Ever since the hit TV show Game of Thrones, Croatia—and especially the postcard-perfect city of Dubrovnik—has increasingly showed up on people’s radars. And for good reason! Despite the pandemic, 2021 is set to be Croatia’s biggest tourist summer ever, people lured by the still-reasonable prices, gorgeous old city vibes, Mediterranean sun, blue water, and delicious seafood. Really, what’s not to love about Dubrovnik?
You might recognize Dubrovnik as the filming location of countless scenes in Game of Thrones, but the city itself is even more beautiful than the show makes it out to be. In recent years, people have flocked to Dubrovnik for their Mediterranean getaways. The Stari Grad, or Old Town, is actually extremely compact and can be crossed in a matter of minutes if you know where you’re going. But if you’re looking to wander through a maze of beautiful alleyways, you could also spent hours here at a time.
Pro tip: if you’re interested in checking out any of the many museums in Dubrovnik, consider getting a Dubrovnik card. It gives you one-time admission to the Old Town walls and an unlimited bus pass, along with several other small but interesting museums all around the city. You can get a 1-, 3-, or 7-day version. My personal opinion is that the 3-day version is plenty to cover all of those, and the walls are expensive enough that the card is definitely worth it. Even extra tip: the unlimited bus pass isn’t timestamped, so you can use it even after your Dubrovnik card has expired.
It doesn’t take long to cover Dubrovnik, but the real treat is slowly ambling through the Old Town, spending countless hours on the coast of the Adriatic, and going to the beach everyday!
Day 1
I flew into Dubrovnik in the late morning, by which time it was already starting to heat up considerably outside. I realized that it’s not the air temperature in Croatia that’s the issue—it’s the bright, unrelenting Mediterranean sun. Good thing I brought not only one but two hats along. I immediately went to meet up with my friends in the Old Town to grab some lunch and recover from my 9-hour long flight.
Luckily, I was in for a treat. We set up at Lokanda Peskarija in the astoundingly beautiful Dubrovnik port and I got my first taste of the Croatian seafood that I’d been drooling over in anticipation. We got a truffle and mushroom pasta and a beautifully prepared squid that was almost too pretty for me to eat.
After lunch, we picked up a 3-day Dubrovnik Card for me. I mentioned this earlier in the article, but the 3-day Dubrovnik Card is more than enough to cover all the main city’s paid attractions while scoring unlimited free bus rides to boot. We decided to cross off some of the smaller items on the list and started with the monastery museum, which featured the most beautiful little courtyard.
There’s not really a right way to tackle the Old Town—you just have to wander here and there and find beautiful places unexpectedly. We meandered through a few alleys and climbed lots of flights of stairs, including the most famous Jesuit Stairs. Apparently these are very famous in Game of Thrones, which I haven’t seen, but they were quite crowded when we arrived.
Finally, just in time for sunset, we climbed a ridiculous amount of stairs to get to dinner at Lady Pipi. This restaurant wins for weirdest decor, but the setup—an open-air grapevine terrace overlooking the city—is definitely nothing to scoff at. We ordered a seafood platter and a meat platter to share and were absolutely stuffed by the end of the night. Personally, I thought the food wasn’t as good as some other restaurants we would eventually try, but the view is a stunner!
Despite our stomachs about to burst, we exercised some of it off by walking back down into the town center. Peppino’s is the go-to gelato spot in town, and they have so many flavors to try. I lost track of how many times I got gelato on this trip, but it’s so delicious! (And cheap!)
Day 2
The second day we rose extra early to catch the sunrise—and also explore the Old Town while it was empty. There are two entrances to Stari Grad, but the more popular one is through Pile Gate (pronounced “PII-ley”), which we were lucky to walk across without another soul. Passing through Pile Gate takes you to the plaza with the large Onofrio Fountain, which pours cold clear water all day.
We took the early hours of the morning to explore the Old Town. Walking around beautiful hidden alleys, strolling the Stradun—it all looked beautiful with first light bathing the city in its warm glow. We got to see the city wake up, with merchants pushing carts full of ingredients and supplies down the cobblestone roads. In the central plaza, sellers were only just starting to set out their fruit for the day, and the restaurants still had all their verandas and umbrellas closed. Dubrovnik gets quite crowded during the day, so I absolutely loved having the Old Town all to ourselves. It also helps that the sun isn’t as unforgiving in the early mornings!
Once the City Walls opened, we immediately went to go walk the famous loop around the city. Dubrovnik’s walls are what makes it look like one huge fortress, and the views from the tops of the walls cannot be matched. I loved seeing the collection of reddish-orange rooftops below, like a huge collage. I think that color is one of my favorite in the world.
There are many stops along the city walls, but my favorite is the viewpoint from Minceta Fortress. It’s one of the highest points along the wall, and you can see literally all of the Old Town from the top.
