Dubrovnik, Croatia: Why You So Expensive?!

The bus, the only bus, from Mostar to Dubrovnik is packed. Filled to the brim. No vacancy. Hoping to carve out a little room for myself I went to the back row. Nope. We sit five abreast. It's drizzly outside and the engine roars behind me. In between my lap are two loaves of Bosnian bread and some Bosnian cheese. In my back pocket, my hunting knife. My feet are bear- flip flops are dead and my shoes were left in the rain last night so they are in the process of drying.

Betwixt them is the bottle of water I purchased with my last Bosnian marks. I had to borrow money to check my bag on the bus. My stomach is full on meat and cheese burek and the little fried doughs we had for breakfast. Balkan cuisine not as light and healthy as I had anticipated. I beginning to get sick. The bus was twenty minutes late. It is clearly a "Balkans bus."

About 3.5 hours in and just past the border back into Croatia I'm starting to get hungry. I put away my passport, curiously stamped by Croatia this time, and reach for my knife. There is a young German couple sitting to my left, I am at the window. I pull out a piece of bread and the container with the cheese. As I open the blade of the knife there is murmuring to my left. The German girl says something and then starts to lean away. A minute or two she scoots a bit to the left. I have the space I was hoping for. Apparently idle intimidation is the way to get things done. The bread is hearty and yeasty, the cheese sheepy. I put the knife away and enjoy my new-found space.

We arrive in Dubrovnik only an hour or so late. The bus station is situated several kilometers away from the old town where my hostel is located. Before making my way there I decide to buy my bus ticket to Montenegro for the following afternoon. It costs me 15 euro and is essentially what looks like a grocery store receipt with a tiny flap of paper at the very bottom held on by the most miniscule scrap. This is the portion to be retained by the driver. I read the instructions on how to get to the hostel and make my way to the bus stop.

In old town I continue to follow the instructions. The hostel is located about 250 meters from Pile Gate, the main gate into the old city on the east side. It's a great location, which in my mind it should be considering I'm paying 35 euro for one night in a dorm there. And that was one of the cheapest options I found. Dubrovnik lodging is unreasonably expensive. Along the way you pass by a small harbor guarded by Fort Lovrijenac.

Since I only had about 24 hours in Dubrovnik I decided to drop my stuff and head straight into the old town. I'm not going to spend a ton of time talking about the city or posting an immense amount of pictures. You can mozy on over to flickr to see the full collection and feel free to wikipedia any of the churches, arches, houses, or other monuments if you want to learn more.

The old town of Dubrovnik is completely walled in. The origin of the city itself is debated- some saying it was settled in the 7-8th century, other archeological evidence indicating it was a former Greek settlement. The majority of the current walls and fortifications were built between the 14th and 15th centuries. The walls, towers, and buildings within the old town have survived and been remarkably well preserved over the years creating an exceptionally impressive example of a late middle ages Adriatic port. Because it is so well preserved and in such a good location, you may have guessed that this old port has now become Croatia's (and arguably the eastern Adriatic coast's) tourism hub.

If you've been reading Wanderlust for a while you'll know I get put off by swarms of tourists. Especially middle age overweight American tourists wearing ludicrous clothing and loudly blabbering in a midwestern accent things like, "Mary-lou just will not believe all the how many nice English folk we've met along the way" as they huff and puff their way around looking for a McDonald's or Italian restaurant. You're in Dubrovnik. You don't need a moneybelt.

Here is what I jotted down strolling through the main part of old town that first night: "Inside the old town is a sight to behold. So clean, so polished. Swarming with tourists- suffocating you. It's like a medieval Disney Land. Everywhere you turn someone is hawking something, or there is a restaurant, a cafe, a bar, or an attraction you can queue up and pay to see.

In a sick way I almost wish for a war or a siege by pirates. Just something to knock a few cannon holes in the walls. Spray some artillery fire over the tower and burn out a few buildings. Just to make it look more real. It looks and feels almost manufactured, as if the Dubrovnik tourism board one day piped up and said, 'how can we get people to visit? Let's build a medieval town between two hills, surround it with massive walls, and fill it with restaurants!'"

One of the best features of the old town area is the old port. This was really Dubrovnik's claim to fame and reason for being so closely guarded through the centuries. Now you can charter tourist cruises or dine at one of the really nice looking and quite expensive restaurants that occupy the harbor.

