Dubrovnik. Who has been ?

[TheDogsMother]

We're going in May, it's our first visit and we're really looking forward to it. We are there for four nights so any tips, places to visit, restaurants/bars would all be welcome.

Also is it only the local currency that is used or is the Euro fairly widely accepted too. What combination of cash/cards did you find most useful ?

Thanks in advance !

We stayed in Cavtat last summer and took the ferry over to Dubrovnik a few times.

It was incredibly hot (August) so we stopped regularly for drinks, etc. and the heat did impede us a little. It'll be fine in May though.

Because we only visited for a few hours at a time, we just wandered through the little streets (some quite a climb in the old town) and enjoyed the lovely old buildings.

We spent an evening there, and walked the city walls during sunset. Was beautiful. One excellent pizza and pasta restaurant was Mea Culpa in the old town, tucked away just off the Main Street.There are also a couple of nice bars down by the harbour, to watch the boats come and go. We used Kuna or debit cards everywhere, so not sure about Euros.

Try to visit the little island of Lapad, it takes a few minutes by ferry from the harbour. There are rabbits and peacocks wandering around, a botanical garden and a small museum (with Game of Thrones stuff, if you're into it) and a couple of cafes/restaurants.

LOKRUM! Not Lapad!

I was there 2 years ago and loved it.
The kayak tour was well worth it.
Ferry over to Lapad was good as well, lots of lovely walks.
I loved Swimming off the rocks at the foot of the wall, but my son preferred the 'beach' (gravel brought in to give an appearance of a beach) because he didn't like going out of his depth.
The cable car up to the plateau gave amazing views. Restaurant at the top was a bit expensive. We walked down the zig zag path.
Just generally wandering around the old city and walls.

Ha. There was me copying previous post re bane of island and therefore getting it wrong. Should have looked it up.

I mostly used cash point machines to take out Kuna, although I never figured out whether it was cheaper to buy in Sterling or Kuna (it gave you the option).

Make sure you walk the walks in he morning before it gets too hot. You can get a ferry to Lopud (not Lapad, that’s an area near Dubrovnik ). Lopud has a sandy beach which was a welcome change from pebbles!

Thanks all, this is great. It all sounds very lovely.

If you take money out of the cash machines always accept it in Kuna not Sterling, you get a more favourable rate that way...and don't use the Eurocash (or is it Euromat? ) ones if you can avoid it, you get an extra fee with them. Would really recommend the 3 island tour too..Lopud, Sipan and Kolocep..it's cheap (for what you get) and a great day out. There is a fantastic ice cream place up one of the side streets called Dolce Vita..and coffee and cake in Gradska Kavana (and lunch too, out the back overlooking the harbour) is slightly more expensive, but well worth it for the iconic location and general atmosphere. When you are walking down the Stradun in Dubrovnik keep a look out for the one single tile that is square not recatngular..took us forever to find it...if you feel up to it (it's easy in a taxi and not expensive with Uber) go for a meal at Konoba Veranda in Stikovica (No 1 Dubrovnik restaurant 3 years running on TA)..have their "special chicken" and chocolate souffle (everything else on the menu is delicious too) - it's the best food and best service you will have all trip (phone them and prebook though, they get busy - and the special chicken must be prebooked), and it's all very reasonably priced, and the family are uber lovely.

www.tripadvisor.co.uk/Restaurant_Review-g295371-d8279616-Reviews-Konoba_Veranda-Dubrovnik_Dubrovnik_Neretva_County_Dalmatia.html

Thank you @ItsASairFecht. That is all brilliant advice and for clearing up the confusion about Sterling or local currency too. I'm off to pre-book my Special Chicken now

Take comfortable shoes for walking round the old town and the walls. The stones in the streets get very slippery when wet. We went in May about 5 years ago and it was warm weather not hot. In fact it was cooler than it should have been, and I think we reached the dizzy heights of 20 degrees maximum.

Went last year. Yes to ice cream. There s also a 3 man/boy parade at 9pm in old town every night (most photographed street). Walls definitely worth doing. Visit to Lokrom good. Did the kayak but oh my! The 3 hr trip takes it out of you!

We loved it. Didn't mind the pebbly beach but you need to buy plastic sandals (can buy them there). Beautiful architecture. Took kuna.

