We left Korčula early and headed towards Mljet, the most southern island of Croatia. It’s also one of the largest and greenest of the whole archipelago. The Mljet National Park takes up the northern third of the island and boasts two salt water lakes and the highly sought out St. Mary’s Island. We were excited to check it out!
Monday, August 30
Mljet
Our morning in Mljet allowed us to take a little walk through nature. No cobblestone streets here – just a lovely path through the National Park. Our guide brought us to the edge of one of the lakes and we took a boat across to St. Mary’s Island where a small church and Benedictine Monastery sit. Visitors can go inside the church, visit a little shop, grab a bite or drink at the café, or explore the island. Hubby and I chose to walk the island (it’s small!). We took a few photos, then grabbed a little drink at the café while we waited for our boat ride back.
It was pretty on St. Mary’s, but quite small and our time there didn’t need to be long. I know others in our group loved the church, but for us, we wouldn’t do it again or even highly recommend it. Truly, it was most beautiful from the drone shot above (thanks Robert)! That said, if you’re going to be in Mljet, especially in the National Park, it doesn’t hurt to go to the island! We did love the park and the lakes were beautiful.
After taking the boat ride back the other side of the lake, we waded into the lake for a little swim stop with our group before we walked back the path to meet our yacht for departure.
We set out for the remainder of our sail to Dubrovnik, but not without another swim stop! Once again, water so clear you can see the bottom, and warm enough to enjoy for a while! These Swim Stops became a favorite of ours each day. Something to look forward to each day – to see what spectacular view and experience we might have.
After our swim stop, we got ready and headed to the lounge deck to enjoy some music from our Primary (playing the Ukulele) and another yacht mate on the piano as we headed towards Dubrovnik.
We enjoyed a sunset champagne toast as we pulled into Dubrovnik, followed by dinner onboard.
We docked in Dubrovnik for the night, ready to explore well the next day! Check out the beautiful view from our boat after dark.
Tuesday, September 1
Dubrovnik
Our first adventure on the itinerary was a cable car ride over Dubrovnik (4/5). The cable car was clean and felt very safe, and there was a beautiful view of the city from above – you could actually see pretty far up and down the coast.
We didn’t have a ton of time, as we had a walking tour planned that we had to meet up for, but it would have been nice to enjoy a cup of coffee there if we had had more time. The car is large and fits quite a few people, but they took safety measures like masks are required and they spray all hands with hand sanitizer as you board on the way up and the way back.
When we “landed” back at the bottom, hubby grabbed some pastries across from the cable car entrance at Zlatno Zrno Pekarnica (4.5/5), and it was a perfect little snack. Almost like a donut with a delicious fruit filling.
Next we did a short walking tour of Dubrovnik with our guide Katie to learn the history of Dubrovnik, and it was interesting to learn of not only how it was built but how much of it was destroyed in the “homeland war” in 1991 and then repaired so well.
After the walking tour, we were on our own to explore Dubrovnik. First stop, we drank from Big Onofrio’s Fountain near the Pile Gate (west). We were a little nervous, but turns out the water was so fresh and clean! Actually, all of Croatia has wonderful water – clean, safe and tastes refreshing. Nothing like our Southern CA water… ew.
Lunch at Mea Culpa (2/5) was a recommendation for great pizza from our travel guide. While the service was lovely, we found the meal to be really disappointing and fairly pricey for what we got. Not recommended at all by any of us! I think it was a little too touristy.
Next we visited the stairs for Cersei’s “walk of shame” from Game of Thrones. Our guide had told us that after the show came out, people started run the steps naked yelling “Shame!” to be like the show (ummm…..why??!). So they put a sign up warning people to not do it and if they do, they fine them.
With plenty of time in our day, we decided to head over to the island of Lokrum (4/5) with intentions of seeing the famous “Iron Throne” from Game of Thrones. Yes – add this to they a very touristy things we typically wouldn’t do, however the island has much more to offer than the throne!
There are boats in the old port that will ferry you over to the island of Lokrum and back. Our boat ride round trip was ~$10 per person. We used the glass bottom boat ride, and because we had 10 people they gave us a discount, so we paid 60 Kuna/person ($10) instead of 75 Kuna ($12). The boat driver was on time for our return trip, and he took some group photos for us, so we were happy with it. We didn’t shop around on the boats, so I’m not sure if that was a good price or not, but we felt the price was fair.
Once you arrive at the island, you have to pay ~$25 (150 Kuna) just to be there and walk around. Something important to know ahead of time!
First stop on Lokrum was the Iron Throne for a few photos. It was a little bit of a hunt to find the room, and then there was a short line – maybe 5 or 10 people – waiting to take photos. While we were waiting I was reading about it, and fun fact (not) – the throne is not even the real one. It’s a replica donated by HBO [facepalm].
You may at this point see the difference in hubby’s joy on the throne vs. mine. He has watched all of Game of Thrones and loved it, and I watched a total of 3 episodes, including the final 2 of the entire show, and therefore I could not relate nor care that much about the throne itself. But it was fun anyways.
There is also the Dragon Tower from GOT on the far side of the island, which was used for filming. We didn’t go all the way to the top of the hill to the Dragon Tower spot, but a couple of our friends did as they wanted the walk and are big GOT fans. It was really really far.
The island was beautiful with lots of peacocks (we saw so many babies!), however we were a little disappointed in the upkeep of the grounds in some areas. You’d see a super run-down area, then turn around and see a beautifully kept spot. A bit strange!
