Dubrovnik old town


old town stairs


Beyond the walls are newer buildings


In the old town, a small market

old town stairs


Dubrovnik, climbing up to the walls. The walls won't have changed but the entrance, exit and fees will have changed by now. Fantastic views.


Up on the walls


Taken from outside the city walls

Agree with KayF, the views from the walls are fabulous, but the stairs are quite steep in parts. However, my husband did perfectly well despite his double knee replacement, so do consider the trip. Of course you know best what your husband would be able to handle and the decision is yours.

Re tickets, I believe we bought a consolidated ticket for about €32 which gave us access to the walls and some museums in the old town. Also the bus service, though we didn’t use it. The actual wall ticket costs almost the same, but with this one we got to see other places too.

I cannot thank all of you enough for your helpful and thoughtful comments and suggestions! Just read the amazing trip report and these pictures are extremely helpful. We are no longer concerned about the walking/surfaces/hikes etc. with this information. Honestly, we are torn between this destination and going to Japan. For either, we are thinking this is a little too close timing and we need to research both more and aim for Fall. Although, at 76, sometimes postponing is not a good idea. We love the Fodorite community and appreciate you. I will stay in touch.

virginiafish,
My husband and I loved Croatia when we went in the 2021, just as the world was opening up during the pandemic era. My TR is on the board, too (and I did find KarenWoo’s TR to be very helpful!).

We were lucky in that the cruise ships had barely started up again , so a place like Dubrovnik, which can get very crowded, was blissfully manageable. We enjoyed Split, doing day trips from there to Hvar (thanks KarenWoo!) and Trogir. We absolutely loved Rovinj and the region though I don’t know what April would be like. But we had one of our favorite meals in Motovun and the views form there were splendiferous! And we loved Korcula - a beautiful island, and pretty happening at the end of September.

But honestly, if it was me and it was a choice between Croatia and Japan, we also loved (loved!) Japan and as the travel gets harder as we get older, I’d recommend doing the harder trips first.

"But honestly, if it was me and it was a choice between Croatia and Japan, we also loved (loved!) Japan and as the travel gets harder as we get older, I’d recommend doing the harder trips first."

Thanks for this sage advice. We are processing the options and progol, I am going to read your Japan reports.

I also loved both.
And I always try to do harder trips before easier ones.
Whether Croatia or Japan is easier depends, I think, on exactly what one wants to see and do.

Hi, virginiafish, I’m embarrassed to say I never finished my second Japan TR but my first one is, I think, really a good overview for a first time visitor. Feel free to contact me if you have additional questions; there are a lot of good TRs on the Asia board but I’m not on it as much as I used to be.

kja makes a good point as to which trip would be more difficult but, for me, those long haul trips are harder because of both the time it takes to travel and adjusting to the time difference. We found Croatia very easy especially since we did rent a car for a good part of the trip and driving was very easy.

what part of Croatia?

Dear fellow Fodorites, I appreciate all the time and thoughts you shared on this thread. You have helped us so much over many years. I wanted to share that due to health issues and the challenges of travel with the state of the world right now, we have put a pause on any big trips for a time. We were gifted a week in April to Hilton Head and we are just going to head there and then see if we want an adventure, which would be very last minute, in May. Wishing well to all.