I already wrote about my roadtrip down the coast of Croatia in a previous post, but felt that Dubrovnik deserved its own dedicated post.
We chose an Airbnb that was a light twenty-minute walk from the old city and absolutely loved it. We were able to cook ourselves breakfast and dinner for most of our time there, saving some money. Some of us were doing work and could relax on the WiFi. Plus it gave us a more realistic idea of the area than just the tourist zone.
We planned our time in Dubrovnik around the arrival of cruise ships. Since Dubrovnik was used as a set for Game of Thrones, tourism to the city has grown exponentially. Cruise ships also favor the city, which means that the city is flooded with bus groups and cruise ship tourists during the peak of the day, but empties out some in the evenings. To avoid big crowds, we planned our aforementioned trip to Kotor on the cruise ship day that overlapped with our time in Dubrovnik.
(It’s been a while so my timing might not be quite right – forgive me. And take any schedule I provide with a grain of salt.)
Our first day, we wandered around the city. The historic part of the city is inside the city walls, so we focused our explorations there. Just like Venice, Dubrovnik is a place you could get lost in, just wandering down winding roads and alleys, turning corners that end in the water. We had soaked in the sun, ate lunch at a small restaurant in an alleyway, and had plans to take the ferry to Lokrum Island. Unfortunately, we were still in low season and the ferry only ran once or twice a day.
Our backup plan was a quick sea kayaking adventure. We rented kayaks from just outside the city walls and did a loop of the island. The island has tons of inlets and caves that you can squeeze into and take a look around. I made the great choice to wear jeans on this adventure, which resulted in me walking through hoards of tourists looking like I’d just peed my pants. It was worth it. Following that adventure, we returned to our Airbnb and slathered our sunburns in lotion.
Our second day in Dubrovnik began early. We wanted to climb Mount Srd to Utvrda Imperial (Fort Imperial) before it got too hot. The view from the top is pretty spectacular, but the hike is serious work – it’s a steep climb with lots of switchbacks and next to no shade. Many people seemed to prefer taking the cable car up and hiking down, but we finished our trip up and back before lunch. Definitely bring water and some snacks (there’s a cafe up top but its usually busy and quite expensive).
After showers and a relaxing lunch at our Airbnb, we went back into the old town for the City Walls Tour. We went at the end of the day to catch sunset. The whole thing is a loop, so take your time. It’s also nice to pause and look down, letting larger tour groups pass by, and see the city still recovering from its relatively recent turmoil. After our tour, we grabbed food in the old city at one of the many restaurants and enjoyed a scoop of gelato to end the night.
Our last morning in Dubrovnik was spent at Lovrijenac, the fortress just outside the
city walls that featured in Game of Thrones. Our City Walls tour tickets included Lovrijenac, which is an interesting place to explore.
After another scoop (or two) of gelato, we went back to our Airbnb and headed north.