I spent the remainder of the diminishing daylight wandering the old town. At one point there is a break in the south part of the wall and you can pop down to the cliff-side area for a coffee or beer while you admire the sunset. Despite being a bit askew (I was shoved by beer-ravenous German tourists who simply couldn't allow me the two seconds I needed to level the shot), I really like this photo. If you look closely you'll see a girl sitting way out on the rocks. At first glance I didn't see a discernible way out there but I didn't have time for more than a cursory glance given the mauling I was taking at the hands of the booze-insatiable Germans.

I walked for perhaps another 200 feet and ran smack into Toby and Martin from the tour in Mostar and the bus. They didn't have a hostel so they were renting an apartment for 2 nights on the other end of the city and we had separated at the bus station. We unanimously agreed it was time to get something to eat. As you may have gleaned from the post title, Dubrovnik is expensive. The food and drinks, while not as egregious as the lodging, are still unreasonably expensive for Croatia. The hostel had tipped me to a Bosnian place in the center that was supposedly really good and much cheaper than most other food items. We three agreed and much to my delight it was cevapi time.

I found it a bit strange that the Bosnian place was called "Taj Mahal" but who am I to say that the name of your restaurant should embody the cuisine you serve. I might just open a pizza joint called Eiffel Tower. The grub was good, not Bosnian in Bosnia good, and relatively cheap although still twice what you would pay in Sarajevo for that meal. We adjourned to our respective abodes and since it was to be our only night in Dubrovnik and we were paying a fortune to stay there it was proposed and ratified that we clean ourselves up and rendezvous at the Pile Gate at 10pm sharp to investigate the Dubrovnik night life.

Since we were spending way too much money already, when we convened a few hours later we decided to try and stick to cheaper looking bars until it was time to investigate the legendary Dubrovnik club, Revelin. The first bar we went to had some good deals- about 1.5 to 2 euro for a large beer. The guys got a bit aggressive and allowed themselves to be convinced to purchase tequila shots by the barkeep. As always, a decision almost immediately regretted.

We stopped into to a handful of places and eventually got to chatting with some locals before it was finally time to hit the club. Once nice thing about the Balkans, if you need to move but you haven't finished your drink- just take it with you! Toby made an impromptu starring role in one of my shots of the placa at night doing just that.

Finally, Revelin. It's a club occupying a massive space within the walls of the city. I had been hearing about it from other travelers all over Croatia. During the summer peak months the club draws big name DJs and other live acts and is usually packed most nights of the week. This particular night was a Thursday and we were probably about a week or so out of the "tourist season." But you wouldn't know it from how much everything still cost. To get in was about 15 euro- outrageous for a club in the Balkans. But inside the vibe was pretty awesome.

It was easy to see how this place would be incredible at full capacity. That night it was probably only at about half full but the music was good and there were a surprising number of Croatians at the club. And even more surprisingly, the Croatian women were not standoffish at all. What I've discovered in all of my nights of hard research in bars and clubs for you dear reader, yes solely for you, is that certain cultures are more cliquish and prickly when approached by strangers than others.

The Balkans, to my experience, had more or less fallen in that category (i.e. you need to know a local or someone in the group for locals to be friendly and talkative toward you), however, the Croatians I met in Revelin were very open and cool. And just in case the music, people, and libations aren't enough to keep your attention, the bartenders sometimes juggle flaming bottles of booze.

The next morning the expensiveness of Dubrovnik once again reared its ugly head. As the drinks at Revelin were fairly pricey, the most economical option was to go down a road I had sworn off for many years: the Long Island Iced Tea. I only had one, but that plus the tequila shot was enough to make me feel like I had been beaten with a sack of quarters. Worse, the hostel guys came pounding on my door at 10:30 to get me out of the room. For 35 freaking euro ($50) a night I think you can let me sleep a little while longer!

Bedraggled, I applied my typical hangover cure: water and climbing something. Water was plentiful, and as fate would have it, I had saved Dubrovnik's premier tourist attraction, hiking the city walls, for my final hours. Walking the walls is definitely worth doing, even despite that it's 10 euro, as you get some amazing views of the city and surrounding area. Plus its nice to get a little exercise and burn away that rough night in the blazing Croatian sunlight. If you walk counterclockwise, one of the best shots you'll get, and my favorite in Dubrovnik, is of the small bay and Fort Lovrijenac.

