Dubrovnik, an ancient city of stone perched on a promontory beneath craggy mountains that plunge into the deep blue Adriatic Sea, is so overwhelmingly beautiful that on first sight it feels almost sinful to turn one’s gaze elsewhere.
The picturesque city on the Dalmatian Coast, paved with smooth limestone and ringed by thick medieval walls, is gorgeous, redolent of history, and impossibly romantic. It is no surprise that some of the most memorable scenes in the HBO series Game of Thrones were filmed in Dubrovnik and other visually stunning locations in southern Croatia.
But Dubrovnik, ‘Pearl of the Adriatic,’ is not only a feast for the eyes. Historically, its strategic position on the Adriatic coast, connecting important Mediterranean trading ports like Genoa and Venice with the Balkan region and beyond, made it a busy merchant city and a crossroads of cultural and commercial influences. I began my exploration of Stari Grad — the old town — by walking atop its stalwart medieval walls, a two-kilometre hike that affords a bird’s eye view of the city’s narrow lanes and ornate palaces, churches and dwellings, ranging in age from the Gothic to the Baroque. Much of the city was rebuilt after a severe earthquake in 1667 and it sustained significant damage again during the armed conflict with Serbia in 1990. Today it is being extensively restored in co-operation with UNESCO, which granted it World Heritage status in 1979.
Medieval Dubrovnik was a renowned centre of shipbuilding and had one of the largest trading fleets in the region. Now the historic shipbuilding yard known as The Arsenal houses a popular restaurant with a super view of the waterfront. Seafood is a star of local cuisine and black risotto, made with squid and its ink, is a signature dish at Gradska Kavana Arsenal, not to be missed. I also enjoyed a rich tomato-based fish stew, generously filled with mussels, white fish and calamari, topped with a wedge of polenta; and octopus salad, ubiquitous on local menus. For dessert — Dubrovnik Cake — a delicate layered confection of almond and walnut — and rozata, the local version of crème caramel, perfumed with rozulin, a liqueur made from roses.
In the Mediterranean fashion, meals in Croatia are leisurely affairs, usually enjoyed with wine. On the table will be a basket of homemade bread and bottle of grassy olive oil. Appetizers typically include a variety of farmstead cheeses, olives, and charcuterie made from wild boar, deer and pig, including prsut, the region’s take on prosciutto, cured in the Bura wind that gusts down from the mountains in chilly, unpredictable blasts. The wind also whips up sea spray around the island of Pag, where sheep graze on salt-licked grasses, producing milk that flavours a distinctive local cheese. (The vagaries of the tempestuous Bura also make fishing a hazardous occupation and are a frequent cause of diverted landings at Dubrovnik’s small airport).
In addition to walking the ramparts, Dubrovnik’s top tourist activities include pausing for coffee and cake in one of Stari Grad’s pretty patio cafes (Dubravka 1836, just outside the city’s West Gate, is a standout with fantastic views), eating gelato while searching out Games of Thrones locations and queuing to enter the much-hyped cliffside Bŭza Bar to see thrill-seekers take a 20-metre plunge into the Adriatic Sea. Equally exciting is the cable car ride 1,361 feet to the top of Mount Srdj for a spectacular view of the Dalmatian coast at any time of day but especially at sunset when the walled city below is framed in gold. The mountain-top Panorama Restaurant is an unforgettable place for a meal, or to savour the view with a pint of crisp Croatian lager. At night the Old Town is magical, channelling its medieval persona with narrow cobbled alleyways and flagstone squares lit with flaming torches, warm light spilling from the windows of cozy bistro restaurants. One of the most romantic ways to begin an evening is with cocktails at the Abakus Piano Bar in the Excelsior Hotel, on the terrace with a perfect view of the medieval city. I had a lovely dinner at Sensus, the Excelsior’s fine dining restaurant, with impeccable service and a knowledgeable sommelier complementing a creative, locally focused menu.
