Dubrovnik, Croatia (a.k.a. King’s Landing, a.k.a. The Stairs)
A stone jewel hugging the Adriatic, and easily one of the prettiest places we’ve ever set foot – a medieval walled city of ancient stone buildings, narrow cobbled streets, and fortified ramparts towering over a sea of red-tiled rooftops. Bonus: no cars allowed inside the old city, which is great for the views and terrible for our excuses, because it meant we walked. A lot. Up. Constantly. We climbed approximately fortyleventhousand steps, and we’d like a medal, or at least a nap.
Our day was simple and glorious: wander the Old Town, take the “Game of Thrones” tour, and pretend our knees were fine. For a place that got shelled badly in the early ’90s, it’s been restored to absolute perfection – a UNESCO World Heritage Site and the pride of Croatia. Fun history nugget: Dubrovnik ran itself as an independent republic for six centuries before Napoleon shut the party down in 1808.
Pile Gate & Old Town – ✅ Went Here
The traditional way into the walled city, and our official starting line. Step through and you’re on the Stradun, a wide marble pedestrian boulevard polished smooth by a few hundred years of feet, with the 15th-century Onofrio Fountain holding court. This is where the GoT tour really kicked in – turns out you’ve seen these streets on TV more than you realized.
Franciscan Monastery & Pharmacy – 👀 Saw the Outside
A 14th-century complex with gorgeous cloisters and one of Europe’s best manuscript libraries. The real claim to fame: a pharmacy believed to be the oldest working apothecary in the world. We admired it from the exterior and told ourselves that counted.
Dominican Monastery – 👀 Saw the Outside
Looks more like a fortress than a monastery, because it was built right alongside the city walls. Renaissance art and frescoes inside, supposedly. We can confirm the outside is very nice.
City Walls & Maritime Museum
The 13th-century walls you can walk the full circumference of for jaw-dropping views – and the likely culprit behind our step count and our complaining. Brutal on the legs, unbeatable on the scenery.
The Rest of It (Rector’s Palace, the Cathedral & Treasury)
Dubrovnik is stuffed with more than one day can hold – a Gothic-Renaissance Rector’s Palace full of Republic-era artifacts, and a 1673 cathedral hiding actual masterpieces, including a Titian. We didn’t get to everything. You can’t. That’s just an excuse to come back with fresher knees.
