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Snapshot: Dubrovnik, Croatia

Snapshots are mini town/city guides for smaller places or cities I have only experienced briefly. Here’s a little snapshot of Dubrovnik.

Main Street in Old Town

What are one’s first impressions of Dubrovnik?

Overcrowded, overpriced and over-rated. Even in mid September, the place was chock-a-block with festering tourists. Don’t get me wrong – it’s very, very pretty, but after Montenegro this place is quite underwhelming. Everybody raves about this medieval masterpiece, and if it was my first stop on an Adriatic excursion I would too, but compared to the rest of Balkans the locals are unfriendly pricks, it’s fucking expensive and unless you are here in peak season the night-life isn’t up to much either.  Worth a look though… I guess.

What are the women like?

Similar to Montenegrins, Croatian girls are tall and dress very well. “If you’ve got it, flaunt it” is a statement very much endorsed. In general though, Croatians can be quite dour and are not nearly as friendly as many of their Balkan and Mediterranean counterparts. This is more so in Dubrovnik than other parts of the country. Tourists are in abundance and you are about as exotic as a Mars bar. In all likelihood you will probably end up pulling a tourist. Northern Croatia is much better if you want a local.

Where should I go at night-time?

I can only speak from my experience, which was in the latter end of September. In the two nights me and my friends spent here we went to pretty much every bar that was open. The Gaffe, an Irish pub, is a great spot with reasonably priced pints too (€3.50). The side streets off the main street in the old town host many little watering holes as well. At the end of the night, everybody ends up in Fuego nightclub. It’s shit, but enjoy it because it’s the only option outside of the June-August window.

Any other recommendations?

A walk around the city walls is decent enough. In this authors opinion, 2 days/1 night in Dubrovnik is enough. Spent the money and shell out for a place near the old town, something we regretted not doing. At €4 for a shitty little 250ml bottle of beer in many bars, get a few into you back home before you go out.

The Bottom Line

Worth a gander, but not a patch on Montenegro.

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8 Responses to Snapshot: Dubrovnik, Croatia

  1. Drew July 27, 2011 at 3:45 pm #

    just stumbled across your site. very impressive list of travels. i am going to e.e. next month, was going to land in kiev and take it from there. crimea, bulgaria, montenegro, croatia, greece, turkey … everything is in play potentially… do you have a list of your top east europe places for: girls, climate, cool factor, cost of living etc? for instance i had not considered macedonia as a destination until i read your post. i have been all over asia, usa, canada and parts of south america… but the furthest east into europe i have been is the czech republic. i did not like it much though after experiencing the netherlands.

    best,
    drew

  2. O_D_E_Z September 12, 2012 at 6:57 am #

    HI ! I sumboled upon this site .. and as I reference point I took Dubrovnik (coz I am from there) and to see if you share same viewpoints as me (unlike all other shitty Lonley Planet like guides) And I must say … ALL TRUE !!!
    Hahaha I added this web to my bookmarks .. will share to my friends 😉

    So I know what to expect … where to look (naughtynomad.com avcours) for decent review !!

  3. Alex March 8, 2017 at 6:42 am #

    Thanks for all the good info on this website. Me and 2 of my buddies (3 guys in late 20s/ early 30s) are planning a trip to Eastern Europe from Canada. We plan to be there from end of June to mid July. We picked the cities by doing some research here and other sources. Can you tell us what you think of the plan ( i.e if this is too much for 16 days or doable without getting too exhausted)? Do you suggest making any changes to this plan, we can skip one city if we have to (for example either Belgrade, Budapest or Ljubljana). If you think we should skip a city which one do you suggest to skip? . We mainly want some beach/sun to relax, good crowd/nightlife based on your point system :), and some sightseeing. Here is the plan:

    Day 0: Fly out from Canada at night (Thursday Night)
    Day 1: Budapest (Arrive in Budapest Friday afternoon)
    Day 2: Budapest
    Day 3: Budapest
    Day 4: Ljubljana (leave Budapest in the morning by train and Arrive here in the afternoon)
    Day 5: Ljubljana
    Day 6: Ljubljana
    Day 7: Split (Take train in the morning from LJU to Zagreb , rent car, drive to Split – 7 hrs)
    Day 8: Hvar (Take Fast Ferry in the morning to Hvar get there before noon – 4.5 hrs)
    Day 9: Hvar
    Day 10: Dubrovnik (Take ferry in the morning to Dubrovnik, 3.5 hrs)
    Day 11: Dubrovnik
    Day 12: Budva (Take a bus to Budva in the morning – 2.5 hrs)
    Day 13: Budva (Day trip to Kotor – by bus)
    Day 14: Budva
    Day 15: Belgrade (Drive from Budva to Podgorica 1hr and then fly to Belgrade 1.5 hr)
    Day 16: Belgrade
    Day 17: Belgrade (Fly back Mid-day on Sunday to Canada from here, arrive Sunday night)

  4. Mark March 11, 2018 at 12:10 pm #

    I’ve been looking over your travels, and they’re all GREAT. But you should’ve taken random pictures of the women you met there and posted them here for us to see the quality and let us judge for ourselves if they’re hot or not!

    • Mark Zolo March 14, 2018 at 2:06 pm #

      I used to do that. Bad idea.

Trackbacks/Pingbacks

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