The Discover Pass is an economical way to visit Stari Grad’s principal museums and significant architectural wonders. Entry to the walls alone costs 40 Euro, so the one-day pass (40 Euro at time of writing), which includes entry to the walls plus six museums and two galleries, is great value. Three- and seven-day passes are also available.
With close to 2,000 kilometres of Mediterranean coastline, over 1,000 offshore islands and a rich cultural heritage reaching back to antiquity, Croatia is one of the most popular tourist destinations in Europe, attracting millions of visitors each year. But since only around 15 percent of the coast is urbanized, the region’s idyllic scenery of vineyards, olive groves and small farms spilling down steep mountainsides to a sapphire sea remains largely intact. Rural villages with stout stone houses and seaside towns with pretty promenades retain their rustic charm. With farm-to-table cuisine a deeply rooted tradition and a local larder richly supplied with nature’s bounty and artisanal foods, Croatia is a paradise for the culinary traveller.
Dalmatia’s ancient agricultural landscape benefits from a sunny climate, coastal location and rich soil. Growing conditions are highly favourable, especially for Mediterranean crops. Oregano, sage, rosemary, thyme, bay leaves and lavender grow wild, perfuming the air with their heady scent. The region is known for its abundant harvests of olives, wine grapes and seasonal fruits and vegetables. Many culinary practices are rooted in centuries-old traditions and the skills needed to make bread, cheese, charcuterie, preserves and other hand-crafted products have been passed down from generation to generation.
Croatia delivers a world of wine, from quaffable table wines served in jugs and carafes, to elegantly crafted vintages featuring native varietals unique to the region. Viticulture has ancient roots here — the Greeks planted vines in Dalmatia over 2,500 years ago – and some varietals, including Zinfandel, can trace a lineage back to Croatia. I fell hard for Pošip, a dry white wine from the island of Korčula, with a lively freshness and notes of stonefruit, herbs and citrus, and the more aromatic and full-bodied Malvasia. Among the reds, the predominant offering, Plavac Mali, is an adventure on the palate, a big tannic wine with intriguing flavours of dark fruits and spice.
There are several distinct wine growing regions in southern Croatia. The Pelješac Peninsula, a rocky finger of land jutting into the Adriatic ninety-minute’s drive north of Dubrovnik, is now a world-renowned wine region. In addition to vineyards and family farms criss-crossed by dry stone walls, the peninsula is known for its sheltered coves, pebbly beaches and exquisite seafood. The tiny village of Ston, protected by five kilometres of stone walls, is home to Bota Šare, a waterfront restaurant specialising in fish, oysters and traditional Dalmatian cuisine. The building it occupies was a salt warehouse in medieval times, when salt harvested in Ston was a valuable trading commodity and a mainstay of Dubrovnik’s economy. The shallow evaporation ponds — the oldest in Europe — are still in use, producing the highest quality salt with the assistance only of sea, sun and wind, methods unchanged since Roman times.
Almost all the food and drink served at Bota Šare was bred, caught or produced within a one-kilometre radius of Ston. Traditional dishes, featuring staples such as white Pelješac wine, olive oil, parsley, garlic, Ston salt and seafood, are prepared from recipes in two cookbooks over 200 years old that were found in the building. Stars of the show are the fat, creamy oysters that the Sare family farm in the clear waters surrounding the peninsula. The Bay of Mali Ston is the only successful breeding ground in the world for Ostrea edulis, the flat European oyster that has been harvested in this region since Roman times. They are a true delicacy with a clean sea flavour and rich mouthfeel, once tasted, not soon forgotten.
