction, leave room for the return journey and keep something for another visit.
This is an editorial outline, not a timed itinerary or a booking. Driving times, accommodation, admissions and access need to be checked for your dates. A car or arranged transport makes these dispersed places easier to combine.
