Croatia: Dubrovnik
You can get to Dubrovnik from Split either by plane, car, bus or ferry. We decided to take the bus down and the ferry back. Since we were going from Split, in Croatia, to Dubrovnik, in Croatia, I did not grab my passport, leaving it in the safety of the locked safe in our AirBNB, just taking my driver’s license. It turns out, there is a small stretch of coast about an hour north of Dubrovnik where you go through 5 miles of coastline possessed by Bosnia-Herzegovina. Luckily, I was not the only person over the years to not realize there would be a border crossing (in my defense – I double checked the bus ticket info and there was no mention of a border crossing, and you have to look at a larger map of Croatia to see the little stretch- and another woman on the bus was in the same situation as me). Both border agents checked a few things, and off I went (though the experience did cause some uncomfortable knots in my stomach).
John and I had visited Dubrovnik via cruise ship in 2018 with our friends Kelly and Alyssa. Any Game of Thrones fan would recognize many of the locations, since the most of Dubrovnik was transformed into “King’s Landing” from the second season onward (John and I did the GOT tour on the previous trip).
Dubrovnik is one of the only medieval cities with walls you can walk on top of the entire city wall. The views from the wall are amazing, and although expensive (200kuna per person – about $33), and lots of stairs, it is worth doing.
The beauty of the city is wandering its narrow streets. The really interesting bar we saw from the wall…
…was challenging to find from inside – with many dead-end alleys, but we persevered in time for sunset.
The downside of Dubrovnik is the cost – it’s an expensive city where a basic meal in the old town will run well over $50, and public toilets $1. The city card is $40 (250kuna)– and includes the fortress, the wall, public transportation, and multiple museums and galleries (almost all of which are closed on Mondays). Our AirBNB was above the ferry port – and I mean above – up the hill (with a beautiful view).
The most efficient way to reach our lodgings was to climb the stairs that cut between the houses perched along the hill, at least 15-20 flights. Second option was going up the windy road, and the third was an Uber to drive you up the steep narrow streets. As a side note – Uber is 1/8 the cost of a taxi in Dubrovnik (a taxi from the Pile Gate in old town to the ferry port – about 5km/3 miles- is 35E/$40, the Uber from Old Town to our AirBNB, about 4 miles, was $5).
Our first day concentrated on the old town, the second day we spent taking the public buses around the town, which gave us a much better appreciation of the size of the city and its extensive waterways.
The return trip was an uneventful ferry ride (no border crossing). Croatia has many islands, where the main connection is by ferry, so even the “fast” ferry had 5 stops along the way to transport locals and tourists alike.
Back to Split – I’ll discuss Croatian foods on the next post
Croation food burgers pizza chicken wings Gyros