Dubrovnik, Croatia
One thing I am loving on this trip is getting invested in the history of all of these places. Croatia is full of people who are proud to tell you about its’ history, but especially Dubrovnik which was its own peaceful republic for hundreds of years. The walled city now has some sprawl around it, which we found ourselves dropped off at in the ferry port. We had been warned throughout Croatia to avoid the taxis and stick to Uber or Bolt for the best prices. We ordered an Uber and even on the short drive to our guest house we were slack jawed at the sight of the castle walls and surrounding cliffs.
Our home for the week was just outside the castle gates which was a perfect location for us since we like to do things on foot as much as possible. To enter the old town, you cross a drawbridge and enter through the massive city gates to a car-free city with narrow roads and steep alleys of stairs. We grabbed some gelato and started wandering the streets. It’s easy to get lost, but the old town isn’t that big so you’ll quickly find yourself in familiar places again.
Without even trying, we were already stumbling across awesome sights. We crossed the main square and went out to Old Harbor (where you can catch a private boat tour) and then around the edge of the castle wall to a swimming area with steps and ladders tucked between giant rocks leading to crystal clear water. We wouldn’t be swimming in Dubrovnik, but the views over the water were amazing. Around the walls, you can find Buza bars perched on the rocks; it’s a truly unique sight. We snagged a table at one for just one overpriced drink and watched the sun disappear behind a turret.
As it was just starting to sprinkle, we ducked into Restaurant Dubrovnik for dinner. We knew it was a nice restaurant, but didn’t know just how nice until we had the menu. They have a 6- or 8-course chef’s tasting menu, with wine pairing, which was more than we were hungry for. We ordered a few things a la carte, lobster for Marcus and lamb for me, and were treated to tableside cocktails, an amuse bouche of shrimp tartar in Parmesan cream (served in an urchin!), and a complementary appetizer with dry ice.
All of this because we were the only ones in the restaurant! If I have one piece of advice for people visiting Croatia - it’s to come in the shoulder season! While we did have some rain, we had plenty of perfect days. It was warm, things were open, and you could get around without dealing with the massive tourist crowds Croatia is becoming known for. After we’d paid, they gifted us a bottle of their private label olive oil.
Many people have come to know Dubrovnik as King’s Landing, or at least where it was filmed. Game of Thrones comes up a lot, from souvenir shops around town, to museum exhibits talking about the filming (and the history of the fantasy kingdoms). Our tour guide in Split had been an extra in the filming, and many people in Dubrovnik will recall what it was like to have the film crews there. It’s been many years since we watched the show, but we were interested in seeing the filming locations, so we found a tour that would infuse a bit of GOT fandom with Dubrovnik history. Vito (who had also been an extra) met us at the Pile Gate to take us on a three hour walking tour of the old town and nearby fort.
We started at Fort Lovrijenac outside the city walls, where Vito showed us stills from the show and took photos of us to recreate them. Of course he also shared the history of the fortress, and we got some incredible pics of the city walls. We walked by the West Harbor (which you will definitely recognize from the show) and learned that the clear waters there used to be quite dirty but during the tourism break of Covid, they cleared up. TBD if they will stay that way.
Within the walls you we went in and out of alleys learning about the buildings real and imagined purposes, visited the Jesuit Stairs (aka the Shame Stairs) and ended with a slightly cheesy photo op on the Iron Throne. The tour was awesome and we highly recommend Game of Thones Tours Dubrovnik!
All that walking earned us a treat so we found some craft beers at Glam Bar where we ran into Daniel, our server from dinner the night prior! We had a beer with him, talked about life, and got some fun recommendations for later. We had to jet for the sunset, which we were taking in from Srd, high above the city. You can either drive or take the cable car up to it, which was a bit pricey but a really lovely experience. Up top there is a restaurant you can dine at, but we just caught the sunset and rode back down.
We had saved the city walls for our third day, which we kicked off at a leisurely 12pm. In the summer, I would not recommend doing this since it was already pretty warm and the walk is entirely exposed. But we are not morning people so it is what it is. There are lots of fantastic views of the city and the sea, as well as access to some museums from the wall. We checked out the maritime museum while we were up there, and made the full loop.
Just outside the city you can see an island, called Lokrum Island, which is uninhabited. But it hasn’t always been that way. There was once a Benedictine Monestary on the island, but when they were basically evicted from the island after hundreds of years, they walked the perimeter in the night with upside-down candles putting a curse on the island that no one could own it for their own pleasure. Well, everyone who has tried since has died or had something terrible happen to them, so it remains uninhabited. While you can’t stay there, you can take a boat there during the daytime and explore.Your ticket for entrance includes the boat ride, so we got a nice little 10-minute boat cruise out of it as well.
On the island, there is are some really nice exhibits in the monastery, as well as a fort you can visit. They have their own “Dead Sea” which is highly salty and you will float in this little pond, if you don’t want to swim in the water off the rocks. We found a beautiful outdoor restaurant where we had one of the best meals of Dubrovnik, at Rajski Vrt. The last boat off the island is at 6pm and you aren’t permitted to stay there past that time, so we made sure not to miss our ride and headed back to the city.
The rain came for us on our last day, we decided to check out the rest of the attractions on our Dubrovnik Card, including the Rector’s Palace museum, Ethnographic Museum, and the monastery. It was a great way to make the most of the poor weather. We picked a highly recommended restaurant for dinner, Taj Mahal, which (don’t let the name deceive you) serves Bosnian food and has its own butchery. We got a fantastic trio of meats, Bosnian bruschetta, and baklava.
Most of the time we don’t know what day of the week it is, but in Dubrovnik where the tourist season had not quite gone to high gear, there were some things only open on the weekend. I’m talking about the club, Revelin. A 15th century fortress, they’ve converted it in to a massive nightclub which hosts DJs 6 nights a week in the summer. It felt like an experience we definitely would not get at home so we had to check it out. It was a great night of dancing and watching people get LIT AF. We were pretty tame though, since we had a flight in the morning, finally leaving Croatia.
After spending nearly three weeks in Croatia, I definitely have a special appreciation for it. Not long ago, during my lifetime, there was war as Yugoslavia broke apart and the impact of that can still be felt. The Croatian people are so kind and willing to share their culture, but also their perspectives and their history, so we got a really special understanding of life there, what’s led to it being the country it is today, and where the people feel its heading. I truly recommend to anyone to spend some time here and I’ll have another post shortly of my tips for traveling in Croatia soon!
