First Stop Atop the City

Cue Game of Thrones theme music.

My number one activity, day one in Dubrovnik, was to walk the City Walls. All of them.

Ok, look me in the eyes as I say this to you.

Look me in the eyes.

If you are going to walk the Dubrovnik City Walls, for the love of God wear sunscreen.

I don’t care if you grew up on the lakes of Minnesota and never burned, you will burn here. Oh, your burns always just turn to tans within 24 hours? You’ll have tan lines from these burns one year from now, if not for the rest of your life.

(Also don’t wear a chunky necklace or wear a top with a unique neckline.)

You will be walking atop the city for a few hours, depending on how quickly you walk or how slowly you take in the views and architecture. Even in the springtime, the Croatian sun was beating down on us at the top of the city, and it was scalding. My burns were unreal.

On a similar note, make sure to bring water along with you! There will be vendors and restaurants along the way, but you can save yourself a little money by bringing your own water with you.

To tour the City Walls, you can either purchase a singular ticket here.

You can also purchase a Dubrovnik City Pass, which I would highly recommend. The cost is only slightly higher than the singular City Walls tickets, and it includes admission to many other sites within Dubrovnik. Check it out here!

The Dubrovnik City Walls are a UNESCO heritage site, for good reason.

The history contained here is unreal.

Thinking about the footsteps that have brushed across these stones across their long history was wild.

The current City Walls date back to the 1400s, which is wildly impressive and difficult to comprehend.

I entered Dubrovnik’s Old Town at the Pile Gate nearly each time I went into the city.

This is the most popular entrance of Old Town, and I’ll say that while most of the time, it was extremely easy to get in and out of the city, during one of our days visiting, a cruise docked in Dubrovnik, and traffic was crazy during that time.

Once you enter Old Town via the Pile Gate, you’ll see an entrance to the City Walls to your left, across from Onofrio’s Fountains. You’ll climb a set of stairs to embark on your Dubrovnik adventure!

Right out of the gate (pun intended), you’ll see gorgeous, iconic views of Dubrovnik’s red-roofed city.

You’ll also notice views that are extremely reminiscent of Game of Thrones immediately.

You also get a view of the Stradun below. The Stradun is the Main Street of Old Town, and if you explore the space, you’ll become very familiar with it. You can see how empty the streets were during our visit. I’ll also note that there were rarely vehicles driving down the streets, but I believe there were several out doing some cleanup, as we started our daily fairly early. The streets of the Stradun were always impeccable, so I believe the City cleans them each morning so they are fresh and bright.

Back to the walls.

There were a few spots where you could walk into structures along the wall, which was extremely cool.

Imagine walking through this during its prime.

Immediately behind you at this entrance, you’ll also see Fort Minčeta in the distance – my first compulsion was to head that way, but I was overwhelmed with each of the gorgeous views.

I followed the flow of traffic toward the ocean views, knowing I would eventually make my way to the Fort.

Throughout the walk, there were several lookout towers that you could walk into.

Some of the views were phenomenal through the towers – including this one of Fort Lovrijenac.

Would not have complained if I had been stationed at this lookout. I would have been looking out all day.

On the opposite side, views of Fort Minčeta.

I mean, come on! I want to walk these walls all over again!

I clearly had a terrible time.

Ah, look at me. So young. So naive. So un-sunburned.

There were lots of bits and pieces along the way that I wondered about – like what kind of artillery was locked into these little loops that have lasted the test of time?

I also wondered if city residents had annual passes to the walls? Maybe you’d never want to walk them and encounter tourists if you lived here, but I would be an absolute sucker for a morning walk around the walls every day if I lived here. Imagine this being your morning cruise.

There was something about these archways and vines that was incredibly romantic to me.

I wondered what this space was now – you can see modern stairs installed at the far end. What were these areas once, and what are they now?

As you round the corner of the walls, you get a glimpse at the path ahead.

At this point you’ll be questioning if this is real life.

