CROATIA Sept 2024 - Part One - Walking old Dubrovnik and the Islands

We visited Croatia this September and spent 15 days in this beautiful country!  

The first half of the vacation was in Dubrovnik and the surrounding area, including two days on the island of Mljet. We booked this portion of the vacation with The Natural Adventure.

They arranged our accommodations for seven nights, which included gourmet breakfasts each morning. Dinner our first night was also included at a lovely Agrotourism, in the rural village of Radovčići, 18 miles south of Dubrovnik.

The Natural Adventure gave us hiking suggestions and detailed maps of the proposed self-guided hikes for each day, ferry passes to visit the islands of Lopud and Sipan for day hikes, plus a private guided tour of old town Dubrovnik on our final day of our 7-days with them.  It was great!  

We arrived in Dubrovnik late afternoon on Friday Sept 6th. We stayed overnight in the marina town of Cavtat, just a 15-minute Uber drive from the airport at the Guest House Sol.  

Exhausted upon arrival, we got settled and took an hour nap, then we left our room at 5:30 pm to take a leisurely stroll in the Cavtat marina area, along the Rat peninsula. It felt good to stretch the legs after the many hours of airplane and airport sitting. 

We relaxed, and enjoyed the sunset views. 

along the marina, early evening

an hour later, the sun is about to set

and when it does, it is spectacular

I am where I want to be !!! I  feel the vibes and the energy and the karma, and I know this vacation will be wonderful.

Our gracious host, Jakov, at the Guest House Sol, highly recommended we dine at the Restaurant Rokotin for dinner.  It is a farther walk from the busy marina area, and sadly for the restaurant, most tourists probably don't even know about it, but we did, thanks to Jakov.

It set the "gold standard" for all of our future dining in Croatia. 

We each ordered a glass of the local red wine, and then we shared the octupus salad as our first course.

Truly the gourmet salad! Very fresh and delicious

 Nest we shared the entree, grilled squid with swiss chard and potatoes. Gourmet, delicious, and with such an artistic presentation. 

The grilled squid is served

 

one final photo of our first night along the marina in Cavtat

Saturday, September 7, we spent the morning and after exploring Cavtat prior to our official 2:00 pm start of our Natural Adventure agenda. We walked both of the lovely peninsulas. The Rat peninsula is the larger of the two, and features a long promenade that offers stunning views of the surrounding bays and islands. 

The Sustjepan Peninsula is smaller and wilder than the Rat. It is primarily covered in aromatic pine forests and there are paths leading to beaches to swim. We were prepared and had our bathing suits. Refreshing to swim in the Adriatic Sea!

A view from the trail.  Minutes later we are swimming here!

 

an excellent swim stop on the hike

 

After the hiking and swimming, we still had time to hoof it up to the Saint Rocco Cemetery and Mausoleum, on the highest point of the Rat Peninsula, above the urban center or Cavtat.

the view of Cavtat from the mausoleum above

 At 2:00 pm a driver picked us up at the Guest House Sol for the twenty minute drive to ZlatoVisce, the guest house agritourismo where we would stay for two nights. This ancient stone house was built in the 16th century!

Our host, Nico, was very helpful and accommodating. Dinner that first evening was on the premises in the lovely dining room which we had all to ourselves. We were the only dinner guests that evening.

the stone walled dining room at ZlatoVisce

We started with an aperitif, a cherry liqueur and also a sip of a sage liqueur. Our first course was a vegetable soup, thick with many vegetables from their garden. The main course was braised beef with vegetables, mostly potatoes and carrots and a little bit of eggplant, also from the their garden.  Very good, and very filling! Nico also brought out a bottle of their homemade wine and invited us to help ourselves.

the generous portion of braised beef and vegetables

Sunday, September 8 we ate breakfast at 8:00 am and by 8:30 am we were out the door, ready to start our 12-mile scenic hike. It was a self-guided walking tour of the paths and villages of Konavle area. The route was partly on pavement and partly on trail, with a total distance of 12 1/2 miles. 

We enjoyed this loop hike. A highlight was when we arrived in the small town of Cilipi before 11:00 am, after 5 1/2 miles. Our timing was perfect. It just so happened that the Cilipi Folklore Festival was underway. The folklore festival only occurs on Sundays, from April to October. 

Folklore Society Čilipi was established in 1954, and it presents the traditions of the Konavle people that are several centuries old. The performance lasted 45 minutes and was fun to witness and absorb. There were some very talented singers and dancers.

