I am having total holiday blues. It's cold, I am tired and my days tick by at work. A lot has happened since my last post; left a job, started another, learnt some new pointless industry acronyms, forgot even more, applied for a postgrad, got accepted for a postgrad, organised my finances and put in an offer on a flat in Edinburgh to be only second place. As such I shall wallow in memories of Croatian seas until my next tropical holiday... Iceland. Maybe I can inspire one of you to book a summer week in Dubrovnik:
Lokrum:
I would advise spending your a full day while staying in Dubrovnik on Lokrum Island. Lokrum is easily accessible from Old Town Dubrovnik's Harbour. Numerous boats run from the harbour to the Island every 30 minutes or so. Pack a picnic and your swimsuit and catch the earliest ferry you can to claim prime location on the beach of the dead sea. Also make sure you check out the rocky shores and take time for a walk around the island, the Island boasts a staggering number of Peacocks as well as some wild tortoises which are adorable and were relatively unphased by my friends #selfiewithatortoise picture taking. I swear one guy almost smiled. As much as a tortoise could ever smile.
Old Town Dubrovnik:
Explore the intertwining streets of Old Town, sorry that means stairs (It's worth it I promise). The Wall is also a must, I would encourage anyone visiting to do the wall early in the morning or in the late afternoon, firstly the heat is bearable and secondly, you avoid the Cruise hoards. We visited early morning and it was beautiful, but I imagine it would be stunning at sunset. But be mindful that once you leave the wall you will not be allowed to go back on, so make sure you do the full circumference before existing the wall.
Cool off in the afternoon by visiting one of the two bars on the cliffs, both serve cocktails, and have dramatic views of Lokrum. Entertainment for some, anxiety for me, is provided by tourists and locals a like jumping off the cliffs. A guide to Dubrovnik wouldn't be complete without a mention of Game of Thrones, we did a tour, it was very good and really interesting. We used this company. Nerd Alert, so psyched for season 5.
Dubrovnik is somewhere you don't need to plan, it's somewhere you explore. If you look at Tripadvisor most of the top rated attractions are nearby islands, don't be discouraged or under estimate how long you will visit the city for.
For food I would recommend Nishta a vegetarian/ vegan restaurant. Now I am a pretty big meat eater, but I actually loved it here. A lot of the restaurants in Croatia seem to offer very similar menu's, and Octopus Salad was not getting more enticing as time went on. Nishta had really interesting food, all really tasty, so tasty we went two nights in a row. I can highly recommend the Homemade Ice Tea, the Spelt Pasta and the Fallafel (which was almost as dreamy as my Parisian lover).
If you are also just doing Dubvronik in Croatia, I recommend day trips to both Mljet National Park and Korcula- these were both closer to our apartment so my guide to them is up with the rest of my Croatia guide here!
My Dubrovnik Guide and Split Guide is also now live on Atlas Addict.
With Love from,
Emma x
