WanderLex

Tag: Eastern Europe

  • Dubrovnik Card and the Old Town

    Dubrovnik Card and the Old Town

    I woke up feeling excited as I will be spending the whole day exploring the Old Town and making good use of the pre-purchased Dubrovnik Card. Started the day with a good breakfast at Hotel Dubrovnik Palace before hopping on the next bus to Old Town. I can’t wait to check out the Pearl of Adriatic Sea in daylight glory.

    As I need the bus to reach Old Town, it make sense to buy a 1 Day Dubrovnik Card at 135 Croatian Kuna (S$27) that features unlimited bus rides (a return trip cost 24 Croatian Kuna) plus free entrance fee to City Wall which cost 100 Croatian Kuna. A visit to the museums included (40 Croatian Kuna) and it’s money well spent. Buy the card online to save 10% off the usual 150 Croatian Kuna and then pick it up at Tourist Board Office near Pile bus stop.

    Bus No. 4 with Dubrovnik Card

    Back to the Pile Gate on a very windy day and I was hoping it will not rain, not fun being caught in the rain with few sheltered places around the Old Town.

    Pile Gate at Dubrovnik Old Town

    Art vendor at Dubrovnik Old Town

    Dubrovnik Map

    Near the entrance and at the start of Placa Street (Stradun) is the Big Onofrio’s Fountain. An impressive domed fountain with more than dozen of water taps in the design of masked faces. This ancient fountain still receives water supply from a nearby spring in Sumet and it’s free for all. It should be safe to drink since I saw many people doing that and I follow suit.

    Big Onofrio's Fountain at Dubrovnik Old Town

    Placa Street Stradun

    Bell Tower of Dubrovnik Old Town

    Right at the other end of Placa Street and next to the Bell Tower is the elegantly designed Small Onofrio’s Fountain.

    Small Onofrio's Fountain at Dubrovnik Old Town

    Can you read the time on the Bell Tower?

    Bell Tower time at Dubrovnik

    It’s good to reach the Old Town during early morning where the tour groups are still missing in action. In exchange, I get to see the locals going through their daily activities.

    Local of Dubrovnik

    Pretty local of Dubrovnik

    Morning at Dubrovnik

    Morning at Dubrovnik

    Morning at Dubrovnik

    Morning market at Dubrovnik

    Another way to see the Old Town is to explore the alleys that sprawl off the main Placa Street. It’s like a visit to the backstage where you see more stuff going on behind the scene.

    Alleys of Dubrovnik

    Corner alleys of Dubrovnik

    Young boy at Dubrovnik

    Around the alleys of Dubrovnik Old Town

    Off the main street of Dubrovnik

    St Ignatius Church

    I visited St Ignatius church located on an elevated ground at the southern edge of the Old Town. One unique thing about this church is that it has an artificial cave dedicated to Our Lady of Lourdes.

    St Ignatius Church in Dubrovnik

    Interior of St Ignatius Church in Dubrovnik

    Artificial cave in St Ignatius church

    Rector Palace

    Also visited the Rector Palace (need to make the worth of my Dubrovnik card, remember? LOL) which is now a museum that presents some history of Dubrovnik through the exhibits on display. This is where the Rector would reside during his one-month mandate and venue for important meetings back in medieval Dubrovnik time.

    Rector Palace in Dubrovnik

    Interior Rector Palace

    Interior of Rector Palace

    The original Dubrovnik bronze Jacks sculptures are safe-keep in Rector Palace.

    Dubrovnik bronze Jacks

    The uniquely designed hand railing and some cool looking treasure chests.

    Hand railing of Rector Palace

    Treasure chest display at Rector Palace1

    Treasure chest display at Rector Palace

    Maritime Museum

    The next place that I used the Dubrovnik Card is the Maritime Museum located at St. John Fort. Similar to Rector Palace, the exhibits here present an overview of Dubrovnik maritime trade and shipbuilding history.

    Maritime museum of Dubrovnik

    Maritime museum of Dubrovnik2

    Maritime museum of Dubrovnik3

    Maritime museum of Dubrovnik4

    The Dubrovnik Card covers the entry fee for 5 other museums like Art Gallery Dubrovnik, Dulčić-Masle-Pulitika Gallery, Marin Držić House, Natural History Museum and Rupe Ethnographic Museum.

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  • The Adriatic city of Dubrovnik

    The Adriatic city of Dubrovnik

    Known as the Pearl of Adriatic Sea, Dubrovnik in Croatia is without a doubt one of the most beautiful coastal cities in Europe. It will be difficult not to fall in love with Dubrovnik…that medieval charm of its old town and those stunning orange-roofed buildings. Plus the beauty of its old town during nightfall is especially magical and I found myself overlooking the truckload of tourist groups who are here for perhaps the same reason.

