Dubrovnik city walls… Amazing!

It was finally sunny today, and we’d also found out there was only one small cruise ship in town, so we decided to walk around the city walls. We thought we’d have a walk up Valika Petka after breakfast, then head into town for lunch, hoping that the walls would be quiet by the time we did them, when the cruise people had left.

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Valika Petka is a hill with masts on it near Lapad, and we expected good views of Dubrovnik because at 171 metres high it towers over everything nearby. Unfortunately it was very overgrown on top so I had to fight my way through thorny bushes to get a good picture, but we enjoyed the walk nevertheless. We also had a bit of a hunt for the path down towards the old town past the hospital, and it felt a bit odd walking though the hospital grounds in shorts with cameras!

We then went to a restaurant by the Pile Gate and had lunch in the sunshine, which was lovely, before going up onto the walls. The steps climb steeply to the walls, from which the views were amazing. I love Chester and Conwy, with their old buildings and walls, but Dubrovnik Old Town is in another league.

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The walls are so high, with stunning views across the sea, harbours, and towards the hills outside, and over the orange topped roofs, charming old buildings, and narrow streets inside.

We stopped at a bar for a beer, soaking up the sunshine and surroundings, which was lovely. Then we continued onwards, for more glimpses of yet more delights on, within and outside the walls.

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We took our time, and by the time we were leaving the walls, the sun had dropped behind the fort. In fact, we were the last people, ushered down the steps and out of the gate, which was locked behind us!

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Then we enjoyed dinner in town. The waiter told us that many restaurants are now closing for the winter. It looks as though we’ve enjoyed the last week of the season and we’ve been lucky that plenty of places are still open, but it’s fairly quiet. It was great that the walls were almost empty!