3 days in Dubrovnik between raw beauty, crowd fatigue, and hidden grace.
I didn’t fall in love with Dubrovnik.
But I wrote about it – exactly as I lived it.
It’s not always the easiest choice. But it’s always the truest.
I walked into Dubrovnik with open eyes and a full heart.
I left with a bittersweet taste and a quiet ache.
Beauty was there – overwhelming, intact in places.
But so was the weight of too many people, too many cameras, too much performance.
In this article, I’m not going to give you a polished itinerary.
I’ll give you something else: a path through sensations, truths, and contradictions.
Not how to check off Dubrovnik in 3 days.
But how to feel it – even when it hurts a little.
Article published on July 25, 2025 – experience lived in June 2025.
Is Dubrovnik worth visiting if you love slow travel and authenticity?
Yes. But maybe not how you think.
Dubrovnik is one of those places that creates a violent contrast between postcard expectations and human reality.
I dreamt I arrived early in the morning, when the streets were still quiet, the marble shining with dew and silence.
That’s when I would have felt its soul.
That’s when I would have understood why people fall under its spell.
But by 9:30 AM, the magic is gone.
Hundreds of people flood in – cruise groups, tour leaders with megaphones, endless clicking of phones.
Suddenly, you are in a theatre. Not a city.
I had the strange feeling of being pushed out of the moment.
Of walking in someone else’s story, not mine.
So is Dubrovnik worth visiting?
Yes – if you go early. If you walk slowly. If you allow yourself to feel both the wonder and the wound.
3 days in Dubrovnik | What I actually did
Let’s be honest: I couldn’t “do” everything.
And that’s fine – I didn’t come to consume. I came to experience.
Here’s how I spent my 3 days in Dubrovnik:
Evening 1 – Late arrival at the airport
I landed late. Too late to start anything — except breathing in the shift.
I’d booked a hotel near the airport on Booking: Cloud9 Airport Rooms. Just 2 or 3 km away, with a free shuttle.
Modern, comfortable, quiet. A room with a terrace and the soft hum of crickets in the background.
Clean. Functional. Exactly what I needed.
Except… all the drivers were inside the terminal, holding signs.
All but mine.
I had his license plate number – that was it.
So I wandered among parked cars, jostled by impatient taxi drivers, scanning for numbers in the dark, dragging my bag like a snail shell.
The driver didn’t speak English – an exception here. We communicated with nods and trust.
Welcome to Croatia.
Day 1 – Dubrovnik Old Town
The next morning, another shuttle to the airport, then the bus to the main station.
I watched the coastline roll by – rugged, sunlit, raw – especially near Cavtat.
It was a journey in itself.
From the bus station, I switched again. Another bus to Rozat, the small village where my Airbnb waited.
I dropped my bags, breathed in the quiet, and headed back out. Back toward Dubrovnik.
By then, the day was well underway. Mid-June, late morning: the tourists had already taken over the old town.
But I went anyway.
I let the marble guide my steps, the breeze from the sea wrap around my skin.
No plan, just presence.
Later, I climbed to Fort Lovrijenac – feeling the weight of the sun on my back and the stones under my feet.
Then I followed the blue circuit. Let the city show itself in layers.
In the late afternoon, I found a simple place for a snack.
A kebab with sweetcorn and red beans – surprisingly good.
I stayed, chatting with the staff. One of them spoke French.
We talked about the crowds, the taxes, immigration. The paradox of this place that everyone wants to love – and that is slowly breaking under the pressure.
Guided tours in Dubrovnik
If you don’t want to visit the city by your own, you can find many guided tours online here
Evening 2 – Sunset from Mount Srđ and Dubrovnik by night
Around 6 PM, I started the ascent to Mount Srđ. On foot.
The path follows an old Way of the Cross. Dry earth, sharp stones, not a soul in sight.
If you go, bring good walking shoes, water – and silence.
I reached the top as the sun began to melt into the sea.
I watched the light shift. I watched the city glow.
Then I walked down again, step by step, with the sunset as my compass.
You can find other options for the sunset here
Later, I stopped for dinner: four-cheese lasagna.
The waiter smiled politely. “Hopefully you’ll like it.”
I didn’t.
It was heavy, bland, like someone had melted random cheeses into a shapeless pile.
The kind of meal that leaves you regretting you didn’t just order bread.
But then I walked through Dubrovnik by night – and forgot everything (even the bus drivers closing the door on me).
It was magic.
And the most surprising part?
