After the big adventure last year which was pre booked before I met Sarah it was time to set off on our first international trip together. During our first trip away togethers the previous summer to Aviemore we had discussed how all going well it would be nice to take a trip to historic Dubrovnik, well we did and so glad.
We had 5 days and the overview is a stunning place but just try to visit the old town around the bigger cruise in, make use of the excellent and easy local buses and when in the old town go as far back away from the main drags (as usual) and you may find reasonably priced and very pleasing eateries. Again avoiding the mainstream we stayed in the residential peninsular of Babin Kuk and found it very easy to stroll down to get buses to town or walk to the main tourist strip or the marina area.
Once we had forfilled our old town curiosity including a trip up the cable car we had a morning of kayaking which we did a few miles north of the town which was very rewarding going to a remote
beach, better than we churned up against the city walls which can be a bit rough. We also had an interesting day out to visit Montenegro which is an all day affair. Apart from that we were happy to enjoy walking all around and sitting on the main tourist strip sipping cocktails and people watching, pure people watching.
Dubrovnik is not the cheapest option but if you push back a bit from the hardcore tourism you can get relative value (but not cheap) and we enjoyed plenty of nice meals in our self catering apartment getting supplies from the local supermarket and bakery in Babin Kuk. However when we wanted to spoil ourselves a couple of times we did eat royally out especially Pantarul which we gave a rare 5 stars as much for dining experience and ambiance as for food.
And well worth going on a ferry hopping day, forget the touristy fish picnic cruises, just get on the local ferries and you can easy get around the islands, we had a lovely if slightly shivery downcast weather day where we had a few hours on Lopad hotel. Do check out the art deco Grand Central hotel
there with a sinister history and also the small but stunning botanic gardens. Overall a hugely enjoyable little holiday, Dubrovnik gets the cruise ship hordes but my goodness dont discount it, there is always the evenings as well when they are usually back on board.
