Divine Dubrovnik

I’d never been to Croatia before so really didn’t know what to expect. The lush green hills which surrounded Dubrovnik airport took me by surprise. We were greeted by our driver and taken to Hotel Kompas in Lapad, which took about 30 minutes. Along the way, our driver told us all about the history of Dubrovnik and Croatia and how they rebuilt the city after the terrible war back in the 1990’s. As we approached Dubrovnik along the scenic coastline, we were wowed by the stunning scenery. It reminded us of the Amalfi Coast but less built up. On arrival at the hotel, we were greeted by a friendly hotel member who checked us in whilst we admired more beautiful views. The Reception area was on the 10th floor and had panoramic views of the coastline. It is an upside down hotel where the floors go down instead of up. Our room was on the 10th floor right next to Reception so we had the benefit of the beautiful views. Aside from the views, the room was clean, airy and modern. The location for us was perfect as we had the stony beach and lots of restaurants on our doorstep and Dubrovnik City was a scenic 40 minute walk away. We caught a taxi back, which cost 18 euros. I later found out that Uber would have been a lot cheaper. Dubrovnik is a beautiful city steeped in history. The City Walls took a while to find but we were in no hurry. Eventually, we came across the entrance and discovered the fee to get in was 35 euros for adults and 15 euros for 15’s and under. I thought this was expensive and was reluctant to pay. My husband soon convinced me and off we went in to the City Walls. They were surprisingly quiet considering cruise ships were in that day. It took a good hour and a half to walk all the way around and the views just got better. The next day, we decided to do an E-Tuk Tuk tour of the city. It was so much fun and we learnt a lot. Robbie our guide picked us up from the hotel in the Tuk Tuk and we spent the next couple of hours touring the whole city and going to the highest point which looked over the whole area. I highly recommend this tour as it’s different from being cooped up in a bus and the Tuk Tuk’s are eco friendly. One thing to note is that it can get a bit hairy if you’re scared of heights like me! On our last afternoon, we took a boat trip to the Blue Caves. This cost 150 euros for the 3 of us. We were picked up at around 3pm and taken to the Harbour where we boarded the boat. About 30 minutes later, we arrived at the first set of caves. When booking, I assumed we would be taken through the caves in the boat like in Capri but this wasn’t the case. If you wanted to see the caves, you had to swim to them underwater! I decided (even though I can swim) it wasn’t for me and stayed on the boat and had a good chat with another lady who was under the same impression as me. At the next set of caves, we were informed that they were harder to get to and only go if you’re a strong swimmer hence I carried on chatting to the lovely lady! There was a certain thrill seeker on the boat though who thought it was amazing! The final part of the trip was a little island stop off. The Island Kolocep was very small and not really anything there apart form more stunning views. Lapad has many restaurants which offer different cuisine from Fish to Japanese. We tried to get in the Japanese on our last night but they were fully booked. We were there at the end of May when it wasn’t over busy so definitely plan ahead if you go in June, July and August. Dubrovnik far exceeded my expectations and i would highly recommend it. I will definitely be back to discover more of Croatia. Some Tips: Croatians like to be paid in cash so take plenty with you. There are ATM’s dotted around. You can pay by card but it might be more expensive. The weather at the end of May was very similar to the UK so take a jacket for the evenings. Croatian people are extremely friendly of you’re friendly to them. Dubrovnik is small so you only need a few days.