    After the beer and resting my tired feet, I bought my ticket and board the bus from Kotor to Dubrovnik.

    Bus ticket

    The journey took almost 3 hours where the bus cruised along the scenic coastal road which overlooks the Adriatic Sea. Yet, I was seated on the side which faces the opposite side of coastal road…boo…

    Dubrovnik main bus station

    It was already late afternoon when I arrived at Dubrovnik Main Bus Station located at Gruž Port so I got myself a taxi to Hotel Dubrovnik Palace to save me some time.

    Check in, Backpack off, wander I go!

    While Hotel Dubrovnik Palace is not situated near the Old Town, it’s a mere 10-minute ride away from the bus stop right in front of the hotel via the ‘Hotel Palace – Pile’ local bus No. 4. Buying your bus tickets from the reception beforehand will be cheaper as compared to buying on board from the driver, 12 Croatian Kuna (S$2.50) versus 15 Croatian Kuna.

    Hotel from the bus stop

    I was already mesmerised by the forts and the sunset view upon alighting at Pile bus stop. It’s beautiful, just beautiful.

    Nice view from Pile bus stop

    Sunset view

    Sunset and fortress

    Near Tourist Office at Pile Gate

    Nice Sunset

    Nightfall at Dubrovnik Old Town

    A short walk from the bus stop brought me to Pile Gate (Gradska Vrata Pile), the main entrance of the Old Town.

    Pile Gate of Dubrovnik

    Street at evening

    Corner street at evening

    It’s less crowded than I thought, perhaps the day trippers have already left, which means they are missing out the magical moment of Dubrovnik Old Town…something like this…

    Amazing combination of sunset colours and the lights along Placa Street (Stradun) leading to Bell Tower, I love it!

    Nightfall at Dubrovnik Old Town

    The blue hour and those whitewashed buildings make an equally stunning pair.

    Church Of Saint Blaise
    Church Of Saint Blaise

    Another great place to enjoy the blue hour moment is the Old Port (Gradska luka).

    Old port of Dubrovnik

    St John fort at nightfall

    Skala boat at old port of Dubrovnik

    Boats at old port

    Old port area of Dubrovnik

    Not far from the Old Port are the Dubrovnik Cathedral and Rector’s Palace.

    Cathedral
    Dubrovnik Cathedral
    Rector's Palace
    Rector’s Palace

    I would have continued wandering around but my stomach protested violently and demanded to be fed LOL. To that, it’s not hard to find places to eat around the old town – there’re restaurants almost everywhere I turned. I settled for Restaurant Konoba Penatur amid being tourist-trap-looking, which one isn’t anyway?

    Menu of Restaurant Konoba Penatur

    Live music at Restaurant Konoba Penatur

    Thankfully, the 37 Euro fresh seafood platter and the soup turned out better than I thought.

    Seafood platter meal

    The streets get even quieter after dinner and a joy to walk around. Besides the restaurants, most of the other shops (majority are selling tourist souvenir) have already closed for the day.

    Gundulic square at night

    Placa Street at night

    Street of old town at night

    Another restaurant along the street

    I decided to head back for an early rest (it’s only 9 pm…) and be back here in the morning next day.

    Clock in front of Pile bus stop

    STAY: Hotel Dubrovnik Palace review

    ‘Best hotel!’ said the taxi driver who drove me over from Dubrovnik Main Bus Station. Nestled in a rocky cove of Lapad peninsula, Hotel Dubrovnik Palace lobby is like any modern hotel but with a stunning view of Adriatic Sea, the exact reason why I opt to stay here instead of Old Town.

    Hotel Lobby

    Another unique thing about the hotel is that the reception level is on the top floor while the rooms are at lower floors, took me a while to get used to. Yup, totally upside down but that ensures every room to have a gorgeous sea view.

    Upside down Hotel Lift

    The longish rectangular room is spacious and extend to a private balcony good for watching the sunset. Everything else in the room was perfect and quiet for a good night rest on its comfortable bed. Tasty breakfast, good WiFi signals, friendly staffs were an additional bonus.

    There’s a tourist tax of 7 Croatian Kuna per night during my stay.

    Nice bedroom

    Bedroom of Hotel Dubrovnik Palace

    Bathroom of Hotel

    With an incredible sea view like this, I wouldn’t even hesitate to stay here again when I revisit Dubrovnik. It’s that good.

    Room balcony

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