When is the best time to visit the city walls of Dubrovnik and how to get free drinks
August 16, 2020
Zdravo Dubrovnik! I’ve done it, I’ve probably found one of the most beautiful cities in the world. Where is Dubrovnik again and how do I get there? The exciting thing is that the Dubrovnik region is actually cut off from the rest of Croatia. You can only reach Dubrovnik by land if you travel a short distance through Bosnia and Herzegovina. The only way to avoid this border crossing is to take a ferry from Ploce to Trpanj. Since the short transit by car is also allowed at Covid times, I took the overland route via Bosnia and Herzegovina to refuel the car again at a reasonable price. Here a short part of the route.
I was told in advance that entering Bosnia and Herzegovina can also cause problems if you do not have a green car insurance policy. I have this available but I was not asked by the Bosnian border police about the insurance policy. Instead, during my 30-minute transit through Bosnia and Herzegovina I was checked very carefully by the Croatian border police when I re-entered the country. “Do you have something do declare?”, “We are looking for drugs today!”, “Would you do a drug test?” “When was the last time you have taken drugs? Anyway, I was a bit surprised because I’ve never been checked “so vigorously” at a border checkpoint. After about 80 border crossings I can say this with certainty. Do my new circles under my eyes (which hopefully are signs of age or suggest that I don’t get enough sleep) make me look like I take drugs every day? In any case, I studied my counterpart quite carefully and actually found the conversation quite exciting. In the end I neither had to take a drug test nor was my car examined. But when I think about the fact that all cars in front of me were allowed to cross the border without being stopped for more than 10 seconds… it is quite astonishing that they took 5 minutes for me. But maybe I just look so nice that people want to spend more time with me? I hope this is it haha
When I arrived in Dubrovnik you don’t see much of the beauty I will tell you about later. Most great sights are on the other side of the Adriatic Sea. But I was not ready for all the sights anyway. I was really hungry and today was the quarterfinal of the Champions Leauge, FC Bayern München against Barcelona. For me as an enthusiastic Bayern-fan, it was an absolute highlight. Quarterfinal of the Championsleauge! Yay! And then also the great FC Barcelona against my FC Bayern. My team, which fights every year to beat a Spanish team again. Full of anticipation, I put on my Bayern jersey and looked for a suitable pub in the city. Here are some pictures of the Celtic Glasgow pub where I watched the game. Take a look at the toilet. Great place haha
And yes… I don’t have to say much about the actual game anymore. It’s absolutely amazing, 8-2! Unbelievable! It’s nice to see that. The pub was full and besides my cheering cries I could also hear the cheering cries of a barca fan… well, at the beginning. In any case we talked in the half time at the score of 4:1 shortly about the game. He Dario, from Zagreb was very disappointed but wanted to have at least a little joy in the second half. So he suggested that we make a deal from now on. If Barcelona scores a goal, I’ll buy him a drink… if Bayern scores a goal, he’ll buy me a drink. Well… I got some free drinks and in the end even he could laugh after all the drinks!
All in all a historic victory in an extraordinary atmosphere with new friends with whom I celebrated for a few more hours.
Well, the next day started off like a classic New Year’s day… with a little hangover. Around shortly after 8 o’clock in the morning I decided that I should spend it better on one of the many beaches around Dubrovnik.
I spent the day very relaxed, celebrated all the unbelievable moments and goals from the evening before in mind again and checked in to my new hostel. At the reception I was advised not to go into the city before the evening because it’s just incredibly hot. “The best is, you go tot he beach now” haha. They also recommended me to visit the city wall shortly before closing time, because it is unbelievably beautiful at sunset and especially much more pleasant from the heat. No sooner said than done! Here you can find the current opening hours and entrance fees for the city wall in Dubrovnik, which change month by month: https://www.wallsofdubrovnik.com/info-ticket-prices-working-hours/
The city wall is about 2 km long and leads around the old town. Half an hour before the official closing I visited the city wall. The city wall is still open for about 45 minutes longer. Shortly after the closing time someone from the staff walks down the city wall and asks everyone to go towards the exit. And… what can I say… it is unbelievably fantastic what a view over the city you have from the city wall. How unbelievably well the old town is preserved left me standing up there sometimes really speechless. Many know the location from the series Game of Thrones under “Kings Landing”. And, believe me… it really is absolutely amazing! I was standing partly stunned on top of the city wall and I just couldn’t believe how beautiful the old town is. Enclosed a recommendable video with the sunset and numerous pictures I took. If you should visit it soon, be happy!
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Deutsch
Hi Tobi,
wow – tolle Bilder/Filmchen von einer wunderschönen Stadt.
Wie war der Betrieb ohne Kreuzfahrtschiffe?
Grüße von Mosel City
Udo
Ja, wirklich wahnsinnig schön hier. Es scheint deutlich weniger los zu sein und die Hostels sind alle halb leer. Strände sind auch super, sehr empfehlenswert derzeit 🙂