Old town DubRovnik

note to self: no wheely luggage.

After a flight from Florence, a 30 min car ride from the airport, dragging our luggage halfway through a small cobblestoned town & up 2 flights of stairs of an AirBNB, we arrived in Old Town Dubrovnik! Granted, Conor & his brothers handled most of our luggage up the stairs, and we were on a multi legged international trip… but if I were to do Croatia again, I would only backpack. The reason we had to drag our checked bags though, was because there are no cars allowed inside of the city walls.

Nonetheless, we made it! Luckily it was in the afternoon, because over the next few days we would quickly learn that Dubrovnik in July, could easily hit the mid 90s (Fahrenheit).

After settling in to our AirBNB, we headed down to Stradum. It’s the main artery that runs through the middle of Old Town Dubrovnik. We sat ourselves outdoors for a quick snack & drinks, as we people watched and watched the sun set down the main walkway.

As the night fell to darkness, we wandered through the many tiny streets of Old Town, in search of a real dinner. With the weather so perfect, we sat ourselves outside again & I was able to enjoy a black squid ink risotto with muscles.

The next morning, we split up in three groups and all kind of did our own thing.

Conor’s parents headed out early to explore the city wall, while his brothers check out the hole-in-the-wall waterside bar we found late last night. Conor & I were off in search of breakfast (for me) & to explore upper hills of Old Town Dubrovnik.

Being on a hill, there are a lot of great views within the walls. Along every tiny alley you’ll find delicious restaurants & desserts to try. We ended up having somewhat of lazy/relaxing recovery day. Eventually we all met up for a waterside dinner outside of the city walls.

finally we ended the night with some refreshing ice cream at Peppino’s. it wouldn’t be my only visit though. as temps rose the next few days, peppino’s was my lifeline!

walking the wall

The next morning, we all headed out together for an early breakfast & then up the walls of Old Town before the temperatures really rose. If you thought the views from yesterdays hills were beautiful, I would highly recommend a walk along the wall. You’ll be able to get beautiful 360 degree views from all around Old Town Dubrovnik. (Of course the hills are free.)

For a small fee, you can gain access to one of the the stairways that lead to the wall walk. I would leave about an hour or so to do this. Even though Old Town Dubrovnik is pretty small, it is quite a walk. Plus I highly doubt you’ll be able to do this walk without stopping and taking pictures.

I would also recommend doing what we did, which was doing an early walk. Dubrovnik gets pretty hot, especially between noon and 3pm. If you burn easily like my boyfriend, take into account sunscreen & the fact that there is barely any shade on the wall.

For an even better view of the waters, step outside of the city walls of old town & take the gondola up!

See that walled in city down below? That’s Old Town Dubrovnik! For a much less strenuous workout/view, I recommend heading outside of the city walls, and taking the gondola up about an hour before sunset. Keep in mind that there is a queue to getting on the gondola, so give yourself enough time so you don’t miss the sunset at the multiple viewpoints up top.

And lastly, I would recommend a small boat ride around the waters surrounding Old Town. At least that’s what we did in our final hours there, before heading north on a ferry to Split. It’s a great way to take a break from the heat, feel the ocean breeze & see the scenery. - JEN