Our flight this time was thankfully, out of Shannon, which, as we’ve mentioned before, is a short drive from home. Unfortunately, on this occasion, our flight was delayed by almost three hours, so the time saving we made, was pretty much completely negated, which was frustrating to say the least. While at the airport, I was keeping in touch with our host in Dubrovnik who said not to worry, just to let them know when we’re on our way.
We finally took flight and three and a half hours later, we landed into Dubrovnik at about 12:30am. Once through security, we arranged transport and at about 1:30 in the morning, we arrived at our accommodation. Our host was there to meet us and as it was late, she gave us the key and a very quick tour of our apartment. At this point, all that was left to do was hit the hay, after all, it had been a much longer day than planned.
The following morning, we got up and had, what can be best described as, first breakfast, which consisted of some toast and tea. After, we put a rough plan in place as to what we would get up to and hit the road in search of ‘second’ brekkie. Well we did have a plan, we headed towards the Hotel Excelsior, got seated outside and ordered second brekkie. I went with the benny and C opted for the omelette, both were decent and the service was pretty good. However, the view was fantastic and the weather was amazing.
Once full, we took a leisurely stroll into the centre of Dubrovnik towards the Old Town, which for the most part, is the major attraction. Once of the ‘must do’s is to walk the walls, basically, the Old Town is a large fortress and walking the walls is the done thing. It’s a tad pricey, I believe we paid €40 each just to walk around the upper part of the Old Town. There’s a one-way system in place and thankfully, while it was busy, it did not feel overcrowded. As you walk the entire length of the walls, it does offer nice viewpoints along the way, there are also some places to grab a bite to eat, have a drink, or pick up a souvenir.
Depending on your mood, you could just rush through the entire thing in less than an hour, but we were in no rush and made a few stops along the way to admire the views and grab a drink. Overall, it took us just over three hours to circumnavigate the entire thing which we did at a pretty relaxed pace. Once down from the walls, we set about grabbing a late lunch, there are dozens of options to grab a bite to eat and we picked a place called Proto Fish. C went with the quinoa salad and I went with the hake, both were pretty decent and the lone waiter on duty was very friendly.
After lunch, we visited a small museum dedicated to the Croatian War of Independence. There was not a lot there and it really just consisted of two rooms giving a very brief history of that time as well as some video footage showing what it was like, as well as a memorandum wall with all of the fallen.
Once done, we hopped on a bus to head back to our apartment to rest up as we had dinner booked for later that evening. Once back at our apartment, the lady of the house was there to meet us and insisted we have a drink of her homemade spirit, which she made with the cherries she grows in her garden, it was very tasty.
As evening was drawing in, we got ready for dinner and got the bus back into the Old Town. We had booked Restaurant 360, which is the only Michelin star restaurant in Dubrovnik. The restaurant has a really nice location overlooking the marina and as it is on a height, it is not surrounded by a lot of the other tourist restaurants that are scattered around. We were seated outside as it was a very pleasant evening. As always, I will let the photos do the talking.
To be fair, we did not have very high expectations as fine dining is something you don’t really associate with Croatia, however, we were pleasantly surprised – the food was excellent as was the service. Every dish was very well presented and tasty and add the fantastic view, it made for a very enjoyable dining experience. Once done, we hopped in a taxi and headed back to the apartment for a good night’s sleep.
The following morning, we had breakfast at the apartment and then made our way back into the Old Town. We visited another museum which again was very small, it was more of an art gallery than museum but it did have a few bits to read over. After we grabbed a coffee in one of the nearby restaurants. If you have heard that prices in Dubrovnik are expensive, you would be right, €7 for one coffee J
Our next plan was to hop on a ferry and visit the nearby Lokrum island. Given the close proximity of the island to the mainland, it’s a busy service but the ferry leaves every 40 minutes, so you’re probably not going to have to wait too long to hop on. The crossing took about 15 minutes. The island is very pleasant and given the amount of greenery, it did not feel as warm as the mainland. There are dozens of swimming spots and a few marked walks that you can undertake, but none are too long or taxing. Food and drinks are limited to one restaurant, one coffee stand and a small shop selling ice cream, soft drinks and some souvenirs.
After wandering around for a bit, we decided to grab lunch in the restaurant. As the weather was so good we sat outside, C went with the chicken and chips and I had the burger, the food was as expected, nothing special but did the trick. After we were done, we went on one of the walking trail which was very pleasant and had some nice views as we walked around. All in all, we spend the best part of four hours on the island which was plenty of time to see the few sights, grab lunch and enjoy a walk.
Once back on the mainland, we headed back to the apartment to rest up for a bit before going back in again, this time to meet some friends who happened to be visiting the same time we were. We met up with our chums and as we did not have any dinner reservations, we picked one of the restaurants that was right beside the harbour. As it was a nice evening, we sat outside and enjoyed a few drinks. For food, we all shared a pizza and some chicken salad. We had a few more drinks before saying goodbye to our chums and headed back to our apartment.
The following morning, we had breakfast at the apartment and all that was left to do was pack up. We said goodbye to our fantastic host and made our way back into the centre again. As we had some time to pass before our flight home, we took the cable car to the top of Srd Hill. Once up at top, we wandered around for a bit before grabbing some cake and coffee in the restaurant. Although the weather was a bit overcast, it still offered some nice views to the city below. After our snack, we got the cable car back down and had a quick look around some of the shops in the Old Town and grabbed some lunch before we hopped in a taxi and made our way back to the airport.
Overall, we had a very nice time in Dubrovnik, the weather was great, we had some amazing food at Restaurant 360 and we got to meet up with some friends. Yes, it does get a bit crowded during the day with all the tour buses and cruise ships but thankfully, while still busy, the late evenings are a bit more relaxing.
We look forward to a return visit to Croatia,
Until next time,
Bye for now,
C&J
cjfoodandtravel 