Dubrovnik -- getting off the ship

[croatian travelady]

If we do the bus ride, would that leave us time for the synagogue too? Do we come upon the synagogue in the course of walking the walls?

http://www.tzdubrovnik.hr/english/news.php?id=1504

Here is the site for the city map, old town showing the walls and the newer sections outside of the walls. Download it and you can get a much better idea of where sights are located. It shows the Pile gate, the Ploce gate and the old town and all the sites inside of the walls. Once you start the walls, you should try to finish them if you can. It takes determination to finish them, many people just make it half way.

If you have a general idea of where the sights are located, you can decide if you want to walk the walls and take the Carilo bus trip also. Or do you want to stay inside of the old town and just wander.

Several times a weeks I sit and watch, it's interesting how so many tourists don't even try to find any of the sites. They visit Sveti Valho and then just buy an ice cream and walk back the the shuttle bus. People watching is my very favorite sport....

Dobro Dosli

[syesmar]

CroatianLady,

Thanks so much for your wonderful advice & info! It's most helpful!

 

I have another question: is it permitted to bring food into Dubrovnik? I get low blood sugar and need to keep food w/ me, so I'm curious if I will be allowed to bring a sandwich off the ship or not.

 

Thanks again!

[croatian travelady]

CroatianLady,

Thanks so much for your wonderful advice & info! It's most helpful!

 

I have another question: is it permitted to bring food into Dubrovnik? I get low blood sugar and need to keep food w/ me, so I'm curious if I will be allowed to bring a sandwich off the ship or not.

 

Thanks again!

There is no need to bring any food with you, there is a shop, store or some wonderful place to get a snack on every corner. On the Stradun is the most wonderful chocolate shop and the green market may still have some fruit vendors still selling fresh local fruit. Olivia pizza has a walk up window for one slice of cheese pizze for 10kuna. You don't need to bring any food from the ship. My very favorite place in town is Nika Bakery, just the best kinds of homemade goodies. They also have a sandwich counter and a fresh juice bar.

Dobro Dosli

[XFed2001]

Hi! Is that number correct? It doesn't seem to work when we try to dial it.

 

Atlanta Pair: I just spoke with Rade. To call him, dial 011-385-98-847-152. Note that there is no "0" in front of the 98. I arranged for him to meet us at the harbor on Oct 1. If you connect with him, please let me know how it went. Thanks

[margbem]

Are we likely to get seats on the bus at Ploce Gate? There are 4 ships in when we are so 8000 people!! Do you have the times for the bus at Ploce gate?

[51topjjb]

Try to walk the walls as early as possible, the crowds and the heat. The city walls are 2 kilometers with a total of 650 steps and if you take photos it will take a minimum of 2 hours. Walls open at 0800 and close at 1930, every day.

The Cabrilo bus is a wonderful ride, takes 2 hours and will drive you all around the city, new and old parts. There are only 2 photo stops, take water and you will get a great overview of the entire town. Did this ride several weeks ago and decided that everyone should do it, it was fun. The ride is 90 kuna and they will NOT take any other form of money, only kuna. You can pick up Cabrilo at the Pile gate at 1153, 1353. Also please learn the 24 hour clock, that's all we have here. It is an open air bus with a roof so the sun won't bake you.

Dobro Dosli

 

Your input is so helpful and insightful! We are scheduled (our very first visit) into Dubrovnik aboard Celebrity Summit on Monday, November 17 at 0900 w/departure again at 1800. We are active retirees who enjoy walking. I walk outdoors 3-10km 4-5 days per week for exercise; my husband prefers the gym treadmill for his aerobics, but you get the picture. We DON'T mind walking. We were originally thinking we would avail ourselves of a 5-hour 4-wheel drive tour in the valleys and countryside outside Dubrovnik which the ship offers, but that was before reading your comments. Walking the city walls (ENTIRELY!) sounds wonderful, and your descriptions of the town as a perfectly charming place to stroll and people watch lead me to ask...which of these would you advise? Thanks, too, for the city map/tourist bureau weblink...GREAT!

[MickyBridges]

A word of caution ... our morning excursion (bike ride in the countryside) went over the allotted time due to (a) unscheduled wine-tasting event and (b) getting stuck behind a truck having difficulty making it up hills on the way back.

 

Consequently we had 2.5 hours left in our day and rather stupidly we thought we'd walk into town, have a quick look round, and walk back. My DW and I are relatively fit and frequent walkers. Much to our chagrin, it took 45 minutes to get into town! Getting nervous we reluctantly left after 45 minutes leaving an hour to get back to the ship.

 

To add to my previous inept decision, I spent 10 minutes on the blackberry on the way back, blindly following my DW. Of course, when I looked up we were completely lost :eek: . We scrambled to find the coast, ran for it and tracked our way back to the ship with - and I kid you not - 30 seconds to spare and signifcantly increased stress levels !! It is my biggest regret of the cruise that we didn't get to see more of the beautiful city. What pocessed me to go on the bike ride, I'll never know.

[51topjjb]

A word of caution ... our morning excursion (bike ride in the countryside) went over the allotted time due to (a) unscheduled wine-tasting event and (b) getting stuck behind a truck having difficulty making it up hills on the way back.

 

Consequently we had 2.5 hours left in our day and rather stupidly we thought we'd walk into town, have a quick look round, and walk back. My DW and I are relatively fit and frequent walkers. Much to our chagrin, it took 45 minutes to get into town! Getting nervous we reluctantly left after 45 minutes leaving an hour to get back to the ship.

