MinnBeef

I loved Korcula. Such a pretty little island.

yestravel

me too, it was a wonderful island and you captured it so well.

russ_in_LA

So as much as we hated to leave Korcula, our final stop on our Croatian odyssey awaited us: Dubrovnik.

We retraced our drive back along the Peljesac peninsula, and the beautiful views continued as we hit the southern Dalmatian coast after Ston. The road hugged the steep coastal mountains on our left, while to the right the Elaphite islands accompanied us on our journey southward.

We decided to break up the drive with a stop at the arboretum in Trsteno. We love gardens, and try to see some wherever we go, so I can say with conviction that these were…only OK. The seaside setting is lovely, and the gardens are not without a certain scruffy charm, but I would not particularly recommend burning a day by doing a round trip from Dubrovnik, if you aren’t already passing this way (although the drive itself is stunning).

It was close to noon as we approached Dubrovnik, and our Airbnb apartment wasn’t yet ready, so we decided to stop for lunch on the Lapad peninsula, just to the west of the old town. The north side hosts the modern docks of the city, so we decided on a restaurant located in a beautiful deep bay on the west side of the peninsula. With a view of the rocky, tree-lined coast on the opposite side, we could have been on a less densely populated section of the Côte d’Azur. After lunch we took a walk on the pretty stone-paved promenade next to the sea, until I got a message saying that our apartment was ready for check in.

12 minutes later we pulled up in front of our AirBnB, high up on the hill above the Dubrovnik, with the most breathtaking view of the old town below. The next 2-1/2 days would confirm that we really had saved the best for last.



Trsteno


Lapad lunch


Room with a view

tripplanner001

Wow! The view from your accommodations in Dubrovnik is magnificent. The views from Mount Srd are nice, but you are almost close enough that you could touch the roofs.

TDudette

Incredible views. Were you surprised that the statues weren't nude? Iirc, metal fig leaves were attached to some Roman statues in a fit of modesty by some Pope. I'm running out of adjectives to describe your photos.

scrb11

Though do you have to walk down to the water level to get to restaurants and stores and then climb back up?

If it's a workout of the climb back up, it might get old after a couple of days to get meals.

russ_in_LA

It’s about 300 steps down to the old town. About 5 minutes going down and about 8 or 9 minutes coming back, with breaks. Taxis are readily available. We did the round trip on foot twice each day, although we did take a taxi back after dinner one evening.

scrb11

Is parking okay? Outside the old town?

rialtogrl

Trsteno was damaged during the war, such a shame. And it was a location in Game of Thrones so they can make money just sitting back and letting people take photos with the same view as Sansa Stark had.

thanks for the report and your beautiful photos, Russ.

russ_in_LA

Our AirBnb came with parking in the garage below the apartment, but I recommend not having a car in Dubrovnik.

russ_in_LA

I hadn’t realized that. Thanks for the additional info. We did recognize many of the Game of Thrones locations, but did not do any of the GoT themed tours.

russ_in_LA

It is ridiculous, but nothing surprises me anymore. 😉

Thanks again for all the kind adjectives!

russ_in_LA

After our arrival, we unpacked as quickly as possible, changed clothes and went out for a quick walk through the old town before dinner. While there were certainly other people out and about, we were shocked by how few. Several local people told us that, pre-Covid, there could typically be 7 to 8 cruise ships per day, however, there were no cruise ships at all for our entire stay. We were very fortunate, because I can’t imagine the chaos of the old town with an additional 14,000-15,000 people. That evening we had another dinner with our new Fodorite friends, the Progols, whose last night in Dubrovnik overlapped with our first. It was a lot of fun!

There was never a dull moment the next day. We started with a self guided tour of the city walls. Wherever we travel, if there are city walls, we always tackle them. In addition to Ston from a few days earlier, some memorable ones from other cities we’ve visited include Aigues-Morte, Carcassonne, and St-Malo, in France, and Obidos, in Portugal; but Dubrovnik’s walls are in a class by themselves. Even without crowds, it took us nearly an hour and a half to do the circuit, including detours up every tower we encountered. There are a lot of stairs, and it was getting quite warm, but fortunately there were a few cafes, right on the walls, where you could catch your breath and have a cold drink. And all the views from up there were fantastic!

After the walls we made our way up (always more stairs) to the lower station of the aerial tramway up to Mount Srd. On the way there, I called the restaurant at the summit, accurately named Restaurant Panorama, and made a lunch reservation. After a far too brief ascent, we found ourselves seated at a cliff-side table, with absolutely the most breathtaking views imaginable. The food was surprisingly good, given the very touristy location, with the only negative being that it was quite cool, with a constant wind rising up the mountainside and over us, but the restaurant took pity and kindly gave us blankets. We felt rather silly, sitting there in t-shirt and shorts, with a blankets over us like my grandmother, but at the same time it was perfect.

After lunch we did a more thorough sight seeing loop of the old town: the main street called the Stradun; Onofrios’s Large and Small fountains; the Luza square, bordered by the Sponza Palace and the Rector’s Palace, the inside of which we did a self guided tour, before returning to our apartment.

Although exhausted after climbing the over 300 stairs back up, I got the bright idea that I wanted to go to Banje beach for an hour, which was a great way to cool off in the late afternoon heat, but I then had to contend with those stairs again on the way back, which I did much more slowly this time.

We would make that same ascent twice each day for three days, so after a fantastic dinner at Nautika Restaurant that evening, with a great view of the Lovernac fortress, we finally relented and took a taxi back up to our amazing view. Beautiful, and a bit challenging, I fell in love with Dubrovnik; but like any relationship worth having, it was worth the effort.

Tomorrow: last day in Croatia


Ploce Gate



Waking the walls













Always more stairs!

TDudette

Just WOW. Expect those words are repeated from earlier. The architecture of the way back when astounds.

scrb11

Are there trains or ferries between the towns then, where you can transit with luggage in tow?

rialtogrl

Are you asking about Dubrovnik? There is no train system in that region. Ferries and catamarans to the islands, yes, because otherwise there would be no inexpensive way for people to get to the islands. Are you planning a trip?

scrb11

Just trying to get a general idea of the logistics, transport infrastructure, etc.

Russ said not a good idea to have a car in Dubrovnik but other parts of Croatia, it sounds like you need it to get from town to town.

So if no trains around Dubrovnik, I guess busses for intercity transport unless your'e willing to drive into Dubrovnik?

rialtogrl

Bus travel is common. All over Croatia, not just Dubrovnik.

tripplanner001

Dubrovnik without the crowds is definitely a rare treat, at least outside of the winter season, although I enjoyed the day when we had one small cruise ship in town. The atmosphere was definitely different.

russ_in_LA

Dubrovnik is in the extreme south of the country. Merely start or end your trip there, without a car, and then have a car for the rest.