Dubrovnik, Croatia

Welcome to Lauren Getting Lost! I’m so excited to start sharing my adventures and to give you recommendations and tips!

In the summer I went to Dubrovnik in Croatia and I loved it. It was beautiful and had a vast amount of history. In recent years Dubrovnik has definitely become very closely associated to Game of Thrones since they filmed a large portion of their filming there. I’m personally not a Game of Thrones fan but if you are then you will LOVE Dubrovnik. Dubrovnik has so many Game of Thrones tours, sites and shops for you to explore and experience!

Dubrovnik has dramatic shore lines, historical buildings and beautiful sea views. Dubrovnik would be great for history fans because every turn you take in the Old Town you see history. The Old Town was definitely one of the main places I loved on my trip to Dubrovnik.

Below I’m going to say my top tips, my recommendations and some points you may want to consider before booking a trip or consider before arriving.

Top Tips

1. If you want to stay in the Old Town you would be best looking for an apartment rather than a hotel. This is because the Old Town mostly has apartments which are located all around the side streets. I stayed in the Old Town and it was the best decision. It allowed us to have quick walks to pretty much everywhere and to be close to a lively area. Furthermore, we mainly ventured around the Old Town and the Old Town harbour for boat tours so it was perfect for us.

2. If you’re wanting to travel within Dubrovnik have a look at buses because taxis are more costly. We took a journey by bus which was £6 total rather than £25 total in a taxi. Furthermore, most buses lead to the same main destinations so it’s likely you won’t have to wait long.

Recommendations

1. Dubrava Observation Point

The views around Dubrovnik in general are stunning but the views at Dubrava Observation Point are amazing! Dubrava Observation Point overlooks the Old Town and the surrounding sea. The main transportation is by Cable Car. At the top of the cable car is an observation point and the Panorama Restaurant. I wouldn’t say the restaurant is cheap but I wouldn’t say it was any more than our other meals in Dubrovnik (we went for breakfast). However, we almost didn’t go to this view point because of the cost. The costs are below but for an Adult round-trip ticket it was 200.00kn which is around £25. This is for a 4-minute cable car journey each way. In the end we decided to do it and it turned out to be one of the highlights of the trip. I would recommend it IF this is going to be one of your big spends of the trip. If there are other activities you would prefer to do then I recommend you do them instead. An alternative way to reach Dubrava Observation Point is by car. You can travel by Uber but that’s still a lot of money. If I remember correctly at the time it was looking to be around £16 each way. If there’s a large group of you then this may be the way to go.

Ticket types and prices for the cable car are below:

Adult round-trip ticket 200.00 kn

Adult one-way ticket 110.00 kn

Children round-trip ticket (4-12 years) 50.00 kn

Children one-way ticket (4-12 years) 30.00 kn

Children up to 4 years of age 0.00 kn

2. Day Trips

There are so many day trips you can take; I really recommend that you do one if you are able to! I would say definitely look into them beforehand or you might get a little overwhelmed by the quantity of destination choices when you go to the harbour to decide. Personally, I would say go to the Old Town harbour to organise the day trips. I went on 2 trips. One was a 45-minute boat ride to a small town called Cavtat. I loved Cavtat, it was so peaceful especially in comparison to the bustling of Dubrovnik. I also went to an island off Dubrovnik (you can see it on the observation point photo above). This island is called Lokrum Island and it’s a really quick boat journey from the Old Town harbour. It has a variety of activities including restaurants, going swimming in the sea and going to visit the monastery which has a replica of the iron throne (Game of Thrones) that you can sit on. Game of Thrones was filmed on this island. The price of this quick journey was definitely more than you would expect but we were told that this was because Lokrum Island is a nature reserve and you need to pay for a ticket to be allowed on the island. Lokrum Island was beautiful and had a vast amount of nature throughout the island. This includes the many peacocks you will find walking around!

3. Bars

On the main street of the Old Town many bars were still open at 12am and you wouldn’t think it was 12am with the amount of people wandering around. So, if you love chatting to your friends at a bar until the late hours then you will love the night time atmosphere of Old Town Dubrovnik.

4. History

It is incredible how much history there is and if for holidays you love to go to destinations that are surrounded by history then this is the holiday location for you. Some historical sites in Dubrovnik include: Dubrovnik City Walls, Tvrđava Minčeta and Lokrum Island.

5. Restaurant at Old Town harbour (Poklisar Restaurant)

One restaurant that I really recommend that you go to is the restaurant at the Old Town harbour called Poklisar Restaurant. When you go into the Old Town harbour square (where the boat tours are sold) there will appear to be two restaurants. However, both are the same restaurant but each side is slightly different. One side is more formal whereas the other side is more casual serving pizzas. They also have an ice cream section that you can buy from without sitting down. Although the area may seem a little hectic during the day, at night it’s honestly so relaxing, with a great atmosphere and has a live band. You also get a fantastic view of the harbour, boats and sea while you eat.

Extra recommendation: I wasn’t able to do this but I saw kayak tours that went from Dubrovnik to Lokrum Island via kayaks. They looked amazing!

Points To Consider

1. Mobility

There are a lot of steep steps within the Old Town so that really is something to consider when choosing your destination if that could cause any issues for you.

2. Cost

Ok I’m going to be honest (you’ve probably already guessed this)… I found prices in Dubrovnik to be high. Note to self: bring sun cream because in my search for sun cream most of them were £20… (to be fair I was looking in the more tourist areas). Luckily, I finally found one for £9! It wasn’t necessarily the food or transportation which I found expensive. The buses were a good price like I said earlier. But it was the activities which I found to be a lot. For example, for one adult to walk around the Old Town walls (we were told it would take around an hour to complete) it would cost around £31.25… Another example is the round trip on a 4-minute cable car costs around £25 each. This is definitely something you should consider before deciding on your destination.

3. Lack of waterfront restaurants

I love to have drinks or a snack in front of a harbour, beach or sea but I really struggled to find one in Dubrovnik. However, there was one I found in Dubrovnik which I mentioned earlier… you need to go! Another option is to go to Cavtat where they have plenty and they have such a relaxing feel as well.

I hope this information was helpful! Although there are a few points to consider, I really enjoyed Dubrovnik and I feel like there are a variety of activities to do so there should be something for everyone.