There were some ruins in the center of the old Benedictine Monastery that were nice to walk around and take photos in. Our small group ended up doing a little mini photo shoot in there. A perfect spot for it! We had fun getting some good couples shots and laughing at the silly posing of the guys.
Behind the Monastery was the beach. Ugh! I wish we had planned more time and had been prepared with a bathing suit and towel, as it looked like a GREAT place to swim. There were quite a few people on the beach and in the water, and on a warm day it would have been super refreshing.
We were pretty hot and tired at this point but had a while before our boat was scheduled to take us back, so we decided to relax at the little Lacroma Snack Bar (3.5/5) near the entrance. We gathered some chairs, ordered some food and drinks, and pulled out a pack of playing cards! The food was hit and miss, and we had a great time.
If you stop by here, you MUST get the Krempita (custard cream cake), which is ~30 kn and close to a 5/5 on the fun and delicious scale! Make sure you give it a jiggle before you eat it. 🙂 We tried the same dessert elsewhere in our trip and we were disappointed it didn’t compare to the one here. On the other hand, definitely don’t get the milk shake… I am unsure why it was so terrible, but it was not a milkshake my American taste buds expected. Watermelon slices were a hit on the hot day, though!
When we arrived back to the port from our glass-bottom boat (we didn’t really see anything in the water), we headed to grab some gelato before our trip around the Wall of Dubrovnik. DO NOT get the gelato in the main square of the old port (near the Terrace by the Sea restaurant). It’s a great place to get water, which you’ll definitely want when you’re walking the Walls in the sun, but don’t get the gelato. It was so tasteless I had a momentary panic that I had lost my sense of taste and probably had COVID. Eek! Luckily it was just terrible gelato and not COVID. (1/5)
I definitely recommend walking the Walls of Dubrovnik (5/5)! They are another one of Croatia’s 10 UNESCO World Heritage Sites and for good reason! So much history in and around the walls, dating back to the Early Middle Ages.
Planning your day here is important. We were told the walls can get very very busy during peak seasons, so be aware of that. I also suggest you be thoughtful of the time of day you go. Tickets do not need to be purchased in advance – you can buy entry tickets at the entrance to the main walls (we entered near the port). There are “walking tour” tickets available through Viator and other companies that are more expensive and include a guide. We just wanted to walk, so the entrance itself was perfect for us.
At the time, the gates were open from 8 am to 7 pm (double check before planning for your season as it depends on the sunrise & sunset). There are a lot of stairs, and very little reprieve from the sun on your 2km walk around the perimeter, so on a hot sunny day, it would be good to go either right when they open, or towards the end of the day. We went in the evening and it was perfect. Warm to start, but not miserable. And the late afternoon light was beautiful.
There are little refreshment stops along the way with drinks or ice cream. We passed by most of them but found a lovely little one on the walls that drop to the sea with a beautiful view! It’s called Caffe on the Wall (4/5 based on drinks & view only), and there are tables and chairs under umbrellas and lovely service. We spent an hour and a half drinking, talking and enjoying the view. (Watch out! Their chairs are bar height folding chairs and easy to fall!) We would have loved to stay for sunset, however it would have been after 7 pm and we still had more wall to walk.
There are 2 bars built into the side of the Walls looking out over the sea (Buza Bar and BARD). In addition to the great view, they are popular because of the swimmers that jump off the cliffs below the bar. There can be a really long wait for seats at both of these spots, so if you’d like to go here, you might want to snag chairs early. We had a few couples in our group that found seats at them and enjoyed the view for a while. We decided to skip it and head to dinner with others, though.
While deciding on where to go for dinner, someone in our group had seen Neil Patrick Harris at a restaurant and text the whole group. We figured he probably eats well (and wanted our own peek), so we checked out the menu there. It looked ok, but we continued down the path and found a cute little place in one of the alleyways instead called Zuzori.
Zuzori (4.5/5)
We had 10 people with us at this point and they were able to accommodate us inside only. While we would have loved to sit in the cute little alley for the ambience, it happened to work out great because we were so hot and there was strong A/C and nice bathrooms inside.
Dinner was delicious & one of my favorite meals on the whole trip. Here’s what we ordered:
-Tuna tartare (good, but not as good as the carpaccio, which our friends ordered!).
-Seafood risotto. AMAZING.
-Duck breasts. Incredible.
-Polenta. To die for.
-St. Roko Wine – (which we later found in Split for ~180 Kuna, YAY for a take-home!)
Another friend got the vegetarian dish with zucchini, which we sampled. It tasted like a wonderful homemade lasagna without the noodles and now I want to make it at home!
Overall a really great dinner experience and a spot I definitely recommend. Such a cute ambience, great service, and of course, delicious food. And after 4 days in paradise with these people, we were growing to enjoy each others’ company so much!
After dinner, we headed back to Pile Gate for a taxi back to our yacht for the night (Pile Gate is one of the best places to grab a ride as it’s a busy area and therefore taxis sit at wait for riders). And after a long, wonderful, and exhausting day of exploring Dubrovnik, we melted into the lounge chairs on the yacht and laughed and told stories of the day until we couldn’t keep our eyes open anymore.
At this point, it was hard to believe that our yacht cruise was already more than half over. The return to Split would seem quick but eventful, and I’m excited to share the rest of our trip with you!
XO,
J
