We boarded the beautiful Crown Princess in Venice on Friday September 21 and the ship stayed in port until 1 pm on Saturday. We had begun to meet the friends we made on Cruise Critique. We met Tom & Sue, who funny enough had the cabin right across from us. We also met Alvin & Sheila, who were on the same deck. As we sailed away from beautiful Venice, we were invited over to Tom & Sue's cabin for a 'Sail away' glass of champagne, as they had a balcony room. Very nice of them and we sure appreciated the hospitality.
We landed in Dubrovink, Croatia the next morning at 9 am.
The ship will offer a free shuttle that will take you to the Pile Gate (usually) I had been to Dubrovink once before, so I knew this was a small town that we could do on our own, no planned tours here. The ship offered several walking tours and a bus trip to Dubrovink is a beautiful Mediterranean port that is a UNESCO World Heritage site. It is one of the world's best preserved medieval cities. Even just spending a day walking around Old Town is fascinating. The town is pedestrian friendly & easy to walk. There are some steep steps going up in to the side streets, but the main road through the middle of the town (the Placa or Stradum) is flat.
The first time I was in Dubrovink a few years back, I was with 3 other friends and we walked the town in the morning and hired a small boat in the afternoon for a tour around Dubrovink for a water view. It was a beautiful day, we enjoyed very much. I knew the one thing that I wanted to do this time was to walk the city walls. You need to be in fairly good shape and ready to walk up some stairs to do this walk. You do not need to sign up for a tour, but you do need to by a ticket.
SPECIAL TIP: when you go in to the old town to buy your ticket to walk the walls, have a few Kuna's (Croatian Currency) with you. Go to the nearest ATM, get enough Kuna to pay for your ticket. The place to buy tickets is just inside the Pile Gate to your left. When you approach the ticket line, skip the line on the right, go to your left and right inside the door there is once desk where your can pay cash in Kuna for your ticket. The huge line you'll see is for people paying by credit card. The morning we were there, we walked right up and purchased our tickets, no one in the cash line. In the credit card line there was 75-100 people waiting. Lesson is to always have a few dollars of the local currency. The ability to get our tickets and get started before the rest of the crowd was totally worth the $3.50 charge on my debit card!
Now your have your tickets, head to the entrance of the wall, across from the ticket office. For me, walking the walls was one of the highlights of the day. To stroll the 1.2 miles of wall around the Old Town is a breath-taking journey. You can see everything from on top of these walls and you will go crazy trying to take the best pictures from different parts of the wall. The views of the Ocean and the town are so captivating, I think you will find this to be one of your favorite things to do on your stop in Dubrovink.
We probably took about 2 hours or so for our walk. We stopped frequently for pictures and to just stare at the beauty that could be seen from these walls built between the 13th - 16th Centuries. Make sure you take a bottle of water to drink along the route, have sun screen on and a hat.
Once we completed our walk we went in search of a Internet Cafe, as we wanted to post our location on Facebook so our friends & family would know we were OK and we had a couple of things to look up. We headed down a small side street where we saw a sign and an arrow pointing to the internet cafe. We find it and go in to find one couple on a computer, and seemingly no one else in the place. The couple looked up at us and noted our confusion and told us to go next door to the pizza place and ask for Alex, which we did. The waiters standing in the front of the restaurant shout in to the restaurant - 'Alex, internet customers!" Apparently Alex runs both the Pizzeria and the Internet cafe!
After our internet chore was taken care of we roamed the side streets looking for a good local cafe and had lunch. Afterword we went down to the port and got a ride on one of the glass bottom boats. It was nice to be out on the water however I do not recommend as a good tour. We saw very little sea life, even though there is plenty to see. If you want to see fish, take a snorkel tour. I love to snorkel and the waters in Croatia are stunningly beautiful and clear. Since it was just ATP & myself, we could not afford to do the private tour I had done last time when we had 4 people to split the cost. So if you have a nice group of 4-6, go out on the water, it is beautiful, the way to do it is on a private for hire sail boat. If there are just two of you, walk & enjoy the rest of the city. Do go down to the harbor for a stroll. The water is lovely.
Some of the other city sites include: The Clock tower, the St Blaise Church, The Maritime Museum, The Cathedral Treasury, The Franciscan Monastery & St Johns Fortress. The town itself if charming with many delightful shops, cafes and restaurants.
Our ship was docked from 9 am to 6 pm, we had to be back on board by 5:30. It was a beautiful day in Dubrovink that we enjoyed very much.
Do This: Walk the Old Town Walls
Eat This: Rozata, the traditional Dubrovnik dessert. Cream pudding with carmel sauce. A light sweet treat, simular to flan.
Don't miss: A walk down to the harbor for a close up look at the beautiful Adriatic Sea
Explore: Pick a side street of stairs and follow up up noticing the homes, Gardens and shops along the way.
