Dubrovnik, Croatia ~ A la Hello965
‘This post is after my visit to Dubrovnik in 2012’
Dubrovnik Dubrovnik, Oh Dubrovnik.
No matter what I say about Croatia, I don’t think I’d give it justice. I’ll leave it to you, to see and judge.
How to get there.
.. By Plane
> Dubrovnik Airport is located about 20 km to the south of the city. www.Airport-Dubrovnik.hr
> Hello965 Tip: we recommend to fly from a nearby country like Spain, England, France (as part of a multi-country trip). For example, go to Barcelona and from Barcelona to Dubrovnik/Split.
> Flight Options: Iberia, BA, Lufthansa, Vueling.
.. By Car
If you’re going to Dubrovnik from Split, the trip along the coastal road (Jadranska Magistrala or D8) is a beautiful scenic journey through small, quaint village and other tourist destinations. Split to Dubrovnik takes about 3,5 to 4 hours drive.
.. By Boat
Im not quite sure which cruises go to Dubrovnik but I’d say check Royal Caribbean.
Sleep.
We highly recommend to stay as close to Old Town as possible, but dont stay inside Old Town, as the place can be noisy and crowded by tourists, Pile region is ideal place to stay in Dubrovnik, as it is right next to Old Town and within a walking distance to the city center.
Apartment and Villa renting is very popular inside Dubrovnik (Feel free to contact us to learn more on this). Hotels, specially high stars rated, can be pretty far from the city center and will require to take a shuttle/cab to get to where you want.
On another note, during one of our Dubrovnik trips, we stayed at a resort called Importanne Resort – Hotel Neptun Dubrovnik. We were a group of 8 people, took 2 rooms (super spacious, beautiful with an amazing big terrace) for 6 nights. Almost all our mornings were spent at the hotel’s, or at the hotel’s pool. There is no sandy beach, cause it’s on a cliff (The highest hotel in Dubrovnik, stunning panorama of the sea). The hotel is 3.8 km away from old town.
Another recommended hotel in Dubrovnik is The Radisson Blu Resort & Spa, you can find it on booking.com.
Things to do.
- Old town.
- Roland’s Column
- Bell Tower
- Sponza Palace
- Rector’s Palace
- Placa Stradun (main street of the city)
- Pile Gate
- Big Onofrio´s Fountain
- Old Port
- Aquarium
- City Walls – Walk on the walls around the old town, great views. It is highly recommended to visit the walls during the early morning hours or the late afternoon hours during mid-summer months as it can become hot
- Minceta Fort – known to be one of the most beautiful cultural attractions in Dubrovnik
- St. John’s Fort
- Bokar Fort
- Spend the day touring the city’s rich religious and cultural history. Visit the large Onofrio Fountain, the Franciscan Monastery, and the Rectors’ Palace
- There are many tours you could take, depends on your interest
- Game of Thrones fans, you could do a Game of Thrones walking tour. Not only this tour covers the locations of which the show shot its scenes, but also it covers the entire Old Town and City Wall, informing you about the history of Dubrovnik and the TV show itself
- Biking Tour, if you like cycling, you will love biking in Dubrovnik. Tours take you to the country side of the city and nearby towns
- Day trips to Bosnia, Montenegro, Split and others. Keep your passport handy when you’re crossing borders
- Enjoy a cable car ride to Srd Hill for spectacular views of Dubrovnik Old Town and its entire Riviera
- Arrange either by yourself, or with the hotel concierge for a Kayaking tour. You can kayak to one of the nearby islands and spend your day at one of the “secret beaches”
- Safari (ATV, or Horseback riding) Be sure to bring with you a light rain coat and a decent pair of shoes!
- Snorkeling
- Kayaking
- Banje Beach or other beaches within beach clubs
Eat.
High-end
Proto (Fish & Seafood)
Nautika (Classic and modern cuisine)
Restaurant 360 (Mediterranean flavors but is also grounded in classic French gastronomy)Orsan
Vegeterian
Nishta
Traditional Croatian Food
Villa Ruža
Restaurant Dubrovnik
Gusta Me
Levanat (Seafood)
Kamenice
Poklisar
Sushi
BOTA ŠARE
Other Information.
– VISA: For you to enter Croatia, you need either 1) a Croatian visa or 2) a Schengen – There has been some debate whether a Schengen gets you into Croatia or not. For us, our two visits to Croatia were one in August 2012 and second in late June 2014, both with Schengen visas. In order for you to do so, I believe you need to enter a Schengen visa country (Spain, Paris , etc..) and then fly to Croatia.
Having said that, please contact or email a consulate or the embassy to make sure this is still the case. In Kuwait, there is neither a consulate nor an embassy. The nearest one is in Cairo, Egypt.
– Local Currency: The Kuna (HRK) is the official currency of Croatia. Banks are the only place you can change Kuna back into hard currency. You can get a cash advance on your credit card at banks throughout the country, though Visa® credit cards are not accepted by all banks
– Travel applications that won’t work in Dubrovnik: Yelp!
– The area code is 020.
– Yacht charter website: http://www.croatiacharter.com/
– Taxi and transportation services: http://www.taxiservicedubrovnik.com/
– Best time to visit: Naturally, you want to check Croatia’s weather and climate before you plan a trip. This is what CroatiaTraveller says:
Any recommendations for a short 5 hours visit , I will be there in 2 weeks as part of a royal Caribbean cruise, and all the shore excursions offered by the ship don’t look interesting enough .
Hey Maged,
5 hours isn’t a whole lot of time to do some one fun activities. But I highly recommend to check out Old Town and take a walk on the ancient city walls. You will enjoy what you will see in Old Town and will find the place very interesting and worth the visit.
If you’re up a bite, check out the restaurants we recommended in the post, Croatian food is very omnomnlicious.
Hope this helps 🙂