After staying in Dubrovnik for a week, I decided to covers top things to do in this Medieval town. This post offers a comprehensive 3 days itinerary that, to my opinion, lets visitor better understand the history and culture of the place in the limited time. Dubrovnik is famous not only being an inspiration place for Game of Thrones, but for a special place in the history of the region
I should mention that we traveled here during covid-19, which means no tourist’s crowds, no time wasting in the lines, and cheaper prices. Knowing that Dubrovnik is one of the most popular destinations in the Dalmatia, we were lucky to see the town at its natural pace with empty streets and mostly local people going with their day. If you are coming during tourist peak season, expect to see sea of people. Without further adu, let’s jump right into things to see in the magical “pearl of Adriatic”.
Day 1, Old town
Old town worth spending 2 out of 3 days. A visitor could see all landmarks in a day, but that would be hellova long day filled with sweat, exhaustion, historic names, facts, and dates which will make a porridge of information in anyone’s head. So, I would highly recommend plan visiting this place several times. Must see places in the town would be:
City walls. Most tourist walk the city walls for stunning views and instagramable pictures. There is not much information along the wall, so I would suggest reading about it in advance. Fascinating views out to the sea and in to the town, perfect picture opportunities (on the way there is a school with nonchalant looking students seen through wide open windows) and the wind breeze of 15th century. Do not waste your time at Lovrjenac fort, there is nothing special in it, besides the views and an interesting fact that it has very thin wall facing the city (compared to the walls facing the open sea) built such, that commander of the fort won’t be seduced to mutiny and attack the city.
Rector’s palace. Highly recommend dedicating at least an hour here as it holds wide array of artifacts including art, coins, and bunch of historic items. They sell tickets that include several other entries to different museums, which sprinkled inside the town (my suggestion is Maritime museum only). Natural History museum is great for families with kids.
Apothecary at Franciscan monastery. The word apothecary means pharmacy and the one in Dubrovnik Old Town is home to the third oldest operating pharmacy in Europe. It is hidden inside a 14th-century Franciscan monastery. The place is super small, literally one room filled with religious and medical artifacts. There is not much information inside. But what what caught my eyes was the garden inside.
Funicular. I recommend not taking the funicular, it seemed to me that $25 ticket is too steep of price for couple of bird view pictures of old town, same pictures can be taken if visitor simply drive up the mountain.
Day 2, a tour to one of the islands
I suggest spending second day in the Old Town as well, like I mentioned before. There are ton of museums and exhibitions to attend, but to get the prospective of the surrounding area I suggest taking a tour to visit one or more islands. I wouldn’t recommend the one we’ve taken (3 islands, Blue Cove, lunch and drinks included), although it still was nice to see nearby islands and spend the day relaxing at sea.
Day 3, trip to Bosnia and Herzegovina
On the 3rd day I recommend checking out the neighboring country. Trebinje, is a small town in Bosnia and Herzegovina. It has its unique, quiet, small Balkan town vibe. We never made it there thanks to strict covid-19 custom requirements at the border. But after researching online, I think it’s a great idea to visit Trebinje just to have a perspective of different cultures in such close proximity. Signs in Cyrillic alphabet, mosque left by Ottomans, photogenic bridge and Old Town will capture and captivate your hungry tourist eyes.
That is, it! You’ve arrived to the end of the article, and I truly believe if you’ve covered these three points you learned a lot and understand ubiquities history of this region!!!
