Travel Guide: Dubrovnik, Croatia

When I travel often times I ask myself the question of could I see myself living here or visiting here over and over again and Dubrovnik is a place I never want to stop coming to!  The people couldn't have been more lovely, the scenery is breath takingly stunning and there is a good mix of activities and relaxation opportunities.  Below is a synopsis of my first (but certainly not my last) trip to Dubrovnik.  

Where I Stayed:

First off Villa Dubrovnik is now one of my favorite hotels.  The staff is soooo incredibly nice and accommodating.  They really bent over backwards for us.  The beach area is so relaxing and the view is unbelievable! When I say beach area I am referring to that lounge area in the second picture.  They also have a lovely pool but we opted for the beach the whole time as I'm more of a nature girl.  Water is clear and clean and oh so refreshing.

 

 

We actually went to 2 other hotels before our flight out to compare and they didn't hold a candle to Villa Dubrovnik.  Villa Dubrovnik has a rooftop bar which of course has an amazing view and the hotels restaurant is very good.  We never ate dinner there which we regret but next time!  The sea bass carpaccio with burrata melts in your mouth.  I had it twice for lunch because it was just so good.  The hotel has a very sweet boat that takes you to and from the old town which is easy and awesome.  It's like one of those taxi boats in Venice- very cute!

Restaurants I Loved:

1. 360 Restaurant- so delicious!! Ask to be seated on the Fortress.  They have the most extensive wine list in Dubrovnik and their wine guy was very knowledgable on the local wines.

2. Panorama Restaurant- this is the place that is at the top of Mount Srd.  There is a cable car you can take.  Find out when sunset is and make your reservations for an hour before.  Ask to sit at table 31!  Definitely the best view. Below is a pic from the restaurant

3. Proto- best seafood restaurant in town. It's in old town. They have their own fishermen.  

Drinks are not served cold.  I asked for an ice bucket every meal.  I also had them chill  the wine in an ice bucket long before it was poured when drinking white or rose and beer for that matter.  I kept telling them I need it American cold ;) It was a million degrees while we were there so it might not be as noticeable in cooler months.  

What I Did:

1. Walk the wall.  It's a really great way to see the old town. We did it in about 1.5 to 2 hours.  There are juice stops along the way if you want a fresh pressed juice.

2. Lokrum Island.  We spent a really lovely day over there.  We hiked around the island and up to the fort.  We then hiked over to the back side of the island and did a rock scramble until we found our own private cove and went swimming and hung out for awhile. Below is our little private nook we found for the afternoon. 

After swimming in our nook we ate at Paradise Garden there on the island.  DO NOT eat anywhere else!  If you go to Lokrum this is the place! I had the grilled squid which was literally the best squid I've ever had!  It was also a beautiful and relaxing setting. 

 

There are peacocks EVERYWHERE!  So pretty :) 

3. Wine Tasting.  So apparently the peninsula is a great wine region but there were fires there so we went to a different valley just past the airport and we had the best time!  We went to 3 wineries.  All very small and family run.  We rented a car so we drove to them.  Only Karaman Winery had a small sign so it wasn't the easiest thing to navigate but well worth the effort!  It was also great to see the valley rather than just the coastline.  The wineries we went to were Karaman (pictured below).  They all are a family affair and it was really sweet.  The Father and Brother were in the fields and the Mom and Daughter were giving us the tasting at Karaman.  Bratos and Crvik were the other 2 we went to. Peter at Crvik is friends with the owners of Wilson Creek in Temecula ;)  Peter also told me he will be there for the rest of his life so come on back! ;) There are wine tours that you can look into if you don't have a car but this was one of our favorite days!  We spent so much time talking with the families at the wineries we really got the feel for the people.  It will be harvest time in October so wine tasting would be really cool then. 

 

Other than these activities we spent one whole day at the beach area at the hotel lounging with cocktails and watched the sunset from the water.  We also started/ended pretty much every day with an ocean swim.

1 thing I wish I had was a mask and snorkel!  Next time I am going to bring one for sure.  They don't provide them at the hotel.

There are plenty of other things that we didn't do that you may want to look into.  The kayak tours were very popular!  There are also 2 cliff bars on the outside of the walls of the old town that we missed.  We opted for touring on our own than doing any of the guided tours.  

If you have been to Dubrovnik I would love to hear your feedback about what you enjoyed the most!