Croatia | Dubrovnik
What can be said about Croatia that hasn’t already been said in most travel blogs or discussion boards? It is everything that every one says that it is. Both the good and the bad. We will touch on a bit of both, but the bottom line is that Dubrovnik and the surrounding islands are absolutely beautiful!
Yacht View From Our Apartment
Special Guests!
We were also very excited to be meeting up and spending time here with our friends of almost 20 years, Jannie (pronounced “Yen-nee,” she is originally from Denmark) and Kevin. To understand our relationship with Jannie and Kevin, you have to know a brief bit about how we met. The short story is that when we were living in San Francisco, circa 2006, Jeremy was on his commute home, when he heard on the radio that Incubus (one of our favorite bands) was playing a free show at a TINY venue in the city. The first 100 people to get in line would get in! He was not far from the venue so he called Valerie and told her to meet him there. As we were waiting in line for the show, we began talking to the couple in front of us. We found we had a lot in common and had a bunch of laughs while in line, eventually watching the show together and going out for drinks afterward. That is Jannie and Kevin in a nut shell. Always a good time! Always up for an adventure!
Jannie, Kevin, Jeremy and Valerie | Dubrovnik Fun!
Fast forward to December 2023, when we told them that we were going on this adventure. Without hesitation, they said, “We want to go to Croatia, want to meet us there?” The answer was yes, without hesitation!
Beach Club Close to Old Town
Back to Dubrovnik. We hired a care service from Tivat, Montenegro since the drive was only about 90 minutes, and it was just easier than flying. A couple of tips for anyone wanting to drive across the border between these two countries:
Be thoughtful of the two borders. Croatia is in the EU, Montenegro is not, yet. There is passport control on the Montenegro side of the border to “check-out” of the country, and then there is another passport control stop on the Croatian side to enter the EU to “check-in”.
Talk to locals before you plan this drive blindly. Find out if there are any big holidays or other calendar dates that might influence the traffic at the borders. When our driver picked us up, he said he drives people across the border all the time and it can be 30 minutes to get through both check points, or it can be 4+ hours. We got VERY lucky. At the Montenegrin border, we waited in a line of cars for maybe 20 minutes. As we crossed over, we began to see an extremely long queue of cars waiting that had already exited the EU check-point, but were still waiting to get into Montenegro. There is maybe 1-2 miles (2-3 km) between the check points and we would estimate this line was at least half of that distance (likely would take a good hour alone).
We then arrived at the EU border and there was really no line going through in our direction. The total time we were in transition between the countries was perhaps 30 minutes. Arriving on the other side of the border in Croatia, there was what looked like an endless line of cars. We drove and drove some more, and the line kept going. It had to have been 4-5 miles (6-8 km) long. The driver said this was likely the worst he had ever seen, and it would likely take these people at least 4-5 hours to proceed through this part of the border. He even told us that significantly fewer people head to Bosnia & Herzegovina, another neighbor country to Croatia and Montenegro, and he knew it would be quicker for him to just cut through that country on his way back to his home to Montenegro.
Again, lucky for us, we crossed the border easily and in good time.
Our AirBnB quite possibly had the best view possible! We had prepared for significant stairs up and down between the apartment and the Old City, but it was a hike! Either way, totally worth it for that view! While the stairs sucked, we would definitely stay in this apartment again. Not only the view, but it was such a nice reprieve from the heat and chaos of the Old Town at the end of every day. It was easy to unwind and just enjoy Dubrovnick.
View from our AWESOME apartment!
As beautiful as the view and the city are, we wouldn’t recommend going in the middle of July. For one, it was HOT! In the upper 90s Fahrenheit (35 Celsius) and awfully humid. We thought we escaped all this heat and humidity leaving Florida! If you can, go in the spring or early fall.
Apartment View at Sunset
The second reason is that it was very crowded. At any given time, there were 3-4 cruise ships anchored in the local waters. Multiply that by, on average, 1500 passengers per ship, plus all the other visitors who flew (or drove) in on their own, and you can start to see how busy the streets of the old city can get. Also, take into the fact that each ship only anchors for 24-48 hours, with taxi boats running to and from the ships between the hours of 8:00am and 5:00pm, it compounds the issue. In the evening, when all the cruise ship crowds were back on the ships and the temperatures cooled, it was lovely!
View of Old Town From the Water
We spent most of our time during the day on the beach, or out on the water exploring the surrounding islands. One day, we booked a boat tour to see the “Blue Caves.” These are natural caves made by the crashing waves, so the tops of them are right around sea level. With the water being so clean and clear, when you swim into them, the reflection of the sunlight makes the water look like it is glowing blues, greens, and aquas. It’s really something to see!
Swimming on the Blue Cave Boat Tour
A note about the main beach in Dubrovnik—it is very rocky, so make sure you have water shoes or flip flops you are okay bringing into the ocean. More importantly, there are all of these small fish that will sneak up and nip at your legs. It’s not painful, but it isn’t pleasant and it will scare the crap out of you. If you float and keep moving, and they seem to stay away.
Old Town Dubrovnik Alley
Sometimes, it seems like when you see one “old city center” you have seen them all, but there was something unique and charming about this old town. Also, as you may know, the old city center was used to film the kingdom of “King’s Landing” in Game of Thrones (the non-set, non-CGI parts). We didn’t go on a specific walking tour of the filming locations, but it was obvious as you walked around, which was actually a fun little bonus as fans of the show.
Yachts Lit Up at Night
Things We Learned:
We found an AMAZING craft beer bar called Glam. With few exceptions, they only served small batch beers brewed in Croatia, or the surrounding countries. 5 stars, highly recommend.
Like Montenegro, they have a thing for cats! They are everywhere and this made Valerie happy.
Lady Pi Pi (Pronounced Lady Pee Pee) is a wonderful restaurant. It is literally named after a fountain depicting a woman peeing. We won’t put a picture here, but use your imagination and take that for that you will. However, it was a very popular place, and after a decent wait, we actually ended up in the best seat in the house on their terrace with this amazing view of the old town, and the food was great!
Valerie and Jeremy at Lady Pi Pi
Itinerary
Drive from Tivat, Montenegro to Dubrovnik
Explore Old Town
Boat Cruise
Beach Day
Beach Day
Dinner at Lady Pi Pi
Valerie and Jeremy at Dinner in Dubrovnik
Cheers (Živeli!) to a wonderful experience with some long time friends! That is a snapshot of our time in Dubrovnik, Croatia.
Now…Where To Next?