The crowd was still there.
Maybe even denser than during the day. But it felt different. Like the city had accepted the performance, and was playing along.
Day 2 : Places to visit from Dubrovnik | Trsteno Arboretum
I needed a break from the city’s overstimulation.
That’s when I found a gem.
Just 30 minutes from Dubrovnik lies one of the oldest arboretums in this part of Europe: the Arboretum, in the village of Trsteno.
You won’t find big crowds here. What you’ll find is shade, silence, and centuries-old trees breathing calmly.
It also happens to be a Game of Thrones filming location.
Trsteno was used as the gardens of King’s Landing – and you can feel it. The stillness. The gravity.
I walked alone among palms, oaks, cypresses.
The air was moist with life. The kind of place where you remember you’re part of something older, slower, deeper.
If you need a real break from Dubrovnik’s energy, this is your place. Not to tick a box – but to exhale.
If you have no car or don’t want to visit by our own, you can check these guided tours here
Some of them include several Game of Thrones places, like Ston or combine with Dubrovnik old town.
Ston Walls.
On the same day, I also wanted to visit Ston and its famous medieval walls.
Trsteno + Ston seemed like the perfect plan to dive deeper into the Game of Thrones atmosphere.
It didn’t go as planned.
Wrong timetables at the bus station.
Wrong directions from people at the arboretum.
In the end, I found myself stranded in the middle of nowhere – no buses in sight… for 4 hours!
I tried hitchhiking. No luck.
Eventually, I hopped on the next random bus to a nearby town I’d never heard of.
Nothing special, really.
A quiet seafront, a small ethnographic museum – and a kind woman who reopened it just for me when she heard I was passionate about ancestral cultures.
A gift, despite the detour.
If you want to visit and have no car, I recommend you to rent a car for a day, or go with a guided tour.
It’s time to run away!
Back in Dubrovnik, I went to buy my ferry ticket to Korčula.
That’s where it hit again.
Inside the Jadrolinija office, one of the employees gave me useful tips.
Then her colleague stormed in:
“You’re a bad tourist.”
No smile. No context. Just rage.
I stood there stunned – apparently guilty of asking questions and existing.
It wasn’t Croatia speaking.
It was exhaustion.
It was a wound.
But still – being insulted like that, without a single word being heard, then laughed at when I chose to walk away – felt both rude and heartbreaking.
Luckily, I meT Lucia.
Later, in the nearby tourist office, I met Lucia, a young woman who shared more than just directions.
She spoke four languages. Lived with her husband and son in 28 square meters.
She smiled as I listened – but her eyes drifted.
She was born here. But her city no longer belongs to her.
She wonders if she’ll have to leave.
All around, terraces overflow. Prices explode. Homes are bought by foreigners.
The postcard cracks beneath my steps.
That day, I came looking for stories.
Instead, I witnessed a slow dispossession.
And once you see it, you can’t unsee it.
Day 3 – Ferry from Dubrovnik to Korčula
Because for me, transport is part of the journey.
The ferry ride from Dubrovnik to Korčula was a transition more than a transfer.
Water everywhere. The wind in my hair.
The land receding behind me. A new island ahead.
It wasn’t just movement – it was transformation.
My advice: don’t book your ticket too early. Bad weather on the sea is frequent and can turn your travel into a nightmare.
Conclusion: What 3 days in Dubrovnik taught me
Dubrovnik challenged me.
Its beauty overwhelmed me. Its crowds exhausted me.
Its silences healed me.
If you’re planning to spend 3 days in Dubrovnik, don’t just follow the guides.
Start early. Stay open.
Go beyond the old town. Let the moss speak as much as the marble.
And most of all:
Allow yourself to feel both the enchantment… and the discomfort.
Because that’s where the real stories begin.
And you?
- Have you ever felt that tension – between beauty and overtourism?
- How do you experience places that feel overcrowded or emptied of soul?
- What makes a place truly magical, for you?
📍 Curious about my full slow travel itinerary in Croatia?
➡️ I’m working on a detailed article with all my steps, local transports, and slow travel tips — no car, just immersion and presence.
Check back soon — or follow me on LinkedIn / Facebook.
Notes & References.
All my articles about Croatia – Ethno Travels
Tours selection for Dubrovnik – Get Your Guide
Tour selection for Croatia – Get Your Guide
Video of Dubrovnik old town – YouTube
Mont SRD Hike – Red White adventures
Arboretum of Trsteno – King’s landing Dubrovnik