Make it easy: Stop at the ATM for a few Kuna
Our next stop: Corfu Greece!
We landed in Dubrovink, Croatia the next morning at 9 am.
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| Great 'postcard' shot from above Old town |
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| Our new Friends Alvin & Sheila opted for a Segwey tour. Nice shot of the Crown Princes in the background! |
The ship will offer a free shuttle that will take you to the Pile Gate (usually) I had been to Dubrovink once before, so I knew this was a small town that we could do on our own, no planned tours here. The ship offered several walking tours and a bus trip to Dubrovink is a beautiful Mediterranean port that is a UNESCO World Heritage site. It is one of the world's best preserved medieval cities. Even just spending a day walking around Old Town is fascinating. The town is pedestrian friendly & easy to walk. There are some steep steps going up in to the side streets, but the main road through the middle of the town (the Placa or Stradum) is flat.
 |
| The Placa or main street, pedestrians only |
The first time I was in Dubrovink a few years back, I was with 3 other friends and we walked the town in the morning and hired a small boat in the afternoon for a tour around Dubrovink for a water view. It was a beautiful day, we enjoyed very much. I knew the one thing that I wanted to do this time was to walk the city walls. You need to be in fairly good shape and ready to walk up some stairs to do this walk. You do not need to sign up for a tour, but you do need to by a ticket.
SPECIAL TIP: when you go in to the old town to buy your ticket to walk the walls, have a few Kuna's (Croatian Currency) with you. Go to the nearest ATM, get enough Kuna to pay for your ticket. The place to buy tickets is just inside the Pile Gate to your left. When you approach the ticket line, skip the line on the right, go to your left and right inside the door there is once desk where your can pay cash in Kuna for your ticket. The huge line you'll see is for people paying by credit card. The morning we were there, we walked right up and purchased our tickets, no one in the cash line. In the credit card line there was 75-100 people waiting. Lesson is to always have a few dollars of the local currency. The ability to get our tickets and get started before the rest of the crowd was totally worth the $3.50 charge on my debit card!
Now your have your tickets, head to the entrance of the wall, across from the ticket office. For me, walking the walls was one of the highlights of the day. To stroll the 1.2 miles of wall around the Old Town is a breath-taking journey. You can see everything from on top of these walls and you will go crazy trying to take the best pictures from different parts of the wall. The views of the Ocean and the town are so captivating, I think you will find this to be one of your favorite things to do on your stop in Dubrovink.
We probably took about 2 hours or so for our walk. We stopped frequently for pictures and to just stare at the beauty that could be seen from these walls built between the 13th - 16th Centuries. Make sure you take a bottle of water to drink along the route, have sun screen on and a hat.
Once we completed our walk we went in search of a Internet Cafe, as we wanted to post our location on Facebook so our friends & family would know we were OK and we had a couple of things to look up. We headed down a small side street where we saw a sign and an arrow pointing to the internet cafe. We find it and go in to find one couple on a computer, and seemingly no one else in the place. The couple looked up at us and noted our confusion and told us to go next door to the pizza place and ask for Alex, which we did. The waiters standing in the front of the restaurant shout in to the restaurant - 'Alex, internet customers!" Apparently Alex runs both the Pizzeria and the Internet cafe!
After our internet chore was taken care of we roamed the side streets looking for a good local cafe and had lunch. Afterword we went down to the port and got a ride on one of the glass bottom boats. It was nice to be out on the water however I do not recommend as a good tour. We saw very little sea life, even though there is plenty to see. If you want to see fish, take a snorkel tour. I love to snorkel and the waters in Croatia are stunningly beautiful and clear. Since it was just ATP & myself, we could not afford to do the private tour I had done last time when we had 4 people to split the cost. So if you have a nice group of 4-6, go out on the water, it is beautiful, the way to do it is on a private for hire sail boat. If there are just two of you, walk & enjoy the rest of the city. Do go down to the harbor for a stroll. The water is lovely. |
| Alvin & Sheila - another great shot with the magic camera |
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| Alvin in the Jesuit Church of St Ignatious |
Some of the other city sites include: The Clock tower, the St Blaise Church, The Maritime Museum, The Cathedral Treasury, The Franciscan Monastery & St Johns Fortress. The town itself if charming with many delightful shops, cafes and restaurants.
Our ship was docked from 9 am to 6 pm, we had to be back on board by 5:30. It was a beautiful day in Dubrovink that we enjoyed very much.
Eat This: Rozata, the traditional Dubrovnik dessert. Cream pudding with carmel sauce. A light sweet treat, simular to flan.
Don't miss: A walk down to the harbor for a close up look at the beautiful Adriatic Sea
Explore: Pick a side street of stairs and follow up up noticing the homes, Gardens and shops along the way.
Make it easy: Stop at the ATM for a few Kuna
Our next stop: Corfu Greece!
Wonderful! Great pics too.
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