The Pile and Ploce Gates, the two entrances to Dubrovnik’s Old Town, sometimes have drawbridges that rise during the night hours, forcing visitors who want to enter to wait outside its stone walls until morning. The bridges are no longer lifting, but the bottlenecks of morning visitors still remain.
This compact, seaside city in Croatia has drawn millions of travelers from around the world for years. Its popularity grew when HBO’s “Game of Thrones” used it as its main location and visitors soon overran the city, especially in the summer. Officials have introduced measures to manage crowds without limiting the number of visitors, but according to the Croatian National Tourist Board, this year is on pace to be the city’s busiest ever.
However, a trip to the “Pearl of the Adriatic” does not require huddling with other tourists, roaring like a stream of rambunctious salmon. Planning requires skillful timing, a little sacrifice and a little luck. Here are six ways to get started.
Play the cruise ship schedule
Dubrovnik is a mainstay on the itineraries of cruise ships navigating the Mediterranean, and 377,000 passengers disembarked last year, according to Port Authority of the city. This year that number could jump to 500,000, as up to five ships are expected to arrive daily during the high season.
Each cruise ship arrival sends an avalanche of humanity into Old Town, usually between 7 and 9 a.m. During this surge, several hundred to several thousand people gather at the two gates, waiting in lines until two hours to get into the Old Town , and then usually break off to check out the city’s biggest draws — its ramparts, the main street, or Stradun, or the sights associated with “Game of Thrones.”
To avoid joining the ebb and flow of cruise ship passengers, track the port’s schedule online. The Port Authority Schedule and sites like Cruise Dig offers cruise ship arrival times as well as potential passenger numbers disembarking. The number of passengers arriving is more important than the number of ships.
A two-hour buffer is enough to avoid crowds at the gates, the Jesuit Stairs (best known from the “Walk of Shame” scene in “Game of Thrones”) or other major city attractions.
The city also offers Dubrovnik Visitors, an online resource which estimates how crowded the Old Town is at any given time, and also uses machine learning to predict visitor numbers for future dates.
Leave the golden-hour photo shoot behind
The streets of the city are quite empty in the afternoon. Day-trippers shuffle out while other visitors rush the city walls for selfies or even the occasional marriage proposal in front of the setting sun. Golden hour is a better time to go to the Old Town, with a stop by Onofrio’s Fountains before getting lost in the narrow lanes and streets.
If you need a photo you can hashtag, check out the passages and stairs below the walls for unique shots; there will be less doubt for space.
But don’t skip the city walls entirely. The undulating terra-cotta roofs flowing towards the distant, sparkling Adriatic Sea remain a unique sight in Dubrovnik. It is best experienced as soon as the walls open at 8 am, before the crowds and before sunrise. A visit is 35 euros ($38), but the Dubrovnik Passwhich cost the same, offers access to the city walls as well as discounts to other attractions and free public transport.
Breathe in a monastery
Find a break from the congestion by ducking into one of the city’s two monasteries and their courtyards. Each offers stone walkways lined by arches, with lush greenery in the middle and history everywhere. They are open daily from 9 am to 6 pm
The 14th century Franciscan Monastery, just beyond the Pile Gate, features elegant colonnades surrounding a courtyard with a small fountain and orange and palm trees (admission: €6). Next door is the oldest operating pharmacy in Europe, with formulas, tools and tincture bottles on display.
The Dominican Monastery, closer to Ploce Gate, offers a grander version of the same charms, housed within a larger complex blended with the city’s fortifications (€5).
In both monasteries, the atmosphere encourages hushed tones and meditative silence, perhaps a good place to sip water while contemplating Dubrovnik’s capacity for simultaneously preserving and commodifying its historic beauty.
Find life outside the walls
Seasoned travelers often sneak into the neighborhoods of Gruz and Lapad to find better cuisine, easier access to nature and fewer crowds. These neighborhoods are the de facto urban heart of Dubrovnik, where many of the approximately 40,000 locals actually live, and can be reached from the Old Town by a 30-minute walk or a 10 minutes by bus or by taxi.
The waterfront in Gruz offers relaxed dining as well as a nightclub, Club Dubaiand local craft brewery, the Dubrovnik Beer Company. For traditional seafood dishes under a vaulted ceiling, have anything grilled Glorijet. One of the city’s more imaginative vegetarian restaurants, Urban and Vegetableoffers homemade gnocchi with cashew Parmesan and refreshing lemon tarts.
Opposite Gruz, Lapad’s lush greenery includes Velika and Mala Petka Forest Park. A promenade along the sea wall reveals several improvised swimming areas and a beach.
The neighborhood eateries here offer a varied, experimental, and unique experience. Ponat Beach Bar has a smooth combination of beach bites and drinks that will make your night last past midnight. Or drink coffee or a nightcap Cave Bar More — which claustrophobic guests are likely to skip.
A green oasis, offshore
What contrasts Dubrovnik’s impressive city walls and terra-cotta roofs? An island covered in pine, cypress and olive trees, just offshore.
Lokrum Island, a 10-minute ferry ride away, is one of the few places that even locals visit to beat the summer crowds. The island has a visitor center, bars and restaurants, but also botanical gardens and peacocks that roam the ruins of an abandoned medieval. monastery.
The more adventurous can head to FKK Rocks, in the southeast corner of the island, to partake in Croatia’s long history of nudist beaches (bring a thick towel – the rocks can be uncomfortable to bare skin).
In the visitor center, one can find a “comfortable” seat on the original Iron Throne from “Game of Thrones,” which HBO gave to the city of Dubrovnik.
Ferries leave the Old Town port about every 30 minutes (€7). Entrance to the island, €27.
Head to the sea
Only 50 of Croatia’s 1,244 islands have permanent residents, leaving most of the truly unspoilt nature offshore. The Elaphiti Islands, six miles northwest of the Old Town, give visitors and city residents a close-up view of nature. Eight islands and five islets include secluded coves and secluded beaches that surpass most mainland swimming options. (In Croatia, the coast is public access.)
Three of the islands — Sipan, Lopud and Kolocep — have modest villages with few residents. After the hustle and bustle of Dubrovnik, time here is slower.
Renting a boat offers the best opportunity to create a day-long island-hopping itinerary, and most have skippers available for an extra fee. Prices vary, a group of four can expect to pay around €70 per person for a smaller skipper-less motor boat, with costs increasing with size ship Some companies, such as Dubrovnik Boatsoffers either custom or prepackaged tours, and craft of various sizes.
Kayaks are also available for hire, with most tour outfits located on Sulic Beach, next to Pile Gate. Again, prices vary, depending on whether you join a group tour or go solo, but expect to spend around €40 for about four hours on the water.
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