The last of summer in Dubrovnik

Nov 18

Nov 18 The last of summer in Dubrovnik

The view from the Dubrovnik Old Town walls

At the end of September, we jetted off to Dubrovnik, Croatia for a long weekend. Some friends of ours planned the trip, so we didn’t need to do much coordination, which was a change for us. We stayed in the most perfect AirBnB right outside the city walls, Apartment MORE. The view from our apartment was amazing and it was so easy to get around but aside from the amazing location, the hosts were also lovely. There are only three apartments in the block and they share a lovely pool with an even better view of the city walls and across the water.

The stunning view from the Apartment MORE pool

I had an early morning flight out of Gatwick and arrived in Dubrovnik around 8am. After checking into our AirBnB, we went for an impromptu walk around the city. The sun was shining and it really was the perfect last taste of summer. We had a seafood feast for lunch at Barba, a cute ‘hole-in-the-wall’ type restaurant in the Old Town, known for its octopus burger. On the first evening, we went up Mount Srd to take in the beautiful view as the sun went down. We had dinner at Restaurant Panorama, which despite being an obvious tourist location, had lovely food, a nice atmosphere and, of course, a panoramic view down the hill and over the Old Town.

On our second day, we ventured back into the Old Town and this time walked up the city walls. The views are spectacular wherever your head turns; it really is easy to understand why Dubrovnik gets so many tourists. We were lucky that the tourist numbers were a lot lower than pre-pandemic levels, which I suspect is due to a lower number of cruise ships. Still, the city felt alive and buzzing. The first section of the walk along the North Walls was one of my favourites, as well as the halfway point along the walk on the west side, where we were treated to a stunning view across Kolorina and Dubrovnik West Harbour, looking towards Lovrijenak.

The view from the North Walls of the Old Town

We had dinner at the Michelin starred Restaurant 360. The food was delicious, and like almost everywhere in Dubrovnik, the view was stunning. We were treated to an amazing evening with not only multiple courses, but also additional appetizers and desserts.

One of many delicious courses at Restaurant 360

Our final full day was spent on a speedboat tour, stopping at blue caves on the Elafiti Islands. Our guide, Toni, was very friendly and planned the tour to set off early, which meant we arrived at the caves before the other boats and had an unspolit experience. We visited the Blue Cave on the south side of Kolocep, and another set of small caves, before heading on to Sunj Beach on Lopud Island. Unfortunately, this turned out to be the coolest day that we were there, but it was still lovely to get out on crystal clear water and see the stunning caves.

Finally, we explored Lovrijenak, an old fortress built in the 16th century that sits just outside the Old Town. The fort has a magnificent view across the Old Town as well as over the sea. There isn’t a lot in the fort itself, but it’s a nice place to climb up the top for the view.

And that concluded our quick getaway to Dubrovnik. It was a great spot to get some much-needed sun, take in the beautiful scenery, and enjoy delicious food.