Dubrovnik is located on the southern tip of Croatia, right on the Bosnia and Herzegovina and Montenegro borders. It is by far the most touristy spot in Croatia and that is because it is also the most beautiful!

The population of Dubrovnik is roughly 40,000 to 50,000 and it was named to the UNESCO Heritage List in 1979. Dubrovnik’s old town is surrounded by a 2km long wall and this is the main tourist destination.

It costs 100 kuna (about 20 cdn) to walk along the wall and it’s one of those things that you simply have to do if you spent the time coming to Dubrovnik in the first place. It took me an hour and ten minutes to walk the entirety of the wall and I would advise to start early, or make the walk later on in the day. The hordes of cruise ship passengers generally arrive midday, so combining the afternoon heat with hundreds of tourists, make the wall a far less enjoyable activity.

As I mentioned, get to the wall early! The following two pictures were taken at around noon on a weekday…

Overall, Dubrovnik is a beautiful city and there’s a reason why so many tourists flock there. It seems to be the backpacker consensus to hate on Dubrovnik and maybe my low expectations were the reason why I was pleasantly surprised. Yes, the city is overpriced. Yes, there are insane amounts of people at every turn (at least at midday). Yes, you will probably want to jump off the side walls if you stay more than a couple of days…

In fact, Dubrovnik brings about a lot of the same feelings one gets when they visit Venice. It’s absolutely marvelous when you first arrive and the first day or two are exhausting yet completely worthwhile. Likely (at least in my experience) by the time the third day rolls around, you will be so utterly sick of the crowds that the charm of the city starts to wear off. SO, to make it simple. Don’t stay too long!

But definitely go, even just for a day.. Dubrovnik is fantastically unique!