I was a bit nervous about heading to Dubrovnik in the summer. I had heard it was an amazingly stunning town – the “Pearl of the Adriatic”. But all the buzz on the town and mention of crowds had me worried that it would just be too chaotic. I wasn’t sure if we wanted to go. However, we ended up taking a ferry from Dubrovnik to Italy on our way back to Spain, so we had no choice but to go there. It was worth it. The town really was shockingly beautiful. And the crowds weren’t bad in late August.
We rented an Airbnb from a friendly American woman who had lived in Dubrovnik for years with her Croatian husband, and it was interesting talking to her about her life in Croatia.
Our apartment was just a short walk from the city walls of the Old Town, so the first thing we did after arriving late afternoon was to head into the Old Town. We went right for the City Walls, which are amazingly well preserved and allowed us to walk on them right around the city.
We cruised around the walls, getting wonderful views in every direction.
From the wall looking down on the main pedestrian street in the Old Town
After exploring the city walls, we walked through the Old Town a bit as the sun set, then headed back for more exploring the next day.
Our first stop the next morning was on the cable car that swept us up the hill overlooking Dubrovnik. The view of the town from above was amazing – the pictures don’t do it justice.
Once at the top of the cable car, we took a walk around the Dubrovnik Museum of the Homeland War. This was particularly interesting to see, since we had been traveling around the Balkans region and had been learning about the conflict that happened in the mid-90s in the region. There were lots of photos and first hand accounts of life in Croatia during the war. In particular the siege of Dubrovnik, when the enemy shelled the UNESCO-noted historic Old Town, destroying many of the buildings. The museum was housed in a fort that was used to defend the town during the conflict.
After touring the museum, we ate at the restaurant overlooking the town before we took the cable car back down.
Later that day (and again the next morning), we spent more time exploring in the Old Town.
I was pleasantly surprised by Dubrovnik, and really enjoyed exploring the streets of this beautiful town!
