A Month in Dubrovnik

Visiting Croatia’s Most Expensive City

After two amazing months in Greece, we were ready for our next adventure. We’d spent one month in Athens and another in northern Greece. We were keen to go to the Balkans as our next stop; it had been on our original 2020 travel itinerary before COVID sent the year into a tailspin. With the cooler weather coming in, we thought that the mild coast of Croatia would be the perfect place to spend the fall. 

Our plans were sealed when we discovered that there was a direct flight from Athens to Dubrovnik — the last of the season — that we could book on points no less. It was the perfect opportunity to make our way to Croatia. 

Honestly, Dubrovnik is a city that we never expected to visit. We’ve always seen it as a place with too many cruise ships, too many tourists and obscenely high prices. However, during these unusual times, we realized that it was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to visit an incredibly beautiful place without the typical crowds. 

And sure enough, due to the pandemic, there were hardly any tourists here, making for a really memorable experience. As for the prices, that was a mix. Our monthly budget summary stay quickly reveals  which prices were lower due to a depressed tourism market and which ones were as high as ever. 

COVID Testing

Our cost summary begins with a line item that we’ve never encountered before: COVID testing. We needed quick-turnaround PCR tests in order to enter Croatia. Fortunately we discovered a test facility in the Athens airport that could provide same day results. We expect this will become the new normal for travel as more destinations require tourists to arrive with a negative test. 

We were relieved that this was available at the airport, which made the whole experience easy. At $164 for the two of us, we felt that the cost was reasonable.

Accommodations

Accommodations is one of the main areas where the local economy has taken a hit because of COVID. We found that there were many apartments available for a full month, even though we were booking just six weeks ahead. Yet, despite there being so much Airbnb inventory, Dubrovnik is still a place where rents are substantially higher than the rest of Croatia. 

All in all, we were pleased with the price we negotiated for our Airbnb, which was a compact, stylish studio apartment. It’s a small space but arranged in a comfortable and functional way. It also has a private terrace and garden area. 

It’s based in the new town, in an area called Gruz, just a 30-minute walk away from the old town. We found Gruz itself to be a pleasant neighbourhood with great views of the harbour and a lively morning market. For this we paid $973 and the host even threw in weekly cleaning. 

Entertainment

Even though Dubrovnik is really expensive, there are lots of free things to enjoy. We spent many hours wandering through the old town, which has been beautifully preserved. We also walked around the entire Lapad peninsula and had a dip at one of the local beaches. 

We hiked up to the amazing view on the top of Mount Srd. You can also take an expensive cable car to get up there but we really enjoyed the exercise and it took less than 90 minutes to reach the top. 

Of course, there are lots of paid activities and attractions in Dubrovnik and this is where we didn’t see a break on price even though the tourist season was at 10% capacity this year. 

The walk along the top of the city walls is a little pricey at $31 per person but the views of the town and the ocean are totally worth it. We went first thing in the morning and had the entire walk to ourselves for an hour and a half. In normal times it would be completely crowded with tourists. The same ticket also covers admission to the nearby fort that offers stunning views of the old town.

We also pursued some of our own interests, which we find to be very healthy for our relationship. We talked about the importance of spending time apart in this video.  Gillian went scuba diving, which was a much chillier experience than all her past diving in Thailand. But it was great to have a day under water. Meanwhile I popped into the Red Museum which is like a time capsule of what Croatia was like under communism. 

Our total spend on entertainment was $154. 

Dining out

Let’s move on to dining out, which was shockingly expensive in Dubrovnik, on par with Toronto or Singapore or any other high cost city we’ve spent time in.

Whenever we’re visiting a new city, we like to take cues from the locals when it comes to dining out — in terms of where they’re eating, what they order and how much they pay. In Dubrovnik, we really didn’t see locals dining out at all. Instead we saw lots of locals having coffee or drinks in the bars and cafes but, as far as we could tell, they were eating their meals at home. 

When we researched the local restaurants, we found that they were mostly high priced places catering to tourists. Since we do love exploring local cuisine, we tried to make each meal out into a special occasion, knowing that we would be paying high prices. 

One day we hiked for two hours over Mount Srd to try a traditional meal in a nearby village. We had lamb and potatoes that were slow cooked under an iron bell for 3 hours; ordering in advance is essential. 

Another day we had a sampler of Croatian wines and a platter of local meats and cheese at a wine bar in the old town. We also tried a few of the Croatian takeaway classics: lots of the cheese-filled pastry called borek and a generous serving of tasty fried squid.

Dining out cost us $241 for the month. However, for the most part, we cooked at home, which brings us to groceries. 

Groceries

Generally we found the price of groceries to be higher than in Greece, which is our most recent point of comparison.

We tried to dabble in a few local dishes. We had homemade borek one night created by Gillian, which tasted…okay. We also had a pot of mussels, which were fresh and delicious and cost less than $2 a kilo.

In total we spent $577 on groceries. We are always a little embarrassed to share the cost of our groceries because it seems really high for two people. However, we talk about why traveling full time tends to drive up the cost of our groceries in this video. 

Transportation

Public transit was available but the buses seemed crowded and there was really no social distancing. So we did a lot of walking but also took Ubers, which was a convenient option and moderately priced. Our total spend for transportation was $72, with half of that covering our transfer from the Dubrovnik airport into town.

Fitness

We really miss going to the gym but we have continued with our home fitness program, which did not cost anything this month. And of course we had lots of hiking and long runs through town.

We also have a couple regular costs that we share every month. First is data, which came in at $8 this month. 

Next is insurance; we spend $140 on our international medical insurance plan with Cigna Global. 

Our total costs for the month in Dubrovnik was just over $2300. But was it worthwhile to spend a whole month in Croatia’s most expensive city?

First, we did find that Dubrovnik’s old town is truly remarkable. It’s been incredibly well preserved and you really do feel like you’re walking through history. 

Also, for anyone visiting during the off season like we were, the weather can be quite variable. Some days were sunny and beautiful but just as many were rainy and overcast. So staying for a whole month ensures that you have lots of nice days to take it all in.  

That said, the accommodations, attractions and dining out are really expensive — much more so than anywhere else in Croatia. We do feel it’s worthwhile to visit Dubrovnik but, for most people, maybe come just for a week or so. There are lots of other beautiful historic towns in the rest of Croatia that won’t break the bank. In fact, we’ll soon be able to make a direct comparison as the next stop in our journey is the city of Split. 

All amounts in USD

Item	Budget
COVID: Quick turnaround test at the airport	$164
Accommodations: A stylish, compact studio apartment in the Gruz area	$973
Entertainment: Wall walk, scuba for one, museum entrance	$154
Dining Out & Takeaway: Special occasion meals only	$241
Groceries: Almost all our meals were made at home	$577
Local Transportation: Transfer from airport to Airbnb plus a number of Uber rides	$72
Fitness: At-home workouts	$0
Data: Small amount of data from global plan	$8
Insurance: An essential for travel	$140
Total	$2328