Dubrovnik travel highlights
stayed: An air bnb studio apartment next to the main cathedral in Old Town. We looked out our window to the side of it and the tram zipping up the hill. Although it looks like it’s deep into town, the apartment is only a five minute walk from either gate. Close to plenty of interesting restaurants, away from the crowds and a stone throw away from Buza Bar 2. *Note to travelers: there was a garbage pick-up spot in front of the building so it was quite noisy in the AM if you accidentally left your window open.
saw: Dubrovnik was really a feast for the eyes! I felt like I was walking into a movie set when we arrived to the Pile Gate in Old Town. It almost didn’t feel real. I’d highly recommend staying within the Old Town walls. It’s a bit more expensive, but you really get to submerge yourself in the history.
Picturesque views from the wall. The back part of the wall had many more interesting views than the front part. It took us 1 hour and 15 minutes to make the full loop, which we started at 9 a.m. to beat the crowds. This photo looks crowded, but that wasn’t even that bad unfortunately.
Neatly hung laundry. That inspired me to start hanging some of ours at home.
The sunset from a Buza Bar. The beer was expensive ($8!) but the view and atmosphere were great. I think many BYOB’ed, which was probably the cheaper, rule breaking way to go.
conquered: Public transportation. We decided at the last minute to get out of town and explore another GoT filming sight – Trsteno Arboretum. As a hardcore planner, this had not been “on the list” and I was a bit nervous to just hop on a bus. But it happened, and it was totally a piece of cake. We were also far away from the crowds, which was a nice change of pace. I think we saw two other groups while we were there.
Fort Lovrijenac. Because Dubrovnik’s Old Town wasn’t enough?! This fort is right across a tiny bay (also a GoT filming location) and gave the town even more beefy, defense power. We came across quite a few GoT $200 per person tours and were happy to listen in when we could J
Driving in the most epic of epic rain storms to Dubrovnik from Mostar. Water was running like rivers down the hillside, taking over staircases and flooding the streets. It was hard enough driving in an unfamiliar city let alone in a huge thunderstorm. We were both a little frazzled after that.
Even more relaxation. The final day was spent sleeping in, taking a siesta and eating a pack of Skittles in the harbor. I didn’t even take out my camera the last day and it was PERFECT.
other travel notes:
Food is expensive within the walls. Azur was great for dinner though, hello Asian flavors! We’d missed you! Segreto was also delicious with their lamb and this killer pea/mint sauce. Oliva Pizza was consumed a few times too.
That stupid tram line! We never found a good time where the line wasn’t a million miles long. Not sure how to get around that…
Getting basic service inside an old town with narrow streets and lots of steps – how does it all work?! It seemed like a logistical nightmare but people have been making it work for hundreds of years. Towards the end of our trip, I noticed special delivery hand trucks just under the size of the narrow streets making deliveries all day long. That’s a job undo itself.
And that concludes our epic Eastern Europe travel adventure! Phew. So what did you think? Did we do it justice? Does it make you want to pack your bags and go explore? I hope so 🙂