The first stop on my Celebrity Infinity cruise was the city of Dubrovnik in Croatia. Dubrovnik is probably best known nowadays as being the setting of “King’s Landing” in the HBO show Game of Thrones, but this is a city steeped in history, like most cities in Europe. I will say right now that despite the amount of walking that I did, Dubrovnik was probably the best day trip I had during my cruise.
I was looking at the views around me while I was on the top deck of the cruise ship, as the ship was sailing into port. The surrounding hills, mountains, and overall natural beauty floored me. As the ship pulled closer to port, I looked straight ahead to see the big bridge and the city of Dubrovnik come into view. It was a breathtaking sight, and I knew there would be more of these to come.
The cruise ship docked, and I disembarked the ship. This was the moment I officially felt like I was halfway around the world, and half-a-world away from home. Our tour organizer (not the subject of the title) took us in buses to a public square just outside the Old Town of Dubrovnik. There, I met my actual tour guide who was going to show us around the Old Town.
Fortified walls surrounded the Old Town of Dubrovnik, as the Old Town was a walled city at some point in the past. We passed through the gate and entered the Old Town proper.
We were on the Main Street, called the Stradun, and everything on this street looked so unnaturally clean. All the buildings were this whitish-beige color and I was walking on floors that looked like they were made of marble. The Old Town had numerous churches, as well as the typical overpriced restaurants and souvenir shops.
Many of the souvenir shops had signs saying “Official Game of Thrones Merchandise” in an obvious bid to lure tourists who are fans of the show. The prices of the merchandise were extremely expensive and you were better off ordering GoT merchandise on Amazon or something.
We left the Stradun and ventured into the narrow streets of the Old Town. Our tour guide started to talk about some of the locations of scenes from Game of Thrones. One such instance was when we got to the Jesuit Stairs, which was the setting of a very famous scene from Game of Thrones. I will let you figure out what scene it was. It was surreal to see that location, as well as walk around what was King’s Landing in the show.
Our tour guide took us to the port of the Old Town of Dubrovnik, and once again, the views of the port with the town on top of the hills were awesome. I should also mention that the day itself was hot, but beautiful. Our tour guide for the Old Town was knowledgeable about Dubrovnik (as she lived here) as well as Croatian history. I should also mention that she was genuinely one of the most stunning girls I have ever met on my overall European trip, and I had a crush from the moment I saw her.
After the tour, we went in some vans as they took us to various sights to take pictures. The first place was a viewpoint just past the big bridge. The view offered a picturesque sight of the bridge and the city of Dubrovnik on the lagoon. This was the first truly spectacular view I have seen in Dubrovnik, and we were about to go to the second one.
The vans then took us to a viewpoint on Srd Hill, which was the hill overlooking the city. There were many jagged rocks to traverse to get to the perfect spot for a picture, but when I took my pictures, they were computer-wallpaper ready. The islands and the terracotta roofs of the houses made for an unbelievable sight.
After this, the vans took us back to the Old Town for some free time, so that was a good time to do some more walking and grab something to eat. There was a beach in Dubrovnik but there was not enough time to do some proper swimming.
As I was walking, we witnessed a wedding party take some pictures. Our tour guide told us that Dubrovnik is a popular place for destination weddings due to the unique surroundings of the area.
I got a pizza from a pizzeria in the Old Town, and it was better than any pizza I had in Italy (which is a discussion for another post). Overall, this was an enlightening, but exhausting day trip. Some of the views in Dubrovnik and the surrounding area were some of the most beautiful I have ever seen. The Old Town of Dubrovnik was one of the most unique cities I have ever been in. The Croatian people I spoke to were all so nice and welcoming, despite the overcrowding of tourists (like myself). I would love to come back to Dubrovnik again at some point, or just Croatia in general.
A bunch more photos and videos are below:
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| This is the Amerling Fountain, which is a water fountain with drinkable Croatian spring water. |
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