Dubrovnik is a wonderful city in southern Adriatic Sea, also known as “the gem of the Adriatic Sea”. It’s Croatia’s southernmost city, though it actually doesn’t have that much in common with the country itself; it’s separated from the rest of the country by Bosnia’s Neum, and the city’s architecture tells of a colourful centuries-long history of the Republic of Ragusa. The city abounds in fairy-tale-like views and one can find wonderful scenes at every turn, though the most beautiful ones can be enjoyed from the city walls and from Mount Srđ. With a preserved medieval core and dreamy beaches with clear turquoise water, Dubrovnik caters to every traveller’s taste.
The city had been on our bucker list for quite some time, but we were always reluctant to visit it due to the distance. We visited Dubrovnik for four days during May holidays. I think we chose the right time, as the temperatures were quite pleasantly warm and crowds were significantly smaller than at the peak of the season. We thought four days were perfect for mini holidays and exploring Dubrovnik.
We bought a 24-hour Dubrovnik card that costed us 250 kuna per person. It included a visit to the city walls, Fort Lovrijenac, six museums and two galleries, plus a 24-hour bus ticket.
We entered the city through a drawbridge and a mighty wall. The first thing we noticed was the Large Onofrio’s Fountain and then we took a walk through the main street, Stradun, which leads all the way to the harbour on the other side of the city. Narrow cobbled streets of the walled city tell of wonderful stories and offer views of the centuries-old buildings, squares and towers. We went for a walk around the city and also searched for the famous steps known to the Game of Thrones fans as “the walk of shame”.
Stradun is the main and one of the richest streets in Dubrovnik. There are cafés, small shops, confectioneries and souvenir shops on the ground floors of buildings.
Dubrovnik is surrounded by ancient walls, which are a must-see and the most beautiful stop when visiting the city. The entry fee is expensive, as the ticket costs 250 kuna per person. It can be purchased at the tourist information centre near Onofrio’s Fountain. The price of the ticket is the same as a single-day Dubrovnik card, so we recommend buying the latter. We visited the city walls in the afternoon because we wanted to take photos during the “golden hour”. And we made the right decision because there weren’t many people around and the views were wonderful. The walls measure two kilometres in length, and we took a lot of time to enjoy the views, take photos and make a short stop on the wall terrace, so all in all we spent two hours there.
A 412-metre high Mount Srđ towers above the city, offering a panoramic view of the entire Dubrovnik. You can reach it with a three-minute cable car drive, but we drove there in our car. The road has many hairpin bends, and our drive was made so much more interesting by a herd of goats who suddenly appeared in front. Just for a moment we thought we’d drive into them. They seemed to be used to tourists and skilfully avoided the car and we continued up the road. We found a nice spot where we stopped just beneath the top, from where we enjoyed a nice view of the city and the harbour.
Fort Lovrijenac is one of the largest fortresses in Dubrovnik and the ticket is already included in the one for the city walls. There are steps leading to the fortress that hides beautiful scenes that became even more famous thanks to the Game of Thrones.
During the noon sun we switched from city walks to the pleasant air-conditioned museums. We visited the Rupe Ethnographic Museum which depicts life in Dubrovnik through time. We also visited the 13th-century Dominican monastery with its lovely frescoes, cloister and atrium garden. The man at the entrance who checked our ticket really spiced up our visit, though. He wore headphones, and danced and sang to the music only he could hear. Another place of interest is the Rector’s palace whose architecture is a blend of the Gothic, Renaissance and Baroque periods, which houses the Cultural History Museum.
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