Dubrovnik


Dubrovnik is a top tourist destination in the Mediterranean Sea, with its impressive Old Town, encircled with 16th century massive stone walls, well preserved historic buildings, and filming location of Star Wars and Game of Thrones. 

We spent two full days in Dubrovnik and I think you need at least two days to experience this wonderful city. The old town can be visited in just one day but due to crowds, you will have to rush to get from one place to another. Here are some of the best things to do in Dubrovnik.

1. Walk the City Walls 

Dubrovnik city walls surrounding the old town is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and top of the list of every tourist visiting Dubrovnik. You can walk the entire loop around the old city in under 2 hours with impressive views of the old town. Don't forget to climb up the Minceta tower, a Game of Throne location and has panoramic views of the old town over to the Adriatic sea. 

Pro Tip: 

During the day, the walls are very crowded and best time is to walk in the afternoon, a couple of hours before closing time. Check the opening hours on the official website.

Impressive views of Minceta tower & Old town from Dubrovnik City walls
Dubrovnik - Walking on city walls circling around the old town
Dubrovnik - Old town from city walls at Sunset
Dubrovnik - Impressive Minceta Tower

2. Explore the Old Town 

After completing the tour of the city walls, you have seen the old town from above and now its time to explore it by wandering around. The Old town is very compact, easy to walk but crowded especially during the day. It has a number of impressive well preserved historic buildings and rather expensive restaurants and cafes. 

Church of Saint Blaise and Dubrovnik Cathedral from Stradun (main street)
Dubrovnik - Narrow impressive streets of Old Town
Ul. od Puča one of the most impressive streets in Dubrovnik
Dubrovnik old port and city walls

Stradun or Placa, the impressive limestone-paved main pedestrian street in the old town is full of restaurants, cafes and souvenirs shops 

Dubrovnik - Stradun, the main pedestrian street in the old town

  3. Relax at Banje beach

A small beach only 15 minutes walk from the old is a perfect for swimming and has impressive views of the old town. It has its own bar and restaurant. The water is rather cold but very clean. 

Dubrovnik - Banje Beach is perfect place to relax with views of old town and island of Lokrum

4. Postcard View of Dubrovnik 

There are many viewpoints where you can get a view of the entire city. The Dubrovnik Cable Car runs from just out of old town to a 778 meters plateau, it has impressive views of the city and a restaurant with panoramic views. A return ticket will cost 170 Kn which is rather expensive if you are going up just for the views.

You can get a great view of the entire old town from Ul. Bruna Busica street, from the rooftop car parking for free. If you have a car then you can drive up D8 Highway in direction of the Airport and near Park Orsula, along the highway, you have a perfect view of the old town. 

Dubrovnik - Picture taken from rooftop car park on Ul. Bruna Busica.
Bird's eye view of Dubrovnik city from the D8 highway

5. Visit Lovrijenac

Beautiful small little fort perched on the cliffs on the other side of the west harbour from the town walls. The admission to Lovrijenac is included in the Walls entrance ticket and it has great views of the Old Dubrovnik and the Adriatic sea. 

Dubrovnik - Lovrijenac seen from city walls
Dubrovnik - City walls and old town from the entrance of Lovrijenac

6. Dubrovnik At Night 

During the day old town is absolutely packed with tourists especially when the cruise ships arrive but as the night falls they return back and the city is very peaceful. Wander through the old cobbled streets, stradun (main street) & Cathedral etc. Ul. od Puča street is the most impressive along with Stradun. 

Dubrovnik - Stradun (main street) at night
Dubrovnik - The Ul. od Puča at night is even more beautiful
Dubrovnik - The old town at night is very peaceful
The impressive Dubrovnik Cathedral at night

7. Take a Day Trip

Dubrovnik is along the border of Bosnia & Herzegovina and Montenegro. Dubrovnik Harbour and has a great network of the ferry system and numerous Croatian Islands can be visited on a day trip. Here is a list of few of popular day trips from Dubrovnik

  • Mostar, Bosnia & Herzegovina
  • Kravica waterfalls, historic village of Pocitelj and Sufi monastery Blagaj Tekke in Bosnia & Herzegovina
  • Bay of Kotor, Montenegro
  • Korčula​ Island, Croatia