I visited Durmitor NP from the town of Zabljak, a ski resort in winter and a quiet but pleasant holiday retreat in May. From my hotel, I could walk right into the park, so I was out there already before 8.30 a.m. Some of the best views I had from the parking lot of the hotel: there's a panorama of the whole mountain range to be seen, with peaks covered in snow and thick forest beneath.

The Tourist Information (where at least one girl speaks excellent English) had told me the day before that I did not need a map to do the easy hikes. So I started where everybody starts, at the Black Lake (Crno Jezero). Entering the park this way, you also pass the ticket booth where a 3 EUR fee is collected. The only other people I encountered were locals walking their dog or exercising. Normally you can do a full circle walk around this lake, but the path was blocked halfway because of flooding.

After that, I walked on to the next glacier lake, Zminje Jezero. It takes about an hour on a path through the forest. It is signposted well, with red-and-white marks on the trees. I had seen patches of snow here and there along the way, but at the final hundreds of meters, the path was almost fully covered with old snow. You had to just walk on it. Fortunately, a pleasant surprise was waiting at the end of the trail: a pretty lake with a bench in the sun on its shore. I sat down for a while, was greeted by lots of frogs that inhabit the lake and met a local man with his 2 children who tried to catch fish at the lake.

I walked back to Zabljak via a different route, passing some farms and the village of Pitomine. In all, it was a pleasant and not too tiring walk of 4.5 hours. Most of the other hikes in the area are in the difficult category and will take you right up the mountains. The mountain scenery I found the best part of the visit – it’s just like the Alps in Germany or Austria, but still good. I did not encounter any exciting flora or fauna species, so in combination with the very “planned” feel of the park, it’s all a bit tame.