One of the traditional dances

Temps were in the 80s; they must have been hot dressed in this heavy apparel

It was quite hot on today's hike and we were happy to sit in the shade as we watched the folklore performances. An hour later, it was onward toward my favorite highlight of the hike - the beach stop at Pasjaca beach. 

This was at about mile 10, and we were ready for another swim in the Adriatic Sea. It was a steep, scenic climb down to the beach.

A long ways down to the beach...

Glad there was the railing for the final stretch

The aqua marine colored waters are gorgeous. We've been in Croatia for less than 72 hours and have already seen at least eight or nine beautiful beaches, and have gone swimming three times.

Monday, September 9th was my 65th birthday. I wrote myself a birthday poem that morning, 

"65 ?... yes, and I'm placing my bet, chances are high, I'm gonna get wet!"

And, we certainly did get wet!

Breakfast was similar to the previous day at 8:00 am - homemade bread, homemade peach jam and plum jam, cream cheese, hard boiled eggs and freshly brewed coffee. At 8:30 am Niko drove us to the ferry port in Dubrovnik. We said our goodbyes to Nico and walked around the port for about 30 minutes before we boarded the 10:00 am ferry to the island of Lopud. Heavy rain was predicted. Our choice was to go to the island of Lopud, or else hang out in the hotel lobby for several hours until check in...

The ferry ride started off windy yet dry. However, that changed about 2/3 of the way through the 80 minute ferry ride. It was raining sheets when we landed in Lopud! We hurried off the boat and walked quickly to a cafe with an outdoor covered patio where six of us stood outside, somewhat sheltered from the torrential downpour. 

We stood for about 45 minutes before the rain lightened up and we decided to venture out and do at least a portion of the planned hike on Lopud. We walked west along the coast to the tip of the island and then inland into some wooded area until it got too muddy and wet, so we turned around shortly past two miles. 

My wet "happy birthday" hike on the island of Lopud

We caught the 2:50 pm ferry ride back to Dubrovnik. We checked into the  Hotel Lapad, an elegant 1914 hotel near the marina.  Glad we are here for my birthday night, plus the next night. 

Nico highly recommended the Restaurant Orsan, for fine dining by the sea. It was a rainy 10-minute walk from the Hotel Lapad and a wonderful 65th birthday dinner.

We started with a shared appetizer, the Ocean Fish Plate - marinated anchovies, shrimp, octopus and mixed greens and glasses of red wine. Next we share an entree, Calamari  & Broad Beans, Leek (grilled octopus, broad beans, leeks and potatoes.)  And, a slice of carrot birthday cake for dessert! 

Enjoying my 65th Birthday dinner at Orsan!

 The weather on Tuesday, September 10th was much better than Monday. It was mostly cloudy, with only a 10 % chance of rain. Our planned self-guided hike was on the island of Sipan.

We boarded the ferry at 10:00 am and the seas were smooth. Sipan is only about three miles farther distance from Lopud. We disembarked from the ferry at 11:20 am and began our 9.4 mile hike on the island. 

The hike was fairly easy except for the steep climb to the Sv Trojstvo church view point, which we did toward the beginning of the hike at mile 2.  This 16th-century church was part of the parish of Pakljena, a now-vanished settlement on the island.

The old 16th century church - we rang the bell

The view below from the side of the church

 We walked the entire length of the island from Sudurad (near the ferry stop) to Luka, at the other end of the island.

Approaching Luka, the turnaround point of the hike

At the end of the hike we took a swim at the Plaza Sudurad beach. We had more than an hour before we were to board the return ferry to Dubrovnik at 5:50 pm, so why not?  We passed the island of Kolocep as we approached Dubrovnik.

a view of the lighthouse on Kolocep

A few minutes later we watched the sunset while aboard the ferry.

near the end of the ferry ride back to Dubrovnik

Wednesday, September 11th we were on our own with nothing planned until our 2:00 pm pickup from our hotel.

Mid morning, after a bountiful breakfast buffet, we walked to old town Dubrovnik, only a few miles (a 50 minute walk) from our Hotel Ladar  to the cable car station. We paid $15 Euro each for the one-way ride to the top of Mount Srd, where we were amazed at the views of old town Dubrovnik below and the islands in the distance. 

Quite spectacular

Then we walked down the rocky, zig zaggy path for the return down to the base. It was a three minute cable car ride to the top, and an hour (very scenic) walk back to the bottom. 

Gerry on the trail, as we descend

We then walked back to the Hotel Lapad to await our 2:00 pm pickup to a different port.No hiking today, per se, but we've already put in more than six walking miles. 