By this time the warmth of the day had set in, and what else would be perfect to stave off the heat besides jumping in the gemstone blue waters of the Adriatic? There are two Buza Bars, and they’re apparently “hidden” cliffside bars—except everyone knows about them. Duck through a literal hole in the wall that opens up to this seaside paradise! I couldn’t tell you if the food or drink is good or not—I was more interested in leaping off the cliffside with locals. If you’ve never gone cliffdiving before, I don’t know if I’d say this is a good first place to start, but face your fears and do it! It’s super fun for those who are chasing a little thrill.
Next was a stop for lunch at Lucin Kantun. We had delicious sea bass, langoustines, grilled octopus, tuna, and shrimp. Seafood in Croatia is so good, I ended up eating it for pretty much every meal.
After lunch, we headed out of the Old Town and over to the West Harbor, which has some of the best views of the Dubrovnik from outside the walls. This is one of my favorite spots, which is accessed by climbing over a platform to enjoy the sight below (and this cute spot with tiny doors). Pro tip: come here in the morning. The shadows set in by afternoon and I couldn’t edit them out however much I tried!
Just adjacent to the harbor is Lovrijenac, also known as King’s Landing in the show Game of Thrones. You’ll have to keep your city walls ticket to also get admitted here. This fortress isn’t massive, but it definitely offers some of my favorite views of Dubrovnik, hands down. Just look at the stunning city from here!
It was starting to get really hot, so we hopped on out of there and went for another soak. Hotel Excelsior is one of the fanciest hotels in Dubrovnik. Unlike its nearby (and even more expensive) partner Hotel Villa Argentina, Excelsior has a sleek and modern vibe. Pro tip: you don’t have to be a guest here to use their facilities…as long as you have the confidence to get away with it! We decided to “get dessert” at Excelsior’s restaurant and proceeded to enjoy their Instagrammable saltwater outdoor pool, indoor pool, hot tub, and sauna. (Just kidding, we actually did end up getting dessert!)
I’ve been told that you can do a similar thing at Hotel Villa Argentina, but I decided one fancy hotel was enough for me. You can take your pick!
To wrap up the evening, we took the Dubrovnik cable car up the side of Mount Srd. We originally intended to go for sunset, but ended up running a little late! We ate at the top of the mountain at Restaurant Panorama while looking over the twinkling lights of the city before returning home for the night.
Day 3
On our last morning here, we got up early enough to get breakfast at my new favorite brunch spot in Dubrovnik, Gradska Kavana Arsenal. You can read more about my favorite restaurants in Dubrovnik here, but I’ll just say that all the breakfast at Arsenal comes with both a glass of fresh-squeezed orange juice and a full tea set, as well as a bread basket with the most delicious honey, two kinds of fruit jam, and a chocolate spread. And it all comes out to less than 15 USD.
Originally, we had planned on taking a morning trip to Lokrum before coming back in the afternoon, but after breakfast we didn’t have enough time. No worries, we still had plenty of spots left to hit on our Dubrovnik Card.
My favorite museum in Dubrovnik was the Natural History Museum. The exhibits there are fascinating, plus they have a section specifically dedicated to sea turtles. The museum has plenty of floors chock-full of creative facts and preserved animals. As a science nerd, I couldn’t pass it up. We spent plenty of time here.
My other favorite spot was the Rector’s Palace, which also functions as a cultural and history museum of sorts. I do love history museums, but I was far more taken with the beautiful palace court and the staircase there—light academia/royaltycore vibes, anyone? If I had brought a ballgown with me, I would’ve run in slow-mo through the halls here.
It was time for our last—and favorite—lunch in the city, at Trattoria Carmen. This ended up being my favorite restaurant in the whole city, and it came at a sinfully low price for the amazing quality and service! We got the pasta with shrimp and mussels, monkfish polenta, mussels in buzara, and lightly fried calamari. I can’t even pick what my favorite dish was because all of them were absolutely delicious.
After lunch, we wrapped up out stay in Dubrovnik. We were headed for Split in the afternoon, so we packed up, bid the beautiful city good-bye, and set off on the next adventure!
Still have extra time in Dubrovnik? Consider taking one of the many day trips out of the city.
Best day trips from Dubrovnik:
Lokrum: one of the most popular day trips of Dubrovnik and only a 10 minute boat ride away. Has everything from beaches, an old royal castle, botanical gardens, a monastery, and even peacocks!
Elaphite Islands: one of the most popular “island hopping” experiences from Dubrovnik. The typical tour hits three different islands that you can spent a day or half day at, swimming in the beautiful clear water and suntanning on the many beaches there.
Mostar: a day crossover into the neighboring country of Bosnia & Herzegovina, with huge bridges, Muslim-influenced old towns, and the most stunning waterfalls. Read my guide here.
Pasjaca: has a beautiful beach just 30 minutes’ drive south of Dubrovnik. They even have a staircase that goes straight into the water. Perfect for a beach getaway.
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