Dubrovnik (13-16 June 2022)
Dubrovnik (Old town, sea, island, and mountain)
How did I end up visiting Dubrovnik?
Ibiza, Split, Mallorca, or …? 3 of us had split opinions. “I have been there”, “I just went there last summer” ….. Apparently, none of us like to go back to the same place in Europe again, at least not for the same coastal towns/ islands during the summer. The 3 of us, two from Malaysia, one from China, made a trip to Stockholm half-drunk last winter, the day after our final exam with no sleep for the last 36 hours, and extended the trip to Finland, catching Aurora and the Santa Claus in his fairly village. That walking zombie experience, I hate it, and I swore to myself in Stockholm “I will never do this again, i.e. flying out right after partying”. Fast forward, 5 months later, we thought, why not plan a trip right after our graduation ceremony. After much ideas trading, we finally settled for a town none of us have been to before – Dubrovnik! We tried to hype out the idea by convincing ourselves that we are going to the Game of Throne city, even though none of us watch GOT. A week before the trip, another Chinese friend decided to join us. History repeated itself.. we had a graduation dinner and final party, before the early morning flight.
The highlights of the trip
Day 1 (13 June) - Old Town & plenty of rest
After checking in, we walked towards the Uvala Lapad Beach, and had our lunch in the Pull Over Restaurant. After lunch, we went exploring the old town and took a dip next to the jetty.
To recover from the sleep deprivation the night before, all of us went back to accommodations to take an evening nap, and missed our dinner.
Day 2 (14 June) - Sv Jakob beach, Lokrum island, Viewing Point
After taking our breakfast, we went to Sv Jakob beach.
Had our lunch at the Sv Jakob beach restaurant, overseeing the ocean.
From the Sv Jakob, we went to the old town again, to take a boat to Lokrum Island, where the famous Game of Throne Iron Chair is located.
Days later, our Uber driver shared with us that Lokrum island once housed many rabbits. However, the population grew so fast that the local authority decided to remove all of them. Now, the island is the house for many peacocks.
We took 1915hours ferry back to the old port, and had our Uber picked us up at 1945hours to drive to the Dubrovnik viewing point. We arrived just in time to catch the sunset view.
From the viewing point, we returned to the old town again, for pretty fine dining at Proto restaurant.
Day 3 (15 June) - 3 islands
Departed at 11am, we took a tour to Kolocep, Sipan and finally Lopud. The first 2 islands, we only had less than 1 hour of stopover.
Kolocep Island
We had our lunch onboard of the boat while we were crusing from Kolocep to Sipan Island.
Sipan Island
Lopud Island
The 3rd and final island, which was also the island with the longest stopver - Lopud.
We had 2.5 hours on Lopud. Once we landed on Lopud, we walked towards the Island Taxi (Buggy) station, to take a ride to the other side of the island with sandy beach.
There was a terrace restaurant there, serving food and drink. The cocktail was quite pricey there, but the view from the terrace was amazing.
Day 4 (16 June) - Ston & Mali Ston
On our final day, we engaged our Uber driver to drive to Ston and Mali Ston. The journey took slightly more than 1 hour.
The old town, away from Dubrovnik, offers F&B at a price that is unbeatable.
This region is famous for its oyster and seafood farming. It has a mini fortress (in comparison with Dubrovnik old town) and a mini Great Wall (in comparison with Great wall of China).
We concluded our visit to Ston and Mali Ston by having a lunch in Kapetanova kuća, before heading back to Dubrovnik Airport.
A short clip by my friend (Credit to Yudan) summed up the trip.
My transports, accommodation, and F&B
The transportation and accommodation in Dubrovnik are well regulated. Ride hailing (e.g. Uber, Bolt) drivers are required by law to register themselves as Taxi drivers and carry a business license, and the Short Term Rental (e.g. Airbnb) premises are required by law to register as a business too, come with visible star rating board and listed under Croatian Tourism Board. This reflects the thought the government put in, to protect the tourists, the tourism industry and to collect the taxes due for the country.
Transports
Uber and road tour
Learning from previous Split trip experience, I opted not to rent a car this time. Finding a parking in town is a pain in the @ss, and it is expensive too. No doubt, the rental rate is affordable. Since we didn’t plan to visit to other Balkan region, public transports would do for us. Uber is more popular than Bolt in Dubrovnik. Getting an Uber was easy, and the waiting time rarely went beyond 5 minutes. Most of the Uber drivers are friendly, and they are happy to offer tour service to you too (to nearby towns or to the viewing point of Dubrovnik), at a tourist friendly rate. After spending much on the foods, we opted for cheaper ways to travel. For our trip to the Dubrovnik viewing point, instead of using cable car (200 HRK per person for return trip), we opted for Uber driver service and negotiated for a good rate. No doubt, cable car offers views that we might not be able to see from the viewing point itself, but we made a conscious decision. We used the same service for our trip to Ston and Mali Ston, stopped over at Ston for 1.5 hours and had our seafood lunch in Kapetanova kuća. The same driver drove us to the airport after the lunch to catch our flights. The driver, Kristijan Lučan, shares the same passion for spicy food with me. If you are looking for one local who knows the area and foods well, consider his service. With his experience, he can help planning your trip, especially to nearby regions. His offer (price) is very tourist friendly.
Name: Kristijan Lučan
Email: Kristijanlucan@gmail.com
Contact number : +385 99 770 8396
Excluding the flight tickets, all of us spent around 240 Euro in Dubrovnik for the Uber/road tour (including taxi from airport, round trip from Dubrovnik to Ston, and round trip from oldtown to viewing point, multiple short rides from Airbnb to old town and beaches)
Lokrum Island Ferry There is an official ticket office located at the right side as your walk from the Bell Tower to the jetty. Departure is frequent. With student card, you can enjoy the return ticket of 30HRK (about 4 Euro). Without a student card, the ticket is sold at 200HRK.
3 Elafiti Islands Tour (Koločep,Šipan, Lopud) There are many operators (especially in the old town near the jetty) that sell the tour to Elafiti Islands. They do not display their price, likely to avoid a price war between the different operators. However, you should expect to pay around 40 Euro onward for the tour. We paid 46 Euro per person. Our tour duration was 7 hours. Most of the tours take around 8-9 hours. I find this website that offers a good deal:-
https://dubrovniktrip.com/en/dubrovnik-tours/three-island-cruise
At the Lopud Island, we took a buggy (they call it Island Taxi) to the other side of the island with sandy beach. They charge 20HRK per person one way.
Accommodation
We opted for a stay in local Airbnb and chance to interact with host to get more information about Dubrovnik. Marija is a great host, who went extra miles to assist us get all information and arrangement that we needed. The accommodation is a small terrace of 2 bedrooms, and come with complete features of kitchen, living hall, dining hall, terrace, washroom and washing machine.
We got a good deal at 327Euro for 4 nights stay.
Address: Ulica Paska Baburice 2 1, Dubrovnik, Dubrovačko-neretvanska županija 20000, Croatia
Host: Marija
Contact: +385 98 257 330
Airbnb listing: https://www.airbnb.com/rooms/29254647?source_impression_id=p3_1655635674_%2FbAUdZpufhq4r9mF
F&B
- Many ice creams in the old town
- Pullover (Google rating 4.6)
- We had our first lunch in this restaurant that is near the beach. The grilled octopus was amazing
- Proto (Michelin Guide restaurant, Google rating 4.4)
- This Michelin Guide rated restaurant offers a relaxing ambient at its first floor. The price is at the high side, likely because of its Michelin Guide reputation and its location in the center of the old town.
- Pantarul (Google rating 4.8)
- Surprisingly, it is just 3 minutes walk from our accommodation. We were fortunate to secure a last minute booking in this restaurant, that serves good food at a decent price.
- Kapetanova kuća, Mali Ston (Google rating 4.6)
- There are several good restaurants in Ston and Mali Ston (the district that produces the best oyster in Croatia). Not only they serve fresh and delicious oysters, they serve great other great seafoods too. Decently priced, and service is good.
My 3 Plus and 2 Minus:-
3 things I like about this trip:
- The friendly Croatians – Marija our host, Kristijan our Uber and tour driver, both show us how warm the Croatians are with the tourists in town.
- Sun, warm sea water, and crystal-clear water in different colors
- The sunset view from the Dubrovnik viewing point
2 things I would do differently if I can turn back the clock:
- Just like how I promised myself last time, “no more party before the trip”, now I have to assure myself again. But it was the graduation party, and it would be bad to miss it, right? Someone convinced me to change the flight ticket from 12 June noon to 13 June early morning, so not to miss the Graduation dinner and party on the 12 June evening. Dinner was good, party was good, mingling with cohort friends one last time was good, but not the sleep deprivation. Party ended at 2.30am, and few of us took a taxi at 3.30am to Orly Airport to catch our flight at 6am. The outcome? Walking zombie in Dubrovnik on the first day. Age is picking up, having a good sleep will help not to ruin the trip.
- Dubrovnik is great. Ston and Mali Ston are great. But wouldn’t it be even better if I can extend my trip to Bosnia, Albania and Montenegro? There is always a compromise especially when you have other more important commitments and limited number of leaves. Now if I have the luxury of being my own employer, I would love to extend my trip to other Balkans countries.
Surprise learnings of the trip Maybe it is not a surprise at all. The person who knows best about a region is always the local, who work in tourism industry, e.g. the host, and the driver. These are the people who shared with us which restaurant to go as a local, which areas to visit, and also information you find limited on the internet, e.g. how to travel with a shoestring budget in Croatia (which regions are most budget friendly). If it is not a surprise to all, why then we rely heavily on the internet? Why we prefer to use Airbnb, Uber instead of engaging the local to make arrangement? It all goes back to the fundamental issue of trust. We fear we will be overcharged. The review rating of AirBnb, Uber and Google give us confidence through the wisdom of the crowd. They grow so big that both the service providers and the clients become overly dependent on them. I hope to make a difference, helping the local hosts and drivers through word of mouth. You can make a difference too.