Yes, if you are going to swim in the sea (and please do, it's amazingly clear and beautiful and a total joy) bring a pair of water shoes with you (easier to buy over here we found) as there are sea urchins in some spots (a sign of how clean the water is) which can hurt if you stand on them, and bring a cheap snorkel set too..sea full of fish etc, amazing to swim around in and observe.. and if you go to Lokrum (lovely!) wear good shoes if you intend to walk around it in any great way (particularly if you want to walk the "path to paradise" to the fort and Napoleonic quarantine hospital at the top, as the path is steep and very rocky). The kayak, as mentioned in incredible..possibly most exhilarating experience of my life (we did the sunset tour, beautiful)..if you are up for it it's worth every kuna..we are going to do it again this year, maybe more than once...the cable car is worth a trip..there's a great museum at the top which is well worth the entrance money..and have a BBC cocktail at the restaurant at the top, they are fab! (lunch was good there too)..you can walk down from Mt Srd (hill the cable car is on) if you feel like it, but again wear good shoes (I did it in Crocs, not the best idea)..there is a bus stop just a few metres away from the bottom of it. Have a drink at Buza bar (in the city walls) too, yes, it's a bit more expensive, but it's iconic and the view is amazing..last time we were there we sat with a cool drink watching a shoal of fish surfacing and playing in the water in front of us. It's also lovely round at Porporela (the red lighthouse (looks like a lampost)) at the Old Town harbour..lots of people gather there and swim etc, we mean to try that this year too. An organised Korcula trip is a good day out (had the best macaroni cheese ever there!)..or catch a ferry to Lopud and get the beach buggy to the sandy beach on the other side of the island..was full of russian superyachts when we went, and you can walk really far out into the water as it's relatively shallow for quite a distance. Sorry, too much info/babbling, but it's a great place..we fell in love with it.

Thanks so much everyone, this info is invaluable. We're really looking forward to it. Neither of us has been before but we've read great things. Sounds like I will be eating my body weight in ice cream

We got engaged there and had a great time. Sadly I'd bring an umbrella in may, we had awful weather but I think we were just unlucky. The day trips if you have time are great too - the islands like people have said, mostar, Montenegro. Try a walk around the lopud peninsula lovely sea views

If it's your type of thing war photo limited is an amazing museum/gallery. Some of the images have stayed with me to this day.

Always worth checking the harbour timetable of which cruise ships are due in that day/night. If they have the huge ones in, it makes Dubrovnik very very busy (and very very smelly!) so you can avoid the city that day, and just have a chill day.

We loved it there.

Catch the ferry to Miljet and hire bikes and swim in the lakes.

Thank you for even more great suggestions and I do plan to visit the war photo exhibition. Good tip re the cruise ships too. Maybe that's the day to visit the islands !

We stayed on the Lapad peninsula and could see the cruise ships from our hotel. I was taken aback at just how enormous they are. IMO most of them look like floating blocks of council flats.

We went last July, loved it! Pretty much what everyone else has said; the 3 island tour, kayaking, Lokrum, walking the walls and the Game of Thrones tour were our favourite bits. The restaurant at the top of the cable car was worth a visit. Not super cheap tickets up to it though.

I stood on a sea urchin, wear jelly shoes!

Fantastic restaurant called the Taj Mahal which does Bosnian cuisine. Well worth taking the cable car up the mountain. At the top there is a museum which helps make sense (in as much as one can) of the war and the people.

Loved Mljet, hated Dubrovnik. Busy as hell, totally over touristed, madly expensive and just insanely busy, in case I didn’t say that already. But it was July so I sincerely hope you have a quieter and overall better trip, and I totally recommend the islands nearby.

I know what you mean about places being too busy to enjoy. I felt like that about Padstow. We went one August, snd I simply couldn't see the place because there were so many people.

Thanks again for all the brilliant advice. I checked the cruise ships and thankfully not too bad on the days we are there. Looking forward to trying some of your great suggestions. We just need to navigate the joys of EasyJet first

Got back last weekend from Dubrovnik, I did try Konoba Veranda and it was gorgeous! And very reasonable priced. Taxis are very easy to come by and they also have Uber which was handy as Konoba was about 15 mins away in the car from the Old Town. There are loads of gorgeous little wine bars tucked away down the side streets where you can try all the Croatian wines if that's your thing. Ferry to Lokrum leaves every half an hour from the harbour, beautiful island, walk up to the highest point and then back down to where there are a couple of restaurants. Drinks are quite expensive in the old town so stick to the local stuff. City wall walk is a must, it's 2km long but lots of steps up and down. We were forecast rain all week but instead we got 27 degree heat so pack lots of suncream if you're doing a lot of walking. Taxi from airport was about 300 kuna (35-40 quid) and the driver booked us in to take us back. The people are really friendly and the taxi drivers seemed very proud and happy to talk about the sights on the way. We went to the 360 restaurant just inside the walls near the harbour, was very pricey but the views were amazing. Kuna can be tricky to calculate into £s but we tried to remember to divide everything by 8 as a rough guide!