There’s much more to Croatia than its glittering Adriatic coast.
21.07.2023 - 07:41 / roughguides.com
Huddled at the base of a rugged mountainside, the elegant city of Dubrovnik is Croatia's irresistibly beautiful star attraction. Lapped by the glittering Adriatic Sea, its sturdy walls encircle white marble streets and Baroque churches. Off of the coast lie wooded islands with extensive, rocky beaches and crystal-clear seas. Explore this list of our favourite things to do in Dubrovnik and the surrounding area.
The information in this article is inspired by The Rough Guide to Croatia , your essential guide for visiting Croatia .
One of the best things to do in Dubrovnik is making a tour of the still largely intact Old city walls (Gradske zidine), 25m high and stretching for some 2km, completely surrounding the city’s historic heart. The full circuit takes about an hour — longer in high summer when crowds may slow down your progress. The path along the walls is narrow in places and you’re not allowed up there if you’re wearing a backpack.
Stay in a beautiful hotel in Dubrovnik and take day tours, either in small groups or privately guided, all throughout Dalmatia on our tailor-made trip to the Pearl of the Adriatic — Dubrovnik. Visit vineyards, hidden bays, islands, neighbouring Montenegro and more.
Exploring Old city is one of the best things to do in Dubrovnik© Melanie Sommer/Shutterstock
In Dubrovnik’s Old Town, this monastery’s quiet cloister harbours a small but stunning collection of Renaissance art. The monastery is approached by a grand stairway with a stone balustrade whose columns have been partly mortared in, an ugly modification carried out by the monks themselves. At the top of the steps, a doorway leads through to a fifteenth-century Gothic Renaissance cloister, filled with palms and orange trees.
Accessed via the monastery cloister, the Dominican monastery museum (Muzej dominikanskog samostana) has some outstanding examples of sixteenth-century religious art from Dubrovnik, including three canvases by Nikola Božidarević.
View of the Dominican Monastery and church from the walls of the city of Dubrovnik in Croatia © Shutterstock
This densely wooded islet, a short boat ride from Dubrovnik, is the perfect place for a sunbathe or a stroll. Just up from the island’s jetty, the former monastery complex contains a fascinating network of walled gardens featuring colonnades and clipped ornamental hedges. These gardens featured extensively in various scenes of the HBO series Game of Thrones.
The best of Lokrum’s rocky beaches are beyond the monastery on the island’s southeast side. Here you’ll find a small salt lake named the Dead Sea (Mrtvo more) just inland, and a naturist beach at the island’s southern tip.
Lokrum island © Shutterstock
Towering above Dubrovnik to the north, the 412m summit of
There’s much more to Croatia than its glittering Adriatic coast.
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