Aside from climbing the walls, the other thing that provided an invaluable assist in returning me to proper form was a gelato. Specifically, a Penguini gelato. A what? Yes, Penguini. It wasn't penguin flavored (fortunately), but it was penguin colored(ish). The basic flavor is sweet cream with a layer of chocolate ganache. It was really good! And because you're apparently not allowed to have just one flavor (the girl scooping it goes "AND... AND... OTHER FLAVOR?!") I got mandarin.

Back on the walls a very thoughtful and erratic-haired me was taking in the sights and sun.

Finally, from Fort Minceta in the northwestern most corner you get the best view of the entirety of Dubrovnik. From there it was a quick jot back down the stairs and out the Pile Gate.

At this point it was probably around 2pm and my bus to Montenegro didn't leave until 7pm. Tired and hot I decided the best remedy was to take shelter from the sun and so I walked around behind the restaurant on the little bay near the hostel and plopped down on the concrete and went to sleep. It was really relaxing- there was a nice cool breeze and it was relatively quiet. It was also the cheapest thing I did during my entire time in Dubrovnik.

Around five I begrudgingly arose and went in search of some cheap grub before heading to the bus station. The guys at the hostel had recommended a pizza place nearby that had 4-5 euro pies. Considering everything else, even sandwiches, I had passed were in the 7-10 euro range, this seemed like a steal. In Dubrovnik there is a bit of an interesting pizza phenomena- most pizzerias make "pan" pizzas.

That is, they cook them in aluminum or cast iron pans. It creates a thicker and softer crust- completely unlike anything I was used to having in the past several months. Most pizza has been crisp to cardboard hard crust with inferior toppings, a plastic cheese-like substance, and ketchup posing as tomato sauce. This pie, however, was really good. The sauce was outstanding and the cheese had a bit of a kick- almost white cheddar like. It doesn't look like much but it deliciously filled a hungry spot.

I collected my stuff from the hostel and it was time to make my way to the bus station. I later discovered in my haste to leave the room at the relentless prompting of hostel guys, I somehow left behind my favorite (and only) black polo shirt. With my white dress shirt covered in red marker from Hvar and now no polo, I have zero dressy-ish clothes for the remainder of the trip. Slob central. And of course I had to lose the single most expensive article of clothing I had with me apart from my jacket and shoes. Sigh.

But the tribulations of the day were not over yet. At the bus station I realized that the little piece of paper that the drivers collect had somehow torn away from my ticket and was lost. Not wanting it to be an issue I went to the ticket booth and the woman informs me that I have to buy an entire new ticket! What the hell?! On the ticket it clearly has the date and time of the bus so it's not like I could have taken a different bus with that ticket. And she wouldn't just print me another one! I had to spend another 15 euros for the same freaking bus ticket!

Then when I went to put my bag in the bus the guy refuses to take Croatian kuna. He wants one euro. WTF?! We are IN Croatia, where the hell would I have gotten a euro from? I didn't have one and so he grunts at me and starts yanking my bag off the bus. Son of a bitch! He was seriously going to leave it behind because I didn't have (nor would I any reason to have) a euro to tip him. Thinking quickly I turned around and asked the couple behind me if I could trade them two kuna for one euro and they thankfully helped me out.

In all the excitement I forgot to get my passport out of my pack before we took off so when we ultimately made it to the border patrol checkpoint I had to ask the driver to leave the bus and get my passport from underneath. It was embarrassing and seemed to aggravate him even further. I'm not sure who hated whom more by the end of the bus ride but by this point, for the first time, I was starting to get fed up with the Balkans- specifically the attitude of a few bad apples.

The good news, however, was that on the bus I met a new friend Helen from Australia. We got along famously, chatting the entire 4 hours down to Montenegro on a variety of topics. She even got me talking about US politics which I almost universally avoid. Along the way the driver stopped the bus abruptly and the seat next to us fell off onto the floor.

In all, Dubrovnik was a beautiful place but one I doubt I'll ever return to. Between the hostel, food, a few drinks, the club, walking the wall, and having to buy the same bus ticket TWICE, I probably spent over 100 euro for my 24 hours there. And that's not even considering the $70 shirt that got left behind. I can say without a doubt that Dubrovnik was not worth it. If you have a ton of money and really want to vacation in a medieval Disney Land, then Dubrovnik is the place for you. If you're a budget-conscious traveler either skip it in lieu of Zadar, or stay in Montenegro or down the coast a ways and pop in for a day-trip.

Bonus photo: Since each one of these shots was around 2 euro, here is your and my money's worth: