Big birthday, Croatia and neighbours

This was a holiday for my wife’s big birthday. She had mulled over a few choices before deciding that Dubrovnik was the place to celebrate such an occasion! We decided to add a touch of luxury to mark a special occasion and chose a hotel with a lovely view over Lokrum (a beautiful forested island) and the sea, and a side vista to the old walled town too. The beautiful well-established gardens gave the hotel a touch of class as well.

Our visit was just before the main season starts, which is OK with us as being a popular place it can apparently get crowded and we were fortunate with the weather as it was overcast on arrival and then the rest of the week was warm and sunny.

We took the first day as a getting familiar with our surroundings day. The old town was a short walk away and compact. The main street and surrounds are flat but part of the old town requires the effort of climbing stairs. The views coming in to town are spectacular and being in places like the small port and small squares and long main street (Stradun) are utterly charming. Dubrovnik has recently come to wider attention too as a setting for TV and films.

On our second and third days, we had planned something a little bit different with first a day tour to Mostar, famed for its UNESCO town and bridge and the divers who brave the 21m leap and the cold fast flowing water beneath.

Mostar is in the Herzegovina part of Bosnia & Herzegovina and like the region as a whole, has made a remarkable recovery from the recent war that blighted the former Yugoslavia. Mostar and the famous bridge were destroyed and rebuilt exactly to how it was previously and to witness this place amongst its rebirth is a joy and a privilege.

The next trip was to Montenegro which is something different again with beautiful bays with mountains dropping down to the sea and exquisite old towns like Kotor and Budva with characterful alleyways and beautiful views.

It was lovely to make these two trips to Croatia’s neighbours and it is good to see that these nations are now on the friendliest of terms.

We then spent our next few days relaxing and getting to know Dubrovnik and its surrounding areas, including a very short visit to Lapad where there are some bigger resorts. Then there are the highlights of climbing and walking the city walls and also climbing the 400+ metre Mount Srd overlooking the old town way below (don’t worry if you don’t like strenuous uphill walks, there is a cable car to whisk you up and down in only a matter of minutes). The view from the top is great and the café/restaurant there is welcoming (especially after the climb).

It had been a lovely holiday and always over too quickly but the relaxed feeling we had all week and the discovery of Croatian wine mixed with intoxicating views and welcoming people made for an unforgettable big birthday.