Overview to Dubrovnik: Travel Guide and Tourist Information
At the southernmost tip of Croatia, Dubrovnik is one of Europe’s most attractive cities. A confusing warren of tightly packed streets and alleyways, charming red tiled houses and fine churches and palaces, it’s also an important (and UNESCO protected) historical site.
The Stari Grad (Old Town) is bound in by the thick walls of Gradske Zidine. These, in turn, are surrounded by the gleaming blue waters of the Adriatic. And it’s from this vantage point that the perplexing layout of the small town center can be more easily worked out.
The city’s major sights include the impressive Sponza Palace, a Franciscan Monastery and the Minceta Fortress which rises from the walls to the north. Ultimately, though, the town itself is the major draw, with an idyllic street or square around practically every corner.
While Dubrovnik's main street, Stradun, is undoubtedly pleasant, eating and drinking is cheaper elsewhere. The south of the Old Town (around the old market square of Gunduliceva Poljana) has a cluster of pleasantly rustic places.
Nightlife-wise, Dubrovnik is essentially a fairly quiet town and little bars full of character are more the flavor than thumping super-clubs. Summer nights in the city, however, are dominated by the cultural explosion of the Dubrovnik Summer Festival.
Either side of Dubrovnik, wonderfully scenic beaches and secluded coves of cerulean blue waters extend in both directions along the Dalmatian Coast. Beach purists might prefer the quiet little coves of Lokrum, though, to the hordes of sunbathers on nearby Lazareti.
Dubrovnik is a rare delight. Other than stare in wide-eyed amazement at its compact, self-contained beauty, there’s little else to do. But that doesn’t stop the many travelers who flock to the city and spend several days doing just that...
