After spending the day with our private driver, we arrived in Dubrovnik in the late afternoon on Friday August 16. We stayed at an Airbnb during our visit, about a 10-15 minute walk from Old Town. Our Airbnb was closest to Ploče Gate, the Eastern entrance to Old Town. On Friday evening when we first walked through Ploče Gate, I got chills. I felt like we were walking into King’s Landing or another era. Old Town Dubrovnik is absolutely beautiful lit up at night. We ate dinner at Gradska kavana Arsenal, overlooking the streets of Old Town. After dinner we explored the cobblestone streets – it’s so romantic walking the city at night.
Saturday August 17
On Saturday I booked us the Game of Thrones walking tour and added the optional Trsteno Arboretum tour. The walking tour is approximately 3 hours and then the arboretum tour is an additional 2 hours. If you are a Game of Thrones fan you must take this tour (even if it is a long day of walking).
The walking tour takes you around the historical streets of Old Town and shows various filming sites for Game of Thrones. Our guide was lovely and added in Croatian history as well. Some highlights of the tour included:
- Lovrijenac Fortress, an 11th-century fortress perched high above the sea, where multiple Red Keep locations were filmed.
- Jesuit Staircase and St. Dominic Street were featured as the starting point and ending point of Cersei’s iconic walk of shame.
- Filming location for the Battle of Blackwater Bay and also where the Starks say goodbye to one another in the last episode.
- The church bells that set off Danny to burn the city of Kings Landing.
After the walking tour was over, our guide and a driver drove us to Trsteno Arboretum. Trsteno Arboretum is one of the oldest arboretums in Croatia and was used as the palace gardens in Kings Landing. You don’t need to be a Game of Thrones fan to appreciate the arboretum.
Sunday August 18
On Sunday we spent the day at Lokrum Island. The island is a nature reserve only a 15-20 minute boat ride from Dubrovnik. Jeremy and I spent the day and walked around the entire island so we could see all the main attractions (see the map of Lokrum Island). However, if you don’t have a day you can still see most sites in a few hours. One cool thing to note – as you walk around the island you’ll see peacocks running wild. We saw some baby peacocks!
Game of Thrones was also filmed on Lokrum Island, most notably as the city of Qarth. We had lunch by the Monastery Complex which you will recognize in the show. The Monastery Complex has a Game of Thrones exhibit and one of the actual Iron Thrones used in filming on display. After visiting the main sites on Lokrum Island (including the Gardens of Maximilian, Fort Royal, Well of Charlotte, the botanical gardens among the other sites), we spent the rest of our afternoon swimming at the Dead Sea.
At dusk we walked the city walls – which I highly recommend! First, you beat the heat from the day and it’s less crowded. We watched the most spectacular sunset from the city walls which was definitely one of our most memorable nights we had in Dubrovnik. Note, if you end up booking the Game of Thrones walking tour, the tickets also include entrance to walk the city walls once (an added bonus since you have to pay to walk the city walls).
Monday August 19
On our last day we took our time exploring Old Town Dubrovnik. Then, we had dinner at Restaurant 360, a Michelin starred fine dining restaurant. Restaurant 360 has the best location in the city – if you can splurge the service and sunset views are worth it.
Tuesday August 20
On Monday we had an afternoon flight to Athens, Greece so we grabbed brunch in the morning at Gradska kavana Arsenal (again) and visisted the Cable car overlooking the city.
Accommodations
- Airbnb – Our Airbnb was clean and our hosts were lovely. However, I wish we had stayed within the city walls.
Things to Do
- Explore Old Town – Lots of restaurants, bars and shops
- Walk the city walls
- Game of Thrones walking tour
- Lovrijenac Fortress
- Trsteno Arboretum
- Lokrum Island
- Take the Cable car
- Day trip to Montenegro – We didn’t do this but if we had more time, we would have gone.
Places to Eat
- Gradska kavana Arsenal – We ended up eating here multiple times because the location was amazing and the food was great as well. We ate dinner twice and had brunch on our last day before departing.
- Kopun – We ate dinner here one night. The restaurant is in a cool location near the Jesuit Staircase and features traditional Croatian cuisine.
- Restaurant 360 – As you would expect a Michelin starred fine dining restaurant to be, the service was impeccable and the tasting menu was interesting. Jeremy and I realized we aren’t really tasting menu people (we like larger portions), but if a tasting menu is your thing and you want to splurge go for it. The views itself are worth it. I don’t think there is another restaurant in the city with better views.
xx,
Lauren
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