 

To add to my previous inept decision, I spent 10 minutes on the blackberry on the way back, blindly following my DW. Of course, when I looked up we were completely lost :eek: . We scrambled to find the coast, ran for it and tracked our way back to the ship with - and I kid you not - 30 seconds to spare and signifcantly increased stress levels !! It is my thebiggest regret of the cruise that we didn't get to see more of the beautiful city. What pocessed me to go on the bike ride, I'll never know.

 

But, Mickey...did you NOT enjoy the bike ride in the country? Was it beautiful? Yeah, I get it--the missteps and errors in judgement cost you some regret and a little excitement at the end. But what about the morning experience in the Croatian countryside? Would love to hear your thoughts on that, too.

[DougYWG]

When our ship's bus was leaving the port, it was stopped and the local police came on board to check all passports. One couple who did not have them were turfed off. They mean it. The ride into town was not fun due to traffic. Crawl, stop, crawl, stop. It would have been quicker to walk.

 

Now for a contrary opinion. We didn't like it. Too hot, too humid and far too many people. It might be nice with decent weather and half the people. It was like 'Disneyland within the walls'. We did not stay very long and went back to the ship. So there.

[MickyBridges]

OK more on the bike ride ....

 

I get the sense that this excursion is offerred to most of the cruise lines as our guides seemed to be doing this on a daily basis. We took a bus for about 30 minutes, stopping once at a scenic overlook, and arrived at what looked like a converted mill. Not much commentary on the way there but the guides, a young couple in their 30's, were happy to talk if directly engaged. Both spoke very good English. The bikes were good Trek mountain bikes and there was about a dozen of us in the group.

 

We set off on the road at a relatively gentle pace and soon branched off to a farm road/track where we rode for approx 45 minutes. On the way we stopped at a small monestary to look round and partake in (and I quote) "a local selection of fruits" which rather amusingly was a plastic carrier bag of apples and plums it appeared she'd just picked up from the local supermarket for a couple of Euros. Once we got to the end of the farm track we turned round and came back. The scenery was mostly fields and hills, nothing spectacular.

 

Interestingly, she mentioned that the day before someone had fainted in the heat and in fact on our trip someone requested to be bused back to the starting point. It really wasn't that strenuous but I guess it helps to be relatively fit.

 

In summary it was interesting talking to the young couple about their experiences in the war, and it was certainly a pleasant ride ... just nothing particularly extraordinary. It would have been nicer if we didn't double back on ourselves and of course, in hindsight I would rather have explored the old town. However, if the crowds don't appeal to you I would certainly recommend this as a pleasant and relatively cheap excursion for the family. My 15 year old son loved it.

[51topjjb]

When our ship's bus was leaving the port, it was stopped and the local police came on board to check all passports. One couple who did not have them were turfed off. They mean it. The ride into town was not fun due to traffic. Crawl, stop, crawl, stop. It would have been quicker to walk.

 

Now for a contrary opinion. We didn't like it. Too hot, too humid and far too many people. It might be nice with decent weather and half the people. It was like 'Disneyland within the walls'. We did not stay very long and went back to the ship. So there.

 

Doug: Appreciate your honestly expressed opinion, unafraid to BE the "contrarian". Tending to do as much of our travel in "off seasons" as possible, we'll be there at the end of November; somebody at your house will probably be slaving over Thanksgiving dinner plans, and we kinda expect it will be anything but hot there. Probably mid-to-upper 60's and maybe into the low 70's. We also HOPE traffic won't be quite such an issue then. We NEVER--and I mean NEVER--leave the ship without passports in foreign countries. You just never know... Thanks for the heads-up, though.

[51topjjb]

OK more on the bike ride ....

 

I get the sense that this excursion is offerred to most of the cruise lines as our guides seemed to be doing this on a daily basis. We took a bus for about 30 minutes, stopping once at a scenic overlook, and arrived at what looked like a converted mill. Not much commentary on the way there but the guides, a young couple in their 30's, were happy to talk if directly engaged. Both spoke very good English. The bikes were good Trek mountain bikes and there was about a dozen of us in the group.

 

We set off on the road at a relatively gentle pace and soon branched off to a farm road/track where we rode for approx 45 minutes. On the way we stopped at a small monestary to look round and partake in (and I quote) "a local selection of fruits" which rather amusingly was a plastic carrier bag of apples and plums it appeared she'd just picked up from the local supermarket for a couple of Euros. Once we got to the end of the farm track we turned round and came back. The scenery was mostly fields and hills, nothing spectacular.

 

Interestingly, she mentioned that the day before someone had fainted in the heat and in fact on our trip someone requested to be bused back to the starting point. It really wasn't that strenuous but I guess it helps to be relatively fit.

 

In summary it was interesting talking to the young couple about their experiences in the war, and it was certainly a pleasant ride ... just nothing particularly extraordinary. It would have been nicer if we didn't double back on ourselves and of course, in hindsight I would rather have explored the old town. However, if the crowds don't appeal to you I would certainly recommend this as a pleasant and relatively cheap excursion for the family. My 15 year old son loved it.

 

Thanks, Micky! We're thinking the weather at the end of November will NOT be hot, so we should be okay there; rain could be a factor, of course. We expect it, in fact. That's another reason I'm leaning toward wall-walking and hiking around the Old Town on our own, making THAT our "main attraction" in Dubrovnik. And, by the way, your 15-year-old isn't SUPPOSED to agree with you (until he's 10-15 years older). ;)

[California Native]

If you would like

you can view our Dubrovnik Pictures and the Rick Steves video on Dubrovnik on our personal website. Just go

into the photo and where we have been sections

 

http://ourpassportstamps.com/

Also, I have Sight to See list for Dubrovnik that I can send you.

We did an extensive land vacation in Croatia and spent 7 nights in Dubrovnik, immersing ourselves in the town.

[California Native]

I wanted to add that Croatiantraveller.com is an excellent resource for all croatia ports