It was the perfect time to visit Dubrovnik. The weather was nice, but not too hot and there were tourists, but not too many. I had to prepare for my upcoming trip, but could do this while enjoying the sun and exploring the area. On day I made my way over to Lokrum island, a 10 minute ferry ride from the harbour in the old town.
On the island I took a left turn, walked a bit and climbed onto some rocks. I looked out over the Adriatic sea, Dubrovnik’s coast on the other side, and had my breakfast. Instantly I felt myself relaxing. I kept walking along the rocky coasts, over manmade paths through the forest and followed some side tracks to viewpoints. I ran into some rabbits and 10m further a peacock casually strolls by, as if it didn’t even notice me.
I ended up at the other side of the island, where the ‘dead sea’ is. It is a smaller pool of water, which is meant to be like the dead sea. Even though the water wasn’t super warm, I just had to see if I would float. To be honest, it was nice and refreshing on this hot day, but I didn’t notice any difference with other water. After this short break I kept wandering and found many rocks that had people sunbathing on it everywhere.
The island was also the home of the Benedictine monks for a long time. They built a monastery, which is still standing. Now it houses and exhibition about the monks and Richard the Lionheart, who once stranded here during the crusades. It’s quite fun, with mainly lots of information, but some wobbly floors and chanting monks on a projector to make it more interesting. On the upper floor is a completely different exhibition. There is some information about the island, as well as some behind the scenes videos of Game of Thrones, which was for a large part filmed in Dubrovnik. I couldn’t resist and had to test the iron throne, even if it is just a replica.
At this point I’d only seen the smaller end of the island. There is a whole other side, but with a little less to see. I strolled through gardens created by the Habsburg Maximilian and took the path of paradise to the old fort. It felt more like the path of hell, since it was not shaded and had a steady gradient up towards the fort. I can honestly not see where this name came from. It was all worth it though, because you can go inside the fort and look out 360 degrees over the sea and the coastline on the other side.
All in all I spent about 5 hours on the island. I was lovely to be away from the crowds, chilling in the sun and going for a walk. If you’ve got a few days in Dubrovnik, one should definitely be spent here!