Dubrovnik, Croatia – The Old Walled City

After hearing so much about Croatia, I decided early on in my trip that I had to spend some time in this country. I started things out in Dubrovnik, Croatia which is known for its old walled city along the Adriatic coast that makes up part of the city. I flew in from Istanbul very early in the morning and arrived around 6AM just as the sun was rising over the mountains in Dubrovnik. The hostel I booked was actually all the way up at the top of hill overlooking Dubrovnik and was quite a hike since I was dropped off by bus at the bottom by the coast.

View up on the hill from the villa

Checking into this hostel was an experience as well since it really wasn’t a hostel at all and was actually a villa that a family lived in and was owned and run by a lady named Dolores who really didn’t speak any English at all. Wait, I take it back… she knew four words: ‘passport’, ‘money’, and ‘one moment’. All other communication was a glorious challenge of hand gestures, pointing and misunderstandings.

“Mama D-Lo”

Staying there was both interesting and fun and by the time I left D-Lo and I were like two peas in a pod…

Touring the town of the old walled city was fun too but was absolutely flooded with tourists. Most were not planning a stay in the town. There were thousands of tourists that would arrive by boat as part of cruise offers that they had taken advantage of and their stop over would last for just the day in Dubrovnik. I couldn’t blame them however… I’d love to be able to journey by boat through the Adriatic Sea, stopping in to Dubrovnik along the way.

The old walled city of Dubrovnik

Although Dubrovnik was founded in the 7th Century, the old walled city actually dates back to the 13th century when it was completed and it has remained virtually unchanged since then. It was damaged by the Serbs during the war in the 1990’s but restoration was quickly done especially after it became one of the UNESCO world heritage sites.

From the atop the walls of Dubrovnik looking north along the Adriatic coast

Since there were so many tourists running around I decided to spend some time in a local war museum that touched on the wars that had gone on in Croatia, Bosnia, Slovenia as well as the more recent uprisings in Egypt, Tunisia and Libya. It was quite an eye opener to see all the various conflicts documented between these countries in such great detail. Just from spending my time here in Croatia and talking with locals, it is very hard to believe this country was at war just fifteen years ago.

Overlooking the center of old Dubrovnik from atop the town walls

After the museum, I decided to do a walk around the city walls which gives some of the best views within the old city itself however the best view in my opinion of the entire walled city is from Fort Lovrijenca which rests just across the water from the city. The panoramic view of Dubrovnik above was taken from Fort Lovrijenca.

On top of Fort Lovrijenca

My second day there I decided to find a good swim spot, not just to avoid the thousands of tourists in the city but also because Dubrovnik

View from Fort Lovijenca

was surprisingly hotter than I thought it would be, especially since it sits on the coast. After searching some various beaches, I came across this spot which was not only somewhat secluded but also had a cave you could swim in.

My swim spot for the day

After a few hours there, I began the hike back up to my villa as this would be the end to my visit here. The photo below was a shot of the sunset I had once I reached the top of the hill right outside of where I was staying. I would have to say its probably the best sunset I’ve seen so far during my travels…

View from my villa at sunset