Mljet: national park, salt lakes and what a ticket costs

Mljet is the southernmost of the larger south Dalmatian islands, about 37 kilometres long and rarely more than three wide. Its western third has been a national park since 1960, which makes it one of the oldest protected areas on the Adriatic. Inside it lie two connected salt lakes, Veliko jezero and Malo jezero, joined to the open sea by a narrow channel. The water is seawater, and because it moves through the channels slowly it warms up earlier in the year than the sea outside.

What the park costs in 2026

The ticket already includes one return trip on the solar boat to the islet of St Mary in Veliko jezero, one visit to every site on land, the marked walking trails around both lakes, parking at Vrbovica and a ride on the electric train. A second return boat trip to the islet costs five euro. Tickets bought at the park after four in the afternoon are 25 percent cheaper, which is worth knowing if you arrive on a late catamaran.

How to get there

• Car ferry Prapratno on the Pelješac peninsula to Sobra, roughly 45 minutes, run by Jadrolinija all year. This is the only way to bring a car.
• Catamaran from Dubrovnik to Sobra and Polače, passengers only. Polače is the better stop for the park; Sobra sits in the middle of the island, some thirty kilometres away.
• Timetables change several times a season. Check the operator's schedule for the exact day you travel, not the one printed in spring.

Inside the park

The islet in Veliko jezero carries a Benedictine monastery begun in the twelfth century, and the solar boat that goes there is part of the ticket. Around the lakes runs a level path of about nine kilometres, popular with cyclists and easy on foot in either direction. For height there are two marked climbs, one to the Montokuc viewpoint and one to Veliki gradac, and further trails lead from Malo jezero to Pomena and from Vrbovica to Polače. Most of what you walk through is Aleppo pine and holm oak, which is why the island is often called the greenest in the Adriatic.

The rest of the island

East of the park the island stays quiet. Saplunara at the far end has the only real sand beaches, shallow and backed by pines. Near Babino Polje, the largest village, a set of steps drops to Odysseus's cave, a sea cave that local tradition ties to the seven years Homer's hero is said to have spent with Calypso. And you will probably meet a mongoose: the animals were released here in 1910 to deal with the horned viper, they dealt with a good deal more, and their descendants now cross the roads in daylight.

The best months are May, June and September. In July and August the park fills up between eleven and three, when the day boats from Dubrovnik are in; before and after that the lake path is largely yours. Bring water, there is little shade on the climbs, and the two villages inside the park, Pomena and Polače, have only a handful of places to eat.