Croatia in October - Cavtat & Dubrovnik
Dubrovnik was one of the ports we stopped at many moons ago on a cruise we went on for our honeymoon and we spent the day exploring the city walls. My husband Joe and I vowed to return some day and last weekend we finally got to go back.
We choose to stay in the beautiful small fishing town of Cavtat. Cavtat is 10 minutes by taxi from the airport and 30 minutes by bus to Dubrovnik old town or a little under an hour by boat.We flew directly from Dublin to Dubrovnik airport and with a short transfer time of only 10 minutes by car we arrived in the beautiful Cavtat Hotel. The staff couldn’t have been more helpful. Joe misplaced the key to his suitcase lock and the staff had a handyman there within 5 minutes to open it for him without any fuss. Very impressive. Our room was bright airy and spacious with two balconies over looking the seafront and mountains. An incredible view to wake up to each morning.
The hotel has a rooftop pool and bar. You get your allocated seats from reception which avoids guests leaving towels for the day on sunbeds. As you walk out of the back of the hotel you are met with the most calming vibes as there are cafés and bars dotted along the seafront . The old town is 5-10 minutes walk and has a selection of beautiful restaurants to sample. Our favourite was Ankoura , so would highly recommend when in Cavtat. There is a gorgeous walk around the bay with a quaint beach bar called Beach Bar Little Star. To experience a sunset here is something quite special.
In the port of Cavtat you can take a ferry directly into Dubrovnik in just under an hour. On Saturday morning we purchased our return tickets at the hotel where you get a 10% discount totalling €36 for two people. The boat trip is beautiful and arriving into Dubrovnik at the back of the old town is just perfect. As we were lucky enough to have done the city walls on our last trip we decided to spend the day exploring the town , with its hidden streets and little shops and amazing beach bars where you can sit and watch cliff divers (weather dependant of course) and watch the boats , kayaks and jet skis whizz by. Our two favourite view points were Buza Bar with its rustic vibes of cushions on crates and then not too far from there is the Bard (Mala Buza) which is slightly more comfortable with seating and umbrella areas. Both definitely worth a visit while you are there. You can purchase a city pass for €35 which gives you entry to the walls and a number of museums and attractions throughout the old town. There are so many restaurants in the old town , we choose one on the opposite side of the town from the beach bars after walking around exploring, called Mamas Pot Tavern, the food was tasty and reasonably priced with friendly staff.
As we were there is October the last ferry back to Cavtat was at 5.30pm so we jumped back on and got to witness the most beautiful sunset on our journey back to Cavtat. After a quick freshen up we were back out and headed away from the old town down to a restaurant called Ciparis. The staff couldn’t have been nicer and the food was very good too. On Sunday morning we had breakfast on the terrace at the back of the hotel which is such a beautiful setting and went for a swim on the roof top pool. We then enjoyed a leisurely walk around the marina. We took the number 10 bus into Dubrovnik which was €4 each one way. The views along the cliff drive are spectacular but we both preferred the boat journey from Cavtat to Dubrovnik so I would advise the bus one way and the boat back or vice versa.
There is a cable car that travels right up to the top of the hill SRD. You purchase your tickets 30 minutes before heading up and they are €27 return for an adult and €7 return for a child. The view is magnificent for sure but there is much more to it. There is a history museum that you can visit. Originally the entire area was called Dubrava . On the local dialect Dubrava means woods and that is exactly what it used to be. Oak and pine trees were forested on the 412 meter high mountain place. The dense forest is the reason behind why Dubrovnik is called Dubrava/Dubrovnik. There is an incredible restaurant called Panorama restaurant beside the viewpoint. I have sent clients there recently so I was delighted to get to sample it myself and it surely didn’t disappoint. I would advise booking in advance to guarantee a table and with a reservation you get to stay there for 2 hours. The food was excellent and the views were simply breath-taking.
Once we were finished it was time to make our way back down to the ferry , sneak in one more amazing Croatian ice cream and hop on the ferry back to Cavtat and enjoy more stunning views.
Check out my highlights on my Instagram page @emma.dowlingtravelcounsellor for more photographs and video content from our trip. If you would like to experience this amazing part of the world please get in touch and we can start planning your trip together.
