Wandering Dubrovnik’s Old Town City Walls
Summary
One of the best preserved old towns in the world, with spectacular city walls and a stunning setting that sees it surrounded by mountains to the east, the crystal blues of the Adriatic to the west and the terracotta roofs of the buildings pouring out into the nearby town. Dubrovnik quite rightly sits as one of the highlights of the Balkans, if not the whole Mediterranean
Its only downside is, predictably, the sheer volume of fellow tourists that descend into the narrow lanes of the Old Town. I won’t write a detailed review, but my top three tips are:
- Make sure you walk the full circle of the City Walls – they are some of the best preserved in the world and give you some of the best views of the Old Town and surroundings
- Make your way up to Mount Srd for views over the whole city – this 412m / 1350ft high hill allows you to the escape the claustrophobia of the Old Town and, because of just how dramatically steep it is next to the Old Town, gives amazing views. Taking the cablecar is the best and easiest way up there but, if the queues are long, just take a taxi which takes 15mins. The other option is a hike along the clear walking trail which although is only 2.5km / 1.5miles is STEEP and will take at least 45mins
- Try to get lost in the Old Town – as with all Old Towns, the experience is all about feeling the magic of the place and imagining what it would have been like to be here before modern times. You don’t really get that by following a guide book and, even if you do, you’ll naturally just be following all your fellow tourists anyway. Instead, just head off in any direction and see where you end up – you can always retrace your steps to see some places you may have missed, and who knows what unusual places you may find
- Part of a 2-3 week itinerary – the Western Balkans are a seriously underrated part of Europe and represent one of the best 2-3 week trips you can do in this part of the world with stunning castles and old towns, and some of the best coastline in the world all compactly housed within 8 countries. For the 2-3 week itinerary for the highlights and general tips for this part of the world, see this travel entry and where Dubrovnik fits in –3 week trip around the Balkans States
highlights
#1 Walk the full circle of the City Walls - they are some of the best preserved in the world and give you some of the best views of the Old Town and surroundings
#2 Make your way up to Mount Srd for sensational views of the Old Town
#3 Getting lost in the superbly preserved Old Town
Experiences nearby
The below map shows experiences nearby with a colour that reflect the Overall Score of those experiences
Other Old Town Experiences around the World
Score Detail
Background - how many times have you asked someone what a travel experience was like and the response was "amazing" or "awesome"? That response is nice to know, but it makes it hard to differentiate that experience compared to others. That is exactly what these scores are trying to do - differentiate the experience by giving a score out of 10 based on 6 categories and then giving an overall experience score
This overall experience score is calculated by: take the highest of the "Culture" or "Nature" score (1-10) + "Fun factor" (1-10) + "Avoiding the crowds" (1-10) + highest of the "Unique" or "World Famous score" (1-10). Then convert into a score out of 100
Extra detail - the logic being that I find all of the 6 individual scores important, but I don't want to mark an experience down just because it doesn't cover both "Culture" and "Nature", or because it isn't both "World Famous" and "Unique". Take the examples of Safari in The Serengeti and walking through Rome - they both appeal at opposite ends of the nature / culture spectrum, and you can have a fantastic time without needing to appeal to both sides. So, their overall scores aren't penalized for their lack of one or the other, and I've done the same for "World Famous" vs "Unique". But . . . I do think that the "Fun factor" of an experience is important, irrelevant of other factors, and so is "Avoiding the Crowds" (or where there are crowds that add to the experience). So, both of these scores are standalone