More Game of Thrones views.

This particular stretch of the wall felt cool to me – I was still in my stage of disbelief in getting to travel to such a beautiful place, and explore a wonderful historic spot.

As you walk along the ocean-side of the walls, you’ll get glimpses of Lokrum Island in the distance.

Look, we’re going to be mentioning a lot of Game of Thrones throughout this Dubrovnik series. And can you blame me? So much of the series was filmed here, and on this particular island scenes from the city of Qarth were filmed.

I ended up traveling to Lokrum Island during this trip, so stay tuned for scenes from that adventure!

In between segments of the wall were glimpses into the lives of the Croatians who lived there.

Laundry dried by the breezes of the sea.

There were little restaurants along the route, so if you wanted to stop for a bite to eat (or take a break from the sunshine under a large umbrella) you could do so.

Some of them would require a slight exit down from the walls, but still conveniently located near your route.

I was super excited to get a close look at some of the red-orange roofs along the route, as well. Some of the path took you directly in front of them.

So cool.

I wonder what the maintenance is like on those guys.

Gorgeous, gorgeous city.

There were a few vendors selling jewelry and trinkets along the way, some of which were cool, and some of which felt touristy. There were a few art shops that we stopped in, and a few jewelry vendors we looked at.

I’m picky about jewelry I buy on vacation, because some of it is so highly manufactured that it doesn’t really feel like a true souvenir, but I did buy a pair of handmade earrings from a vendor here that I wear quite frequently.

There was also a sign on a building that said Salvatore, which I appreciated as someone who comes from a line of Salvatores!

I tried soaking in all the details – the locks with initials carved into them.

The tiny little plants popping out of the cracks in the walls, looking over the port.

The statues looking out over the ocean, keeping watch.

The windows, framing the views perfectly.

The cannons, glimpses into the past.

Aside from the obvious distance you’ll be walking, you’ll also tackle a fair handful of stairs, so make sure you wear comfy shoes.

Mid-way through your walk, you’ll see the port, which was one of my favorite parts of the city.

My favorite restaurant in the city sits right at those arches. Could absolutely not recommend Gradska Kavana Arsenal more. Chef’s kiss.

The birds here were must be paid actors by the city, because they fluttered right through a few of my favorite shots.

I hope they’re paid well.

Look at how blue the water is at the port.

I want to jump right into that!

Check out the gorgeous arches along the route – the stonework is so beautiful and cool.

Finally, we were coming in on the homestretch, and Fort Minčeta was back in our sights.

She’s so regal.

Along this section of the route, you’re close to the back edge of Old Town, so the ocean and the red-roofed city is all to your left. These were some of my favorite views from the whole route.

Oh hi, Lokrum Island.

Fancy meeting you here.

There’s a small section that sticks out to the right of the route – I’d highly recommend taking a peek here, as you can see the exterior of the wall around Fort Minčeta, which was stunning to look at. Think of the work that went into creating this.

At this point, you do have to start your incline up, which isn’t too bad.

Plus, more red roofs.

I’m clearly a fan.

Aaaaaat last, my love has come along.

Daenerys tries to find her dragons here at the House of the Undying, and Jon Snow also has a scene filmed climbing these set of stairs. Fort Minčeta was used for a variety of filming locations here and there.

At the top of the photo above, you’ll see a square structure at the top left of the fort.

You can enter this tiny little room through the extremely small doorway for some incredible views.

Look at the way the City Walls swirl along the coastline.

Ok last one, I had to show you all three views.

This one looked like it had a little seat. I totally would have sat there and “kept guard” and “watched for enemies.”

Here is the specific spot Daenerys was filmed looking for her dragons.

Thank God she found them.

And with that, our tour of the walls was complete. It took us around 2 and a half hours, mostly because we took our time wandering, snapping photos, and standing in wonder. I’ve never visited a place like Dubrovnik, so much of our time there was spent in awe, soaking it all in.