Dubrovnik: The Walled City on the Adriatic

Dubrovnik is almost too much. A walled city of pale limestone polished to a shine by centuries of feet, ringed by sea ramparts, dropped against a blue Adriatic — it's the kind of place that looks unreal in photographs and then turns out to look exactly like that. Which is the problem: everyone knows. The cruise ships and the Game of Thrones tours arrive by mid-morning, and the old town, which is small, fills up fast.

The city is still worth it. You just have to be there at the right hours.

Walk the walls — at the right hour

The one essential is to walk the city walls, a near-two-kilometre loop along the ramparts with the terracotta roofs on one side and the sea on the other. It is also where everyone else goes, in the heat of the day, in single file. So go right at opening, or in the last hour before they close at sunset — cooler, emptier, and golden. It's a different experience entirely.

The old town, slowly

The rest of the old town rewards the same trick: be in it early and late. At dawn the marble main street (the Stradun) is empty and luminous; by night, after the day-trippers have gone, the side lanes and little squares belong to the people who live and stay there. Swim straight off the rocks at the Buža bars, built into the sea wall, and take the cable car up Mount Srđ for the view over the whole walled city at dusk.

Escape to the islands

When the old town fills, get on the water. Lokrum, a green nature-reserve island, is a fifteen-minute boat from the old port — botanical gardens, swimming coves, peacocks, and no cars. Further out, the Elaphiti islands (Koločep, Lopud, Šipan) are car-free, slow, and a world away from the crowds. A day on the islands is the antidote to a morning in the queues.

Beyond the city

Give yourself a reason to leave Dubrovnik too. Cavtat, a quiet seaside town just south, is where locals go to breathe; the Pelješac peninsula to the north is a coast of vineyards, oyster bays, and far fewer people. Dubrovnik is the showpiece, but the Dalmatian coast around it is where the slow days are.

How to do it slowly

Stay two or three nights in or beside the old town, walk the walls at opening, swim off the Buža, give a day to the islands, and eat dinner late when the city empties. Come in May, June, or September — spring and early autumn are warm and swimmable without the high-summer crush.

Still choosing your corner of the Mediterranean? Take the quiz. For more of the coast slowly, see Positano in Italy and the quiet Greek islands.