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My guide to spending 48hrs in Dubrovnik, Croatia
Our decision to spend just 48 hours in Dubrovnik, Croatia, stemmed from two main reasons. Firstly, the city’s reputation for being quite expensive, making it more suitable for a shorter visit. Secondly, we had plans to meet a friend from New Zealand, allowing only a brief window of time before our other commitments.
Dubrovnik is a truly breathtaking city in Croatia. If there’s one place you should explore in Croatia, I would highly recommend Dubrovnik, even if it means a whirlwind visit like the one we had.
Accommodation
When we first thought about going to Dubrovnik, we were pretty shocked by how pricey it was to stay close to the Old Town. We’d learned from our travels that location matters most when picking a place to stay. There’s no point in saving a bit of money if you end up spending half your day on buses or trains – that’s just a waste of time and cash. Thankfully for our budget my wonderful friends had gifted me an airbnb voucher for my birthday so that helped a bit with the cost of accomodation allowed in us to stay in a desirable location. We were located within 2mins walk of Old Town.
Things to Do
I must confess, we did splurge a bit on activities in Dubrovnik. Nevertheless, every single thing we did was absolutely worth it, and I can’t recommend them enough. Our entire stay was centered around the Old Town, so all my recommendations are for that area.
Game of Thrones Tour:
Dubrovnik’s popularity has skyrocketed, largely thanks to Game of Thrones. Since Liam is a massive Game of Thrones fan, we couldn’t pass up the opportunity to take a Game of Thrones walking tour. We found our tour through Get Your Guide, and it turned out to be a fantastic experience. The tour took us to numerous iconic filming locations and provided an excellent way to explore the Old Town on foot. Despite not being a Game of Thrones viewer myself, I genuinely enjoyed the tour. The guide was incredibly knowledgeable, not only about the show but also about the city itself. I highly recommend it, especially if you’re a fan of the series. Click here for the link to the tour we did and would highly recommend.
City Walls:
The city walls are truly amazing. We spent a good couple of hours in the midday sun (not the wisest choice) strolling along the top of the walls. The views of the city were spectacular, and it offered a fascinating glimpse into the history of the country.
If you plan to explore all the attractions in Dubrovnik, I highly recommend getting a city pass. The city pass, which was priced the same as the wall entry, provided us with access to the walls, free public transport, entry to most museums, and access to Fort Lovrijenac – all for the cost of the wall entry. It’s a no-brainer to grab the city pass!
Fort Lovrijenac:
As part of the Game of Thrones tour, we visited Fort Lovrijenac (entry fee required unless you have a city pass). The view from the top of the castle was absolutely breathtaking. I highly recommend it!
Swimming:
We spotted some incredible swimming spots from the top of the city walls that piqued our interest. After a bit of exploring, we found that by squeezing through a hole in the Old Town wall, we could access the most stunning swimming locations. These spots were all free to enter, and some even had bars nearby. Just be aware that they can get quite crowded, so keep that in mind.
Food Recommendations:
Food prices within Old Town are notably higher than in the main city area or by the port. If you choose to dine in Old Town, we highly recommend trying Food Bar Guloso, where we enjoyed amazing burgers. In fact, we liked it so much that we ate there twice during our stay! 🍔
In the end, our time in Dubrovnik was absolutely fantastic. We had a wonderful reunion with friends from New Zealand and managed to see everything on our list in just 48 hours. Dubrovnik is definitely a destination you shouldn’t miss when traveling around Eastern Europe.
Relevant as of October 2023
