What to do in Dubrovnik Croatia

Things to do in Dubrovnik Croatia

When you are holidaying in Dubrovnik Croatia, the two must visits are the Dubrovnik Old Town and the Dubrovnik City Walls . It is best to visit Dubrovnik old town early and before the cruise ships arrive. It is reported that in 2012, over one million passengers visited Dubrovnik Croatia by cruise ship. A convenient starting place for your walk through the Dubrovnik Old Town is via the Pile Gate. Once you enter the Pile gate, you will be welcomed by this famous pedestrian only street known as Placa or the Stradun. The street is around 300 meters long and there are cafes, restaurants and shops lining the street. We actually had our breakfast at a bakery located in Placa. The breads and pastries were rather delicious. While there, take your time to explore the uniquely uniform designed buildings lining the Placa. Paying attention to the limestone paved Pedestrian Street as well.

On the other end of the street, you will see the City Cathedral, the Church of St. Blaise, the Sponza Palace (the city archive), the Rector’s Palace, the bell towers and the Orlando’s Column.  Once you complete this unavoidable sightseeing route for every visitor to Dubrovnik, you can explore the maze of narrow city streets which most visitors tend not to put much attention to. The narrow streets are filled with restaurants and small shops, perfect places to nurse your tired legs after long hours of stairs climbing and walking.

Dubrovnik Old Town

Dubrovnik City Walls

Another must do when you visit Dubrovnik is to walk the city walls. The Dubrovnik city walls are a series of defensive stone walls surrounding the city of Dubrovnik in southern Croatia. In 1979, the old city of Dubrovnik, which includes a substantial portion of the old walls of Dubrovnik, joined the UNESCO list of World Heritage Sites. The main wall on the landside is 4 metres (13 ft) to 6 metres (20 ft) thick, and, at certain locations, the walls reach up to 25 meters (80 feet) in height. (Wikipedia)

The best time to walk the Dubrovnik city walls is early morning or evening. Definitely not suitable to walk the walls in the afternoon because it will be unbearably hot. We almost died of heat but luckily there are shops selling ice cream to help us take some steam away. The walk takes roughly about 2 hours to complete. Do remember to bring bottled water and wear comfortable walking shoes. You need them!. However, don’t be put off by the thousands of steps you need to climb. The spectacular view of the Dubrovnik city from the Dubrovnik city walls and the view of the Adriatic Sea are all worth it.

The main entrance to Dubrovnik city walls is right outside of Pile Gate. The ticket price now (2017) is 150 Kuna. The price will increase again because the number of visitors to the city walls has been increasing exponentially. Last August in one day alone, 10,388 visitors bought tickets to walk Dubrovnik City Walls.