As Croatia’s most popular city,
Dubrovnik is filled with tourists and overpriced food. That’s not to say you can’t enjoy it, just be sure to wake up early to do your exploring. One of my favorite things, and painful things, is to wake up at sunrise to explore my new quarters. You’ll be able to see the city all to yourself with empty streets. You get a glimpse of what it was like living there thousands of years ago. Plus, if you’re a content creator, you’ll also get the best photos.
If you’re coming to stay for well over a week and work,
I suggest finding lodging outside of the Old Town and taking trips into the Old Town instead. There are far too many souvenir shops over supermarkets, wifi cafes, pharmacies, and other day-to-day living essentials. Wherever you choose to stay, you can still find a quiet place to work. For instance, the Hilton Imperial Dubrovnik that has beautiful air conditioned lobbies, high speed internet, and great coffee.
Tip: In most countries you will always be able to find a chain hotel that has open lobby space, a cafe, and fast internet for you to use. Just be sure to order something and add a tip.
The main attraction of Dubrovnik is the ancient city walls.
It’s full of intricate forts, bastions, casemates towers and beautiful ocean views. Start by climbing the stairs above the Pile Gate, pass the Bokar Fortress and St John’s Fortress, continue to the Ploce Gate and climb until you reach the Minceta Fortress, the highest point of the walls. On this 2km / 1.2 mile loop be sure to take in 360° magnificent views of the Old Town, the island of Lokrum, and the Adriatic Sea.
I felt like I had gone back in time to the medieval ages with all the baroque architecture, red roofs, fortresses and cliffs. There are three entrances to walk the wall, whichever one you choose just be either the first ones to arrive to avoid crowds and catch the sun early (around 8-830am), or wait until the late afternoon (around 5pm) after the cruise ships have left and watch the city turn gold as the sun sets.
This UNESCO World Heritage Site is definitely a must do when you’re visiting the city of Dubrovnik. And if you’re a Game of Thrones fan, you’ll recognize very similar scenes from the show. Make a scavenger hunt and spend a day running around to recreate each scene, I promise you’ll laugh your head off in the making.
Tip: The three location points are Pile Gate, Ploce Gate, and St John (Sv Ivan) fort.
Treat yourself to breakfast with a view.
After you spend your morning climbing the ancient city wall, treat yourself to a feast.
Grandska Kavana Arsenal is located right on the pier. A perfect spot to watch the boats pass by, people watch, and snap a photo with Croatia’s iconic scenery.
It offers three different breakfast platters, one being completely vegetarian. Each platter comes with a hot drink of your choice (coffee or tea), orange juice, and a variation of croissant, toast, egg cooked any way, omelet, bacon, sausage, roasted tomatoes, fruit salad and more.
It’s open everyday from 8:30am-11:30am and platter runs from 68kn – 82kn ($10.32 USD – 12.44 USD) The staff was over the top friendly. Not only did they suggest our photo be taken, but went to lengths to get the perfect shot for us. Thanks again!
Get lost in the Old Town
The town is bowl-shaped so it’s like walking on the outside of a layered cake. Each layer has rows of restaurants and shops at every turn, and long winding staircases running up every block. The harbor is the first tier, sunset views on the top tier— with a city stuck right in-between!
There are 4,343 steps in the Old Town and the city wall has 1,080 alone. You can imagine the amount of walking you’ll do so be sure to pack good shoes. Take your time wandering through the city. It’s full of picturesque staircases that are laced with flower pots, window shutters, lanterns and clothes lines.
Catch the sunset at Buza Bar
This was one of the highlights of my stay,
and came as quite a pleasant surprise. While wandering the back streets of the Old Town, there’s a yellow sign that sits above a woman selling trinkets that read cold drinks with the most beautiful view–– who could resist?!
Follow the sign down to a narrow doorway on the side of a cliff to have a cocktail and catch the sunset. Be sure to arrive early as seats will fill up, and patrons will stay for hours as it truly is the best seat in the house. It was absolutely beautiful and a definite must do while you’re in Dubrovnik!
Tip: Buza Bar has two locations, Buza and Buza II. Both can be entered from the Old Town and both offer amazing views. The drinks are overpriced and limited, but they are well worth it for the best view in town!
Lodging for every type of traveler:
Meet other travelers and book a hostel:
Live like a local through airbnb
Splurge for luxury living with a hotel:
Co-working spaces in Dubrovnik:
As Dubrovnik is a touristic hotspot there are no co-working places in the city. That’s not to say it’s not workable, you’ll just want to ensure good wifi at your airbnb, hostel, or hotel.
The best way to achieve this is upon booking lodging let your host know you are traveling for work. Airbnb has a setting specifically for this. Before confirming your reservation ask your host to run a speed test from speedtest.net, take a screen shot and send it back.
Be sure to check out the Digital Nomad’s Guide to Croatia!
Comments