This past January we spent a magical few days in Dubrovnik, the aptly titled ‘Pearl of the Adriatic’ on Croatia’s southern coastline. During our time there we saw few other tourists, spent a total of zero minutes in queues or lines, and spent less money than anywhere else in Europe. The sun shone for (almost) the entire time we spent there, and the temperature didn’t dip below 5°C during our entire stay. Writing this from the somewhat colder climes of northern Europe I’m sorely wishing I was still there, soaking in the sun, possibly going for a swim, while the rest of the continent seems to be snowing. Take my advice; go to Dubrovnik in winter.

THE PROBLEM

Dubrovnik has experienced a colossal boom in tourism in recent years. With the popularity brought upon the town by Game of Thrones, the increase in Sail Croatia and an increased presence of Cruise Liners visiting, tourist numbers have never been higher. A recent report suggested that tourism was increasing by around 7% each year, with over 1 million people visiting Dubrovnik in 2018. The vast majority of these tourists visited during the summer months of June, July and August, with only a small fraction during the winter months of December, January and February. In August of 2018 a staggering 10,338 visitors entered Dubrovnik on one day alone, a number horribly staggering. In 2016, 529 cruise ships docked at the port, up from 475 in 2015, bringing in 799,916 passengers alone.

If you’ve not been to Dubrovnik, let me describe why this is a problem. The old town of Dubrovnik is built to house about 5,000 people, give or take. While greater Dubrovnik is home to about 40,000 Croatians, only a fraction live in the Old Town, and the town is simply unable to accommodate such a volume of visitors. Dubrovnik, whilst very pretty, is extremely small, and covers only a small area, with only a few major tourist activities and sites. Thus, all of these tourists are crammed together in medieval streets, on thin walls, and clamouring to get the exact same photos on the Stradun, or through the many instagrammable gates.

Yet, all of this comes with a cost. City officials have had to instate ‘one way’ pedestrian streets to accommodate for the volume, and the city walls can now only be explored in a clock-wise direction. During the summer, it can take up to an hour to walk the Stradun, the main street running the length of town. The many fantastic churches, monuments and city walls have started to degrade due to the numbers of visitors climbing upon them, and UNESCO is currently reviewing the city’s heritage-listed status. Queues stretch for hours during summer, with many visitors sweating in the baking hot sun for up to three hours to visit the city walls, where they proceed to continue to bake.

To make matters worse, the vast majority of the visitors to the city arrive on cruise ships, thus spend little money on food in town, and usually only visit for around 3-5 hours before embarking their boat, thus putting pressure on the city’s infrastructure without actually buying anything. At the time of writing, only about 1000 locals still actually live in the Old town, the majority having been forced out by the noise, crowds and intolerability of living in Dubrovnik during summer.

WHY YOU SHOULD GO IN WINTER

As mentioned above, Carlie and I spent a beautiful three days in Dubrovnik this past January. During our time there not a single cruise ship docked at the port, only one tour-bus arrived, and we didn’t have to queue for any attractions such as the city walls, museum or churches. We were left to take unadulterated photos of the many gorgeous locations, and were able to get into any restaurant we wanted. We were able to actually chat with locals, whom helped us figure out the above problem with summer tourism, and were actually able to get to know the city somewhat. All of the many laneways and alleys were largely deserted, and we were able to freely stroll about without being jostled by ignorant cruise-ship goers. The price of food was considerably cheaper than in summer, with us consistently receiving a ‘winter discount,’ and the price of accommodation was about half what we would have paid in summer.

BUT WHAT ABOUT THE WEATHER?

Dubrovnik is located in the far south of Croatia, towards the border with Montenegro. The entire old town is just above sea-level, and the town sits on a latitude comparable to Sicily, Sardinia and Barcelona, not places known for their experience of extreme cold. The average temperature during January hovers between 8°C and 12°C, and only gets warmer during February. During our time in Dubrovnik, we were mostly wearing t-shirts, and even got slightly sweaty climbing the city walls. Do note; at this stage, it was snowing in Slovenia. We spent a glorious few days exploring the old town, experiencing the kind of warmth that almost permitted a swim.

While there may be some rainfall during the winter months, there is rarely more than 12 cm of rainfall on average for each winter month. While we experienced a brief shower during our visit, this was short-lived, and didn’t dampen our plans, as there were a range of restaurants and bars open to provide shelter during the rain. Dubrovnik is likely to experience sunny days 14 of the 31 days in January, and the cloud cover we experience during our stay rarely lasted more than a few hours. Most of the days we spent in Dubrovnik were extraordinarily sunny, with picturesque views of the old town and the Adriatic beyond. I took more sun-tinged photographs in Dubrovnik than anywhere else in Europe, this, during the coldest month of the year.

WILL ANYTHING BE OPEN?

This is probably the only downside to visiting Dubrovnik during winter. Many of the restaurants and café’s shut between January and March. However, much of the city remains open, and all of the major tourist activities, such as Fort Lawrence, Mount Srd and the City Walls can easily be visited during winter. Most museums remain open throughout the year, and all of the major sites can still be seen. While some restaurants and bars will have shut up shop, you’ll be able to easily find a meal at many of the locations just off the Stradun. Buzz Bar is open year round, as are the many Irish Pubs that dot the city. EWhen we were there several of the major restaurants and cafes had closed for a month, but there were still heaps and heaps of decent options to choose from. If you visit in winter, there will be more than enough open to occupy you.

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