Oh, beautiful croatia
Where do I even begin? All I can say is that this country is highly underrated and it left me full of surprises.
You hear people talk about traveling to Italy, but rarely ever hear them mention Croatia. Well, I have news for you! Add it to the top of your travel bucket list, like, now.
Our destination city was Dubrovnik, located in southern Croatia fronting the Adriatic Sea. Maybe you've never heard of it, but you may have seen it on TV if you're a Game of Thrones fans like us! (Cue the Game of Thrones intro song). Yes, Dubrovnik was a big part of the filming location for quite a few big scenes on the show. It felt so surreal being there! You can find King's Landing, home of the Iron Throne, the meeting dock on Blackwater Bay, and Cersei's infamous walk of shame, down the stairs, all throughout Old Town.
Click here to book your Game of Thrones tour.
We stayed in the cutest little Airbnb along a marina, about a 15 minute drive out of the city center. If you are one that likes to escape the busy city after a full day of walking, we highly recommend staying here at Ivana's place. Aside from Ivana's top-notch communication and providing us with great accommodations, the best part about this place was the view of the marina from the balcony.
We arrived later in the evening on our first night, so we found a place down the street from our place for dinner. Let me tell you, I've had my fair share of steaks in my life (thank you Midwest), but when I say I had the best steak of my life at Konoba Bogo-Galijun, a traditional Croatian tavern, that's saying a lot. It was cooked to perfection - medium rare. If you ever decided to visit, be sure to call and book a table in advance.
Our second day in Dubrovnik was a full day of exploring the Old Town and city walls. This is a MUST when visiting, and make SURE you have comfortable shoes. About halfway through our day, we had to stop for something to cool us down. Don't sleep on Croatian gelato, people, especially Peppino's. You can find it nestled within the walls of Old Town. If they have the Cookies flavor, order it. You won't regret it. After our much needed gelato break, we wandered over to Stara Loza, a Michelin guide restaurant, for lunch. Who said you can't have gelato before lunch? Though we really wanted to sit on the (highly recommended) rooftop terrace, they were fully booked, so we settled for the street seating. I ordered the Lobster Pasta and Coltin ordered the Veal Risotto. YUM!
To continue our long, hot day, we hopped in a taxi and drove to the small city of Cavtat, about a 20 minute drive from the city center. Cavtat is known for its many beaches and cute storefront shops and restaurants. Plus, it's always nice to escape the popular, touristy areas for a while. We walked along the sidewalks of the bay and ended up at a place to swim just off of the Plaza Cavtat. Later that evening for dinner, we had reservations to Veranda 2.0, another traditional Croatian tavern. We sat outside and had the prettiest view of the sunset over the sea and mountains.
HOT TIP: Always remember to call head and reserve a table while traveling. One of the first things we do while planning a trip is to research the best restaurants at your destination city and book a table right away. You can always cancel if something comes up. This just makes life so much easier when trying to plan your trip itineraries. :) Tripadvisor is a great resource for this!
On our last full day in Croatia, we started off the morning by exploring the neighborhood we were staying in. We walked along the marina, took lots of pics, saw and pet a ton of kitties, stumbled into a local grocery store to buy some snacks, and eventually ended up in the pool at Zephyrus Yacht Club in the ACI Marina. It's always nice to take a chill day or two during your vacations. The days can be long and crazy, and sometimes the best days are the ones with no itineraries to follow. Referring back to the grocery store, one of our favorite things to do while traveling is stopping into the local grocery stores. Buy those snacks! You most likely won't be visiting again, so why not try their fresh fruits and cheeses, or bread and pastries? Traveling is all about experiencing and appreciating the local culture.
What better way to end the day than ordering pizza? We walked to Pizzeria Laus, just a few streets up from our Airbnb. We ordered the Funghi and Kockica pizzas. After pizza comes ice cream, of course. On the way back to our place, we stopped into a tiny grocery store to pick up some ice cream bars and enjoyed our slow walk back. Have I mentioned how much fruit grows in Croatia? Every block had either a lime, olive, or fig tree, and grape vines grew wild everywhere you looked. Not to mention, there were so many different kinds of colorful flowers along the street or in peoples yards.
Sunday, August 14, we checked out of our Airbnb and headed over to Konoba Bogo-Galijun one last time for a delicious breakfast. From there, we took an Uber back into Old Town and dropped off our luggage at a luggage storage facility so we wouldn't have to drag it around all day and keep us from more exploring. TOTALLY worth it. Then, we walked down to the Old Town Harbor and bought tickets to Lokrum Island. It's only about a 15 minute ferry ride from the harbor and it was highly recommended by our friends who have visited before. The island offers many sightseeing opportunities including a botanical garden full of peacocks, Benedictine Monastery, Charlotte's Well, The Dead Sea (aka a small salt lake), and so much more. Definitely worth checking out when you're in Dubrovnik.
Here's a fun little backstory on Lokrum:
"The first mention of Lokrum in writing came in 1023, in connection with the founding of the Benedictine abbey and monastery. According to legend Richard the Lion-Heart was cast ashore here after being shipwrecked in 1192 while returning from the Crusades. The vow he made to build a church on the spot where he came ashore should he be saved was kept at least in part. Although he came ashore in Lokrum, at the request of the people of Dubrovnik, he agreed to have the church built in the city itself."
Have I convinced you to visit Croatia yet?
What I would do to experience seeing Croatia again for the first time.
