A Long Weekend in Dubrovnik, Croatia
A Long Weekend in Dubrovnik, Croatia
After wrapping up my semester in Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina, I headed to Dubrovnik, Croatia with a couple of my classmates, where I spent a couple of days with them before they flew home out of Dubrovnik and I began my solo trip through the Balkans. Dubrovnik was without a doubt a beautiful start to my adventure.
Unfortunately, the trip had to begin with a six and a half hour bus ride, during which we had 3 border crossings. We crossed into Croatia, but then had to pass back through Bosnia to traverse the tiny strip of coast that Bosnia has between two chunks of Croatia. Stupid, but apparently a necessary evil.
After many long hours and several new passport stamps later, we arrived in Dubrovnik. It was at the bus station that someone from our lovely family-run hostel picked us up – for free! We stayed at Hostel Lina, a cute little hostel located in the neighborhood of Gruž, which was about a 25 minute walk from the Old Town. So, not super close, but the price here was much better than the high prices of hostels within the city walls.
Our first night in town, we simply walked into town and grabbed dinner at a restaurant called Pizzeria Skalin because it came recommended on a blog post of budget-friendly restaurants. And that it was not. Kendall and I got sodas and split a pasta dish, and we still probably spend around $16 each. Insanely high prices after the unbelievably low prices of Sarajevo.
The next day, we set out to the Old Town to walk the city walls, one of the most popular tourist attractions in Dubrovnik. A regular entrance ticket to the walls costs 200 kuna, which is about $30. Fortunately for us, student tickets are only 50 kuna, or $7.50.
A view of the ‘Stradun,’ the Old Town’s main (and expensive) thoroughfare
A view from the city walls of Fort Lovrijenac, also known as the Red Keep in Game of Thrones
A view of the marina and a yellow submarine from the city walls
The walls took us about an hour and a half to walk around, with several pauses to take pictures and slow downs in crushes of Asian tourists. The walls are definitely something best done as early as possible to avoid crowds and the heat. The views were gorgeous, though, so I understand why the walls are popular.
After heading back down to ground level, we ventured to the beach. Banje Beach came recommended on a lot of blog posts, so we went there and were not disappointed. The water was crystal clear (although freezing cold), and we were able to lay out on towels and relax in the sun for a couple of hours.
The crystal clear water of Banje Beach
Once we were well rested from beach naps and our skin was warmed by the sun, we meandered around the narrow streets of the Old Town. We ended up by accident at Buža Bar, which translates to Hole Bar. This name is fitting because it is basically a hole carved into the cliff where you can sit and enjoy a drink and views of the Adriatic.
The atmosphere is nice, but makes the drink prices ridiculous bordering on absurd. Aliyah and I paid close to $6 for a tiny bottled smoothie, and Kendall paid over $7 for a Strongbow Cider. If I did it again, I’d bring my own drink and go down the the platforms they have where you can perch on the cliff to see the view. You don’t get a seat, but you’ll also save a lot of money.
The ridiculously priced smoothie that I drank at Buža Bar
Once all my tears over overpriced drinks had dried (kidding), we continued to wander around the Old Town. We followed a huge black lab that hung out with us in the bar through the alleys. No one seemed to know who he belonged to, so we adopted him for a bit and dubbed him ‘ćevapi,’ or sausage in Croatian. After a while, a guy came up and greeting the dog, calling him Beethoven and saying it was his friend’s dog. He said that he was probably leading us to his mom’s house where the dog likes to beg for food.
It was then that we parted with our new friend Beethoven (I thought he looked much more like a Ćevapi than a Beethoven) and set out to find dinner. We ended up at a restaurant called Mama’s Pot Tavern, that was much more reasonably priced than our restaurant the night before. I had a pasta dish of my own – seafood spaghetti- and a coke that cost around $11. Aliyah had delicious looking calamari and Kendall had a veggie risotto. It was a better meal than the night before, but I still wasn’t blown away by the food choices in Dubrovnik.
Seafood spaghetti at Mama’s Pot Tavern
Walking back to the hostel with the girls on their last night
The view of the sunset from right by our hostel
We spent the rest of the night back at the hostel pretending that they didn’t have to leave the next morning. When the time finally came the next day, it was really hard to say goodbye to the girls. I won’t see Aliyah until January, when she joins me in China. And as for Kendall, I won’t see her for school again until January of 2021, when we are starting our final semester in Brooklyn. She is probably going to be visiting me in Charlotte this summer, but that reassurance didn’t make it any easier to say goodbye to my closest friend in the program that I had lived with all semester.
Before we got to Dubrovnik, I booked a three hour kayaking tour for that day to help me forget about missing my friends a bit. My intentions were good, but pouring rain caused my tour to be canceled, so instead I watched Netflix in bed until early afternoon, when I forced myself to get up and do something, not wanting to waste my precious time in Croatia. So, I set out to visit the Homeland War Museum of Dubrovnik that details the war that took place there from 1991-1995.
That museum is kind of tricky to get to because it is located up on Mount Srd, high above the city. Usually there is a cable car running to the top, but it happened to be closed. With no cable car option available, I decided to hike. There is a zigzagging path up the mountain that took me about an hour and fifteen minutes to climb.
One of Dubrovnik’s many stairways that I took to get to the start of the trail up to Mount Srd
The path up to Mount Srd
Fortunately, the view of the city from above was stunning and made the climb worth it. Unfortunately, the museum left a bit to be desired. It only cost 15 kuna for students, which is about $2.25, but it was mostly filled with posters with long paragraphs of information. It was a lot to read and not a lot to look at, with very few items and photos being displayed. It’s an important piece of history to learn about, but I didn’t feel that the museum did a solid job of imparting the information.
One of the rooms in the Homeland War Museum
The view from Fort Imperial (where the museum is housed) at the top of Mount Srd
Although I was slightly disappointed by the museum, the climb overall was worth it, as was the trek back down, all due to the view. Once I reached the bottom of the twisting path again, I made my way back to the Old Town for dinner. I found a lot of recommendations for a little seafood joint called Barba, so I decided to check it out. They are praised online for their signature octopus burger, but I chickened out and got the tuna burger. Regrets. The burger was good, but was just a thin, fried tuna patty with some sauce and tomatoes. I can’t help but wonder what the octopus burger is like. Oh, what could have been.
My tuna burger at Barba in the Old Town of Dubrovnik
That slightly disappointing meal pretty much marked the end of my time in Dubrovnik. After dinner, I made my way back to the hostel, where I crashed and then woke in the morning to catch my bus to Kotor, Montenegro.
Overall, Dubrovnik didn’t blow me away. Is it beautiful? Without a doubt. But it has also been completely taken over by tourism, and not in a great way. Things are incredibly overpriced compared to the rest of the region and even the country of Croatia, and even with all of the touristy stuff available, I still found myself struggling to fill three days there. Yes, if I had a lot more money, there is a lot more I could do. It may also help if I was super into Game of Thrones, because it seems like every storefront is selling something related to the show. I don’t know how to describe it, except to say that it wasn’t my favorite. I’m not saying count it out, I’m just saying maybe it’s overhyped.
Fortunately, my next stop, Kotor, was absolutely incredible and blew Dubrovnik out of the water. Blog post about Montenegro coming soon!