Glittering Jewel of the Balkans (Dubrovnik)

Member Name: kittykat18

Product:	Dubrovnik
Date:	16/10/04 (1412 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Beautiful, historic, no 'lager louts'

Disadvantages: Very hot, lots of tourists, not easy to get to

Our arrival in Dubrovnik after a 24 hour long ferry trip was not the best introduction to the town. Cobbled streets, sunburned shoulders and heavy luggage don't mix well. Luckily though, the Croatians we came across while searching for our accommodation were welcoming and helpful.

I must have heard the phrase "enjoy your stay in Dubrovnik" a hundred times in our short stay. Unsurprising considering that tourism is now the city's foremost form of income. Following the break up of Yugoslavia and the Balkan conflict, people have been flooding back into Dubrovnik to appreciate all it has to offer.

Before the war, Croatia was a popular holiday resort, famed for its beautiful coastline and cheap prices. George Bernard Shaw, Prince Charles, and Margaret Thatcher have all holidayed there (but don't let that put you off!)

I stayed there for 4 days with my sister, en route to Bosnia. We took a long route to get there: we flew from Stansted to Trieste in Italy on a cheap flight. We then took a bus to Rijeka in Croatia, where we caught a ferry which took us down the coast all the way to Dubrovnik. If you have the time, are short on money, and want to enjoy the beautiful views the ferry offers you, I would recommend travelling the same way. The flight to Italy was around £25, the bus was around £5 and the ferry was £20 for deck space only. Otherwise, it is possible to fly direct to Dubrovnik airport but it's not cheap.

It is recommended that you book accommodation in advance in the summer months. My sister and I booked through www.hostels.com and were allocated a private self catering apartment, for £50 each for 3 nights. If you don't book anywhere, ladies at the ferry port hold up cards saying "soba", offering to rent out rooms. This is quite normal and accepted in Croatia. Large, luxurious hotels are all over the mountainside. There is one youth hostel in the old town, which can be booked through hostels.com

Most private apartments will be outside of Old Town, a 15 or 20 minute walk away. You can stay inside the city walls of Old Town, but it will be more expensive.

In the summer months, temperatures are around 35 degrees every day, and the streets of Old Town are packed with tourists, mostly Italian, other European, and American.

The official language is of course Croatian, but nearly all people will speak at least a basic level of English. Street signs can be a little difficult to decipher. It can be a little annoying leaning a few words of Croatian, and asking a lady "Gdje je WC molim?" (where is the toilet please?"), only for her to reply in perfect English. Oh well, at least I tried not to be the typical English person abroad.

I saw no evidence that the lager lout crew have touched down on Dubrovnik soil as of yet. Most visitors are families or young budget travellers.

Currency is the Croatian Kuna, which works out as approximately 10=£1. Some places let you use Euros but they don't give you a very good rate. Prices are reasonable but expensive for Eastern Europe.

In self catering apartments, you can buy food in any of the supermarkets. Restaurants and cafes are all over the town, with fish a speciality. Pasta and Salads are also popular. A meal will cost around £4-8. Water fountains are everywhere, and were very gratefully recieved by the two faint English girls!

--Old Town--

The high walls and narrow streets of the old town create welcome shade from the burning heat. The old town is a perfectly preserved city from the 1600's. Buildings are white, with lovely tiled rooves in shades of orange.

Entrance to the outer city walls costs 30 Kuna (£3) and is well worth it. Walking the entire circumference can take several hours taking in all the steep steps and perfect postcard photo opportunities. The views of clear blue sea, boats, people diving into the water off rocks, and greenery covered islands, are amazing. Many destinations fail to live up to the travel guide promises, but Dubrovnik does not disappoint.

You can see some evidence of the Serb bombings of 1991 in crumbled buildings, but thankfully the attacks did not cause any major damage to the beautiful town.

Dubrovnik is known as an artists city, and everywhere you go, you will see small galleries, and artists selling their work from stalls. I saw some lovely paintings which were fairly cheap.

Every August, the Dubrovnik festival takes place, which offers music and theatre perfomances every day across the town. Check at a tourist office for more details.

You will see many kittens roaming around in the old town, some of whom look quite thin and sick. If you feel sorry for them, there is an old woman who feeds them. She accepts donations towards their food, and she lives just behind the small harbour.

There are many things to see in Old Town- beautiful churches, monastries, small shops and market stalls selling lace, clothing, crafts and jewellery. You will also see that people are very glamourous, even on a boiling day, the women will be wearing full make up, tight jeans and have their hair styled.

Something I found amusing, and may be of interest to British people who are used to dowdy middle aged women working as lollipop ladies: Lollipop Ladies in Dubrovnik are beautiful young women dressed in hotpants! This may be a good enough reason on its own for some people to pay a visit. I certainly felt that Durbrovnik is a town for the beautiful people and felt a little out of place with my unglamourous sunburn!

There are several beaches in Dubrovnik, however they are not sandy. You will see people sunbathing on anything possible, even the smallest piece of rock jutting out into the sea.

If you go to the harbour, there are several stalls selling tickets for various excursions by boat. You can take a night ride around the city walls, go on a glass bottomed boat, or go on the great trip me and my sister went on.

We paid 220 Kuna each (£22) for a whole day trip by pirate ship. It left in the morning to visit 3 islands and included a cooked lunch. Unfortunately the sea was very rough that day, and the swaying made me feel a bit ill, but the lovely lunch of fish, salad and bread perked me up a bit. In the morning we paid two short visits to small islands, and spent several hours in the afternoon on the island of Lopud. We trekked for what seemed like miles to discover the sacred "sandy beach" (sandy beaches are something of a rarity there). Swimming in the sea was a delight, so clean and refreshingly salty.

By the end of our stay in Dubrovnik, I was happy to be escaping to Bosnia for some fresh air, but I would recommend the town as a place of beauty and history.

The sea there really is as blue as on the promotional websites. Its beauty is breathtaking, and you feel as though you are walking through history. Despite the large numbers of tourists, it's ot difficult to find a pocket of peace, a quiet empty lane in the maze of Old Town. One can only hope that the renewed surge of tourism does not adversely affect the area.

Links:

Dubrovnik tourist board
http://web.tzdubrovnik.hr

Dubrovnik online
http://www.dubrovnik-online.com/english/english.p hp

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