We boarded a very large fancy ferry with nice, comfortable seats for the 90 minute boat ride to the island of Mljet. It was smooth sailing on the calm seas. 

Mljet is nicknamed the “Green Island” due to the rich forest of Alepski Bor (Aleppo Pine) that extends from the sea’s bed to the highest point of the island’s surface. Mljet’s main attraction is its National Park, which occupies the western part of the island.  The park entrance was a ten minute walk from our hotel, and the hotel was a one minute walk from the Mljet port - Hotel Odisej, Mljet

We checked into the Hotel Odisej, where we will be staying for two nights on this beautiful island. We quickly put our bathing suits on under our hiking apparel and headed into the National Park.  We have free passes, as part of our Natural Adventure vacation, to explore hike and swim in the Park for two days!

After an idyllic mile walk in the park, we found an ideal swimming spot.

the view on our leisurely evening stroll in Mljet NP

We walked around this small lake and took a short swim in the cove, which is at the back of this photo

a nice place to swim and scenery can't be beat

Thursday, Sept 12 our agenda was pretty basic - hike, swim, enjoy.  We did all three. 

We tweaked the self-guided planned hike to add more swim stops and less walking, though we still walked more than eight miles. It was not at all strenuous. Most of the walking was around lake Jezero. We took our time on this scenic walk. No need to hurry, we didn't have a boat to catch or work to do. Weather was in the upper 70s, partly sunny / partly cloudy and windy. We welcomed the breeze.

First swim stop was late morning. We "discovered" our own private beach.

We saw other hikers and many cyclists today. There is a road that encircles the lakes and it would be ideal for cycling.  However, this National Park is not at all crowded compared to National Parks I have visited in the United States.  Also, there is NOT any litter whatsoever. Park visitors here practice good behavior.

a picturesque view

The picture above helps explain my logic at the beginning of today's entry about no need to hurry. Heck, I could stay here all day until they threw me out of this Park.

We walked across this bridge

There were so many amazing views of the lakes. We walked trails and gravelly rocky paths that hugged the beaches for the most part, though we did step up to the paved roads on occasion when it got too rocky or slippery.

a final picture in Mljet Natl Park

We returned to the hotel in the late afternoon, and walked to dinner in the evening to Ribar, an outdoor restaurant on the pier opposite our hotel. A quiet restaurant, not too busy, and a great location to watch the sunset. 

We ordered an octopus salad and grilled jumbo prawns with the shells on (a messy work to peel) but the shrimp were delicious and it came with a generous side of french fries so all is good.

let's peel these shrimp and chow down!

Friday, Sept 13, the large fancy ferry was scheduled to arrive at the dock at 11am for the ride back to Dubrovnik.  It was running behind and didn't arrive until 11:40 am, and it was quite full. Still, we found seats together. The seas were stormy; not as smooth as the ride to Mljet.

We docked in Dubrovnik at 1:10 pm and a driver met us and drove us to Hotel Lapad once again, where we unloaded our duffels. Then he drove us to Pile, in old town Dubrovnik and dropped us off to meet Josip, our guide for a personal two hour tour of old Dubrovnik, including the Church of St. Blaise, the Dominican Monastery, Rector's Palace, the Clock Tower, fountains and a walk along the Stradun.

 We climbed many steps on the walk with Josip, who was a very knowledgeable guide. It was a privilege to have him as our private tour guide and to see the usual sights, as well as some of the hidden gem sights, off the beaten path. 

One of the first stops on our tour w Josip

Josip took a couple of "selfies" of us. It's a bit geeky, but why not? 

here we are inside old town Dubrovnik

old town Dubrvonik and us once again

The views really were spectacular! I was compelled to take a photo

without us this time (thank goodness)

Here are a few additional photos

along the fortress walls

in the major Old Town square

The best activity after the tour is to walk a bit on our own and explore Old Town. We walked down a narrow street to Dolca Vita for two scoops of gelato (pistachio and bitter orange)

Dolce Vita" - very tasty gelato to be had here

We then walked back to the Hotel Ladar to spend our last night in Dubrovnik. We ate dinner at the Green Garden, a unique "natural" place in a traditional 19th century garden that opened in 2019, known for its burgers and beer.

At the Green Garden, on our final night in Dubrovnik

This is the end of "Croatia Sept 2024 Part One" and our time with the Natural Adventure agenda. 

Next week we are one our own with an agenda and ideas, mostly orchestrated and planned by yours truly.