The Final Chapter, or How We Conquered the City Walls - Dubrovnik III.

Eniko Fabian
Sep 12, 2017
3 min read

As small a town Dubrovnik is, the plenty it has to offer. For our last day, Andy and I decided to climb the City Walls. I was a little concrned as to how it might go for me having been into my fifth month of pregnancy, but after continuously conquering the steep stairs of the town itself every day, I decided the views from the wall are not something to be missed. Even if I climb on all fours.

Yes, well, theory is one thing. Then, when you are standing at the bottom of a 25m high wall with the steepest stairs you have ever seen, only to continue climbing up and down on the wall itself, that is another story. And if I had known that the walk itself takes at least 3 hours, we might have just missed this experience after all. Sometimes I wonder if this might be a reason we do not see into the future... But, the tickets were bought, so the only way forward was up. Luckily, there was plenty of comfort provided for the tourists up on the wall; thankfully, we could sit down frequently and take the walk as slowly as it suited us.

It was fascinating to learn how magnificent the Wall actually is. Built in the Middle Ages, it still stands tall as a fierce, towering and protective ring around Old Town. Andy and I have visited a few sites/monuments/erections from the past and have never seen one that is still this immaculate and spectacular. It is rightfully the pride of the town; no surprise it also joined the UNESCO list of World Heritage Sites in 1979.

As soon as you climb up the first row of stairs, the tour takes you past the main street that you can see in the shade of my parasol.

City rooftops

The grandeur of the cliffs the Wall was built on only adds to the whole experience.

There are always many panting tourists up on the Wall. At some places it is hard to walk due to crowds, especially at certain narrow sections of the road. There is no good time to visit the Wall really - it is busy from sunrise until sunset.

Compared to most people in their hiking outfits, I was a certain kind of curiosity in my little white dress and parasol. Many smiled kindly at me and my bump and even took photos of us.

The breathtaking bay we saw next offers the location for the earlier mentioned King's Landing in the famous Game of Thrones TV series. We sat on the Wall for a little while, taking in the spectacular views.

As we continued slowly, we walked into the sunset. Life was bustling around the Wall... People were swimming in the sea, having dinners in pubs, and ships were restlessly coming in and going out.

Towards the end of the tour we reached the port.

Andy and I were in such a great mood that I believe he took more photos of me than the Wall itself...

My kind of "posing"...

...versus Andy's...He always makes me smile.

Before the end of the tour, we climbed up and down countless times, even up into one of the bastions. The stairs inside were so narrow, dark and steep that only one person at a time could climb. Around 7 pm, both of us thought we could call it a day, so we returned to the starting point, closing the circle. We climbed down the steps and bought some ice cream. If you have not been to Croatia yet, you'll be surprised to find out how huge the scoops are! I usually have one, and whichever town we visit, it is sure to be delicious. You can imagine the two of us sitting by a cooling fountain after a 3-hour walk in the sun, listening to the refreshing splash of the water and feasting on the cold delicacy... Andy took some photos, but I'd rather keep those for the family album to smile at one day, looking back...We look completely exhausted and messy, ice cream dripping all over. And that was before we had to climb back up to our hotel room...

The walk itself really takes a lot of effort, but I would definitely choose to do it again. It's not something to be missed if you ever visit this splendid town. Locals told us the best time to go is in the spring or autumn to avoid the swarming tourists and the horrible prices. Andy and I will cherish our time spent here.