Dubrovnik City Walls

Croatia, Part 2: Dubrovnik City Walls

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As much as I enjoyed my solitary early-morning walk around Old Town Dubrovnik, I was excited when some of the attractions I had read about in my Lonely Planet guide started opening for the day. I started with the most obvious must-do: a walk along the city walls. The Old Town of Dubrovnik is enclosed by a mile (and a fourth) of stone walls originally built in the 9th century and later fortified with forts in the 15th century. After wandering around on the inside, it was a thrilling perspective change to climb up (82 feet at the highest point) to look down, both toward the city where I had just been…

views of Dubrovnik Old Town from City Walls (Croatia travel photos)

…and out toward the stunning Adriatic sea! (Below is St. Lawrence Fortress, often called "Dubrovnik's Gibraltar.”)

Adriatic Sea views from Dubrovnik City Walls - Croatia travel blog

I was partial to viewing the landscape through the little windows in these forts. It was sobering to think about the juxtaposition of the wartime purpose of these openings versus my incredibly peaceful experience of them.

Croatia travel photos - Dubrovnik City Walls and Adriatic Sea

Speaking of sobering observations, my Lonely Planet guide clued me in to noticing which terracotta rooftops had been replaced due to shelling damage from the 1990s. (More on this later.)

terracotta rooftops in Old Town Dubrovnik

If you look closely in the photo below, you can see a cable car heading up the mountain. I made that journey a couple days later—stay tuned.

view of Dubrovnik Cable Car from City Walls

The views of Dubrovnik City Harbor were stunning.

Dubrovnik City Harbor - Croatia Travel Photography

Right next to these vast, epic vistas were the quaintest, realest scenes of local everyday life.

laundry hanging up in Old Town Dubrovnik

There were a few drawbacks to visiting Dubrovnik in the off-season (most notably that the ferries out to the islands were not operating), but I would not trade the fact that I got to enjoy this beauty sans crowds—I only saw a few other tourists on my walk along the walls. The weather was lovely, too. There is obviously no shade on the top of the walls (except inside the little forts), so I imagine it’s very hot up there in the summer.

City Walls, Dubrovnik Old Town

I wish I had something more eloquent to say, but alas, I’ll let the photos speak for themselves.

views from Dubrovnik City Walls - Croatia Travel Blog

Still not done with day 1! Coming up next: Alex finally gets to join me—briefly. ;) Not sure if I’ll get around to that before or after I add some of these photos as prints in the shop… :)

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Dubrovnik City Walls - Croatia Travel Blog Post