The farm (and vineyard) to-table tasting experience at Botaro Winery in the Konavle Valley – a fertile wine growing region south of Dubrovnik — is a perfect example of Croatia’s deeply historic culinary heritage. Matea Butijer, the winery owner, is the 25th generation of the family that has worked this piece of land since the 1400s. Along with her mother and grandmother, she produces all the wine and food served to visitors in their farmhouse dining room among the vineyards. Each of the four wines Matea produces (available only on site) is paired with food grown or made in the valley. The table with its checkered cloth is laid with a forest of wine glasses, baskets of crusty bread, an array of sheep and cow’s milk cheeses, a platter shingled with slices of farmhouse smoked bacon, prst and salami, and another with salad vegetables just picked from the garden. And maddeningly delicious – a thick spread of spiced pork lard made by Matea’s father. Wine pours are generous – “we don’t taste wine here, we drink it,” says Matea – and are followed with candied citrus peels and a sampling of homemade liqueurs — flavoured with sage, cherries and walnuts.
Driving deeper into the Konavle Valley, along pastoral lanes ablaze with yellow Spanish Broom and stands of the purple iris that ancient times were shipped to Greece for perfumery, leads to Konavovski Dvori Eco Green Restaurant, tucked away in a fairytale forest beside the burbling Ljuta River. On a terrace overlooking a series of weirs, guests dine on traditional Croatian specialties like paśticada, a beef pot roast bathed in a rich sauce of red wine and prunes; fresh river trout, swimming moments before it reaches the table; and dishes cooked under an iron bell, a style known as peka.
Peka is also the specialty of Konoba Dubrava, a family-style restaurant secluded in the woodlands of Mt Sdrj, high above Dubrovnik. The cooking process begins early in the morning with the stoking of fires that will burn down to coals and ashes. A circular base is placed on the hot hearth, with the ingredients to be cooked – usually veal, lamb, or octopus, plus potatoes – covered with a heavy iron dome that is heaped with embers. The food cooks slowly for several hours, until the meat is fall-apart tender and potatoes are softened in its juices. Bread is also baked under the bell, one of the oldest cooking methods in Croatia. Servings at Konoba Dubrava are enormous – it’s a meat feast best enjoyed with an elasticated waistband, a jug of the house red wine and a digestif of travarica, the local herb-infused grape brandy.
There is also a modern face of Croatian cuisine. Bistro Tavulin is one of a dozen Dubrovnik restaurants to have earned a Michelin nod. Located in a typical stone-walled Old Town house opposite the Rector’s Palace, its tiny rustic-beamed dining room holds just eight tables, with additional pavement seating outside. It’s a family-owned restaurant noted for using local, seasonal ingredients and bringing a modern sensibility to traditional Croatian coastal preparations such as octopus ragout, risotto cooked with white wine, and creamy barley with Adriatic shrimp. I ordered sea bass, the most highly prized local fish, which came on a bed of mashed potatoes studded with black truffles. A dish described simply as “carrots” slender, new season roots, roasted til tender and topped with ricotta, honey, toasted hazelnuts and pesto, was genius. The beverage list offers an extensive selection of Croatian wines.
Chef Mate Matic, Executive Chef at Michelin-recognized Vapor Restaurant in the opulent Hotel Bellevue Dubrovnik, takes Croatian cuisine in a still more modernist direction. I swooned over Adriatic fish (Argyrosomus regius) poached in olive oil, served on an emerald puree of Jerusalem artichoke and green peas, topped with parsley oil and an olive oil foam, and a crab salad studded with shrimp, scallop and lobster, set atop a disk of cucumber carpaccio translucent as stained glass. Dessert — a tower of chocolate mousse in a chocolate shell sporting a turban of hazelnut cream festooned with white chocolate popcorn, was a giddy delight.
Croatia’s Adriatic coast has been a popular vacation destination for Europeans for centuries. The Trsteno Arboretum, located half an hour north of Dubrovnik, dates back to the Renaissance. The estate and its ornamental gardens were laid out as the summer residence of a patrician family in 1494. During the 1960s and ’70s when Croatia was part of Yugoslavia, tourism continued to grow, encouraged by the economic policies of Communist leader Josip Tito. Today, thanks in no small part to the publicity generated by Game of Thrones, Croatia receives in the vicinity 20 million tourists a year. Despite its perennial popularity, this small, proudly independent country has managed to retain its natural beauty, unpretentious charm and historic soul. Get there while it lasts.
