Switching back from train travel to air travel, I was landing in Dubrovnik after a 45-minute flight from Zagreb. The airport is about 30 minutes from the Old Town, and driving in, you get some amazing views from the road along the coast. Zagreb is all inland, no water in sight, and Dubrovnik is the exact opposite. All you see is glistening blue water and sunshine.
I was staying in the Lapad area, which is about a 15-minute bus ride to the Old Town. I wondered if I would regret not staying in the Old Town, but I quickly realized that the Lapad area worked perfectly for me. A local told me, I’m a “Lapad girl,” and he was right. My Airbnb was just around the corner from the Lapad promenade, where you can always find live music, food and drinks. Oh and of course all the while, you can stare off into the ocean – there’s that bit too. During the day, as you walk down the promenade and up the incline, there are areas where you can also jump off for a swim to cool down.
Comparatively, the Old Town is really tourist central. And all the cruise ships that dock in Dubrovnik bring the passengers through like cattle. It’s quite a sight. Don’t get me wrong, Old Town is still beautiful, but you have to know where to go to find the quiet spots. Otherwise, you may be trampled by umbrella-following tourists. Old Town is basically a labyrinth of streets with layers of stairs, encircled by the walls. Some days, I found myself walking through the Old Town thinking, “Stairs, no problem,” and other days, after the blistering heat, I would look up at the stairs, sigh, turn around and walk toward a bus. Yeah, sometimes I had to cheat.
One of my favorite places in Dubrovnik, though, was the medieval City Walls surrounding Old Town. In reading about the walls, I knew that there wasn’t much shade up there, it was everyone’s must-see city attraction and it would take about one to two hours to walk the whole thing. So I waited until late afternoon, when most of the crowds would be finished, and went up toward the back, near the harbor. There was barely anybody around – success! From the walls, the views of the ships and the islands really are phenomenal, and the views constantly change as you walk the entire perimeter. Once you get to the side of the walls that’s opposite the harbor and closer to the main gate, you get a bird’s-eye view of the shimmering, main drag, Stradun. Look down, and let your eyes follow the reflection of the limestone street up to Orlando’s Column and toward the harbor. The almost mirror reflection is especially pronounced after sunset, when the yellow glows from the storefronts shimmer off the streets.
As I kept walking around, I could also see the roofs that had been impacted by the Yugoslav People’s Army’s bombing of Dubrovnik beginning in 1991. The more brightly colored roof tiles signaled rebuilt roofs, while the more faded orange tiles were the ones left standing. It’s obvious few buildings were left unscathed. Keep walking and it’s a bit like the movie “Rear Window,” where you have plain sight right into people's living rooms. I could see a host giving instructions about the city to their guest by pointing out places on a tourist map. You can also see everyone’s laundry hanging out to dry, no secrets there. Who’s got boxers, who’s got briefs, lacy, cotton – everything is just hanging peacefully on the clotheslines outside the windows. Doing my own laundry at one of my Airbnbs, this was something I had to get used to, especially when I was three floors up. I thought, “If I fumble my clothes on the line outside the bedroom window, they are just going to drop down three flights of stairs … Oh the pressure – I’m not very coordinated!
Finally, as I was concluding my circle of the walls, I came across a couple bars that served ice cream and drinks – a great chance to take a break and sit somewhere to take it all in. Plus, the bars are on the side closer to the harbor, so you get really great water views. While gaping over the wall and taking pictures, I ended up meeting a lovely local fellow to have some nice conversation with. Again, it’s amazing the people you meet on adventures.
Two other key highlights of Dubrovnik I really want to note were Mount Srd at sunset and SUP (stand-up paddle boarding) in Zaton Bay. At Mount Srd, I took the cable car up, and as soon as the doors opened, I beelined it to the Panorama Restaurant to see if I could get a table for dinner at sunset. I thought, “Wow, I’m really pushing my luck here. This is definitely a place where reservations are recommended.” But I beat the crowd up and was super lucky to be seated at one of their last available tables. Before I even had a drink in hand, the manager came by and moved me to a different table in the reserved section with even better views! Hot damn! The views and colors of the sunset over Old Town and the islands were so rich with orange, red and yellow hues contrasting with the blue sky above and deep dark blue of the ocean. It was really perfect. I had actually planned to walk back down to Old Town, instead of the taking the cable car, but quickly realized that was a stupid idea in the complete darkness. So I went around to the cable car, and saw the line wrapped out of the building, as everyone was leaving at the same time. I scratched that and ordered an Uber.
Finally, Zaton Bay and my love of SUP. Located less than 30 minutes from the Old Town, it’s a great place to paddle board. I considered renting a SUP in Dubrovnik, but getting the board down to the water could have proved challenging, and the waves out there can be a bit tougher. For Zaton Bay, I was able to tag along with a kayak group from Adriatic Kayak Tours. Their departure location is off the water, so I didn’t have to worry about hiking around with the board. Plus, the bay is really calm. I plopped my items in my dry bag, tied it to my board and paddled away as the kayak group was still getting out all their kayaks. I spent a few hours paddling around. Closer to the mouth of the ocean, the waves really picked up, so that was more of a sit-and-paddle area until I could get back toward the interior of the bay. By the time I was making my way back, the heat had really picked up with the early afternoon, and I was starting to bake. So I peeled off the shorts and tee that I was wearing over my bathing suit so as not to fry my skin, plopped those in the dry bag and then jumped into the water. Damn, it felt so good and refreshing. If I had more days in Dubrovnik, I would have gone back and done that again … and again ... rinse and repeat!
