One week in Croatia and Bosnia went by super fast, especially since I was with my parents the entire time and my mom made sure we never had time to rest. Together we visited Dubrovnik and Split, Croatia and Mostar, Bosnia and Herzegovina; there was so much to see in such a short period of time.
I arrived in Dubrovnik on a Friday and caught a taxi to the Old Town to head to my accommodation, where I met with my parents. We happened to get there at about the same time which was nice. Once we got into our place we dropped our bags and left to explore. Since it was already late afternoon we wandered around the Old Town before finding a restaurant with a nice view to have some appetizers and a drink before exploring some more.
The next morning we had to wake up early because we had a half day boat trip scheduled. Once on the boat we headed to our first stop which was the beach. After leaving the bay, the open waters were fairly choppy which led to a bouncy, fun boat ride. When we arrived at the beach and as the anchor was being let out there was a huge wave that came over the boat and those of us in the front all got splashed with a wall of water. After getting soaked before even getting into the water, we jumped in and headed for the swim area and beach. This beach was really nice and since we arrived earlier in the morning it was still super quiet; it had a swing in the water for pictures which we made our way to. After getting some fun photos we enjoyed the water and the waves before it was time to go back to the boat for our next stop.
When we got back on the boat we were given a light lunch and then braced for another bumpy boat ride to a blue cave. The waves were still pretty high when we got to the blue cave and the entrance into it was super low to the water and made even lower with the waves. Nonetheless, we jumped in and headed there. It was amusing because my mom was nervous about the height of the entrance. As we swam she kept asking me if it was the correct spot, which was a dumb question since I did not have my glasses on and could not see anything at a distance. We made it in safely and the inside was gorgeous and the water was a super clear blue. I enjoyed the short time we had in the cave before we had to leave for our last and final stop. Due to the rougher waters we had to skip the original planned stop and instead went to a blue lagoon to spend more time swimming.
The entire boat trip took around four hours; went by really fast and was a lot of fun. After it ended we went back to our accommodation and got showered and ready for the rest of the day. That evening we took a taxi up to Mount Srd, the mountain that overlooks Dubrovnik. The views from the top were breathtaking and after wandering around at the top for a while we started heading towards the hiking path to go down. On the way to the path there was a museum on the Siege of Dubrovnik that happened between 1991-1995. It was an interesting museum filled with a ton of information; we could easily have spent a couple of hours reading everything. After the museum we headed down the mountain and were met with amazing views of Dubrovnik and the sunset. By the time we made it down and into the Old Town again it was time for dinner and to call it a night.
On Sunday we had another early morning with a walking tour of Dubrovnik. After the tour we once again wandered around the city as we went into some of the museum attractions that were part of the Dubrovnik City Pass. One of the sights, Fort Lovrijenac, was outside of the Old Town walls.The climb up the stairs into the Fort and to the top of the Fort gave amazing views of Dubrovnik’s Old Town. By the time we had visited all of the museums we wanted to see, the hottest part of the midday-afternoon sun had passed so we headed up to walk along the city walls. The walls encompass the entire Old Town and are about 1.94 kilometers (1.2 miles) long and give incredible views from just above the city's roofs.
On our final day in Dubrovnik, Monday, we had a day trip to the island of Korcula with stops in Ston and at a winery co-op. Ston city walls are the longest preserved fortification in the world and at their longest stretched for 7 kilometers (4.35 miles) but today is down to 5.5 kilometers (3.42 miles). When we arrived in Ston we had a short tour and history lesson on the city before being given time to wander around what is left of the town. After that stop we headed on to Korcula, which is part of the Dalmatian islands of Croatia. Once on the island we had a tour of the city with a great tour guide before being given a few hours to explore that small section of the island and get lunch. The final stop on the tour was to a winery co-op where we learned about the history of wine in Croatia and then had a tasting of the local wines they produce using grapes grown at surrounding vineyards. It ended up being a long day but was a lot of fun.
After Dubrovnik we headed to Mostar, Bosnia for a short day trip. We started our time in Mostar with a very informative walking tour of the old part of the city and then had lunch at a restaurant serving traditional Bosnian food. Lunch was huge and so good; we had a cheese plate of different Bosnian cheeses, an assortment of traditional meat products, and vegetables stuffed with seasoned rice and minced meat. All of the foods we had were delicious and super filling. After lunch my parents and I continued exploring Mostar before we split up because I was meeting up with someone I knew from high school who is from Mostar and my parents continued to see Mostar. When we met up again we wandered around the city in the evening before finding a place to have a small dinner. Since we only had one night in the city, we spent the short time we had the next morning walking through the city getting any final souvenirs and photos before we had to leave for our next stop in Split, Croatia.
In Split we also had a short time; we arrived in the afternoon and left our bags in our accommodation before heading out to get lunch and walk around before our scheduled evening walking tour. On the walking tour we learned a lot about Split’s main attraction, Diocletian’s Palace and learned how it has changed over time.
We only had one full day in Split and we started it by visiting the Diocletian Cellars and then heading up to the Green Market. The Green Market is a market that is right outside the Palace walls and sells everything from fresh produce, dried fruits, nuts, meat, and more. It was fun walking through the market and seeing everything that was being sold; we even bought some dried figs and dates which were delicious! After we wandered around again within Diocletian’s Palace we found St. Martin’s Church which was built within the walls right above the Gold Gate of the Palace. After spending the day exploring the city we headed back to our accommodation to get slightly dressed up for an early birthday dinner for me. The next day, Friday, we headed to the airport bright and early for a flight to my next destination. At the airport my mom and I said goodbye to my dad since he was going home and she and I were continuing on to the next destination together.
“Travel is like knowledge, the more you see, the more you know you haven’t seen.”
- Mark Hertsgaard
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