Dubrovnik was totally magical. Everywhere you turn, you're greeted by a view more beautiful than the last. It's picture-perfect. I think I wore myself out going on and on about how gorgeous everything was.
We stayed at a quiet apartment about 15 minutes by bus away from the Old Town, and we had the most gracious and friendly hosts (we booked through AirBnb) and the perfect view from our terrace.
We spent our (relatively short) time in Dubrovnik wandering, exploring, sightseeing, swimming, and soaking in all the beauty. It was at times overly crowded in the city but we made the most of our hosts' recommendations and had the most fabulous time. Our last night, we wandered over to the more distant Sveti Jakov beach, which is 80 steps down from the main road, and swam and sunbathed with all of Dubrovnik Old Town stretched out in front of us, and then watched the sun set. It was perfect.
Also notable from our time in Dubrovnik was my experience cliff jumping, my discovering lemon beer (more like lemonade), drinking cold water from the city's fountain, walking the city walls at sunset, seeing all the stray cats around the Old Town (remarkably clean-looking, though not too friendly), and swimming in the clear, cold waters of the Adriatic Sea.
I totally loved Dubrovnik, it was the perfect place to start our trip.
Favourites:
- Restaurant Kamenice: the Old Town of Dubrovnik is pretty busy and can be overwhelming at times. This restaurant is central, serves great food (seafood and local Dalmatian fare) and is reasonably priced. We had this on recommendation from our hosts!
- Sveti Jakov Beach: about a 15-20 minute walk from the nearest beach to Dubrovnik (owned by EastWest club, which is a two minute walk from the East Gate). We got lost the first time we tried to walk here, but undeterred we tried again the following day and were rewarded wonderfully! This beach is completely perfect.
- Walking the city walls at dusk: it's far too hot and crowded during the day, but perfect as the sun is setting.
- Restaurant Nishta: vegetarian restaurant, in Croatia! Crazy. Funny story, “nishta” means “nothing” in Croatian..but the food here was completely delicious, and I loved the organic blackberry wine.
