Dreamy Dubrovnik: Perfect for Solo Female Travellers!

Follow Emily's experience as a solo female traveller in dreamy Dubrovnik. You'll be booking your flight before you know it!

Emily sat on the city walls with view over the ocean

View of Dubrovnik's red terra cotta roofs through a hole in the city walls

Picture this:

A random Tuesday morning,

8 am,

or 11 am, maybe you slept in.

You step out of your guesthouse right into the centre of Dubrovnik.

A soft, refreshing breeze meets your cheeks,

whilst the morning sun is reflecting off the shiny beige stone.   

There is a smell of fresh sea salt in the air,

and you’re wearing a comfy loose-fitting outfit ready to cool you down from the heat of the day to come.

You walk 20 steps to the nearest bakery,

take a bite out of a freshly made buttery croissant.

It has a surprise sweet pistachio filling.

20 more steps and you’re filling up your water bottle from Dubrovnik’s ancient Onofrio’s Fountain. 

The water is crisp and cold, waking you up for the day.

It tastes better than any water you’ve ever had,

And you’re thinking about the day ahead of you, which is packed full of exciting Travel Queen activities! 

You walk slowly back to the guesthouse, nursing your croissant and fresh water, and see the group of other Travel Queens who you know will fill your day with laughter, unforgettable memories and women supporting women all the way!

See my description come to life in the video above! (P.S. ignore the flashing shop lights, it was a camera malfunction!)

This is exactly what I experienced in Dubrovnik. The simple chore of popping out to the local bakery to pick up breakfast, became a relaxing and peaceful outing which started my day off perfectly. Now don’t tell me that popping to your local corner shop in the UK feels the same as that! 

Travel Queen’s 'Croatia Adventure’ and ‘Balkan Adventure’ both have stops in Dubrovnik, because it really is somewhere not to miss! With settings from Game of Thrones, beautiful sunset bars on the stunning Adriatic coastline and architecture dating back to the 7th century, you have to visit this serene Old Town!

One of the amazing parts about joining a group tour, is that you get the safety of travelling with a group as well as the rush of adrenaline of travelling alone. Travel Queen’s women only group tours have plenty of time for you to go off and explore alone, and Dubrovnik is a pretty amazing place for solo female travellers! If you step off the main streets, the narrow, tiny alleys have a life of their own. They were so quiet, and yet, through the open windows, I heard the gentle sounds of Dubrovnik’s locals going about their day.

Please watch the video above to feel the peace I felt whilst walking these streets and listening to the birds, conversation and instruments echoing up and down the stone steps of these tiny walkways. It was like entering a maze and dipping into different lives with every step. One step and I hear children laughing, another step and I hear a shower running, another step and I hear the host of a Croatian breakfast show on the television. There must have also been some flute or clarinet lessons taking place nearby because those soft mutterings of music became the soundtrack to my mini-adventure. On my return to the main part of the Old Town, I realised I had been inside a whole other world with only my thoughts and the gentle sounds of Dubrovnik to worry about.

Washing hanging across a small alleyway in Dubrovnik's Old Town

Washing hanging up high between two buildings across the alleyway in Dubrovnik

View of red terra cotta roofs traditional in Dubrovnik through the gap of the Old Town's alleyway

One of the activities, organised by our tour leader and owner of Travel Queen, Mel, was the walk around the Old Town's city walls. This was a great introduction to Dubrovnik, allowing you to see over the whole Old Town and its blanket of beautiful red terra cotta roofs. If you’re on the Balkan Adventure, this is the first activity of your tour and is a lovely way to get to know your fellow Travel Queens that you will spend the following 7 days with. Again, I have to compare this city to a maze as it guides you intentionally along the very top of its narrow walls with a cliff side to your right and a clear view of its labyrinthian design and structured streets to your left. It then takes you up and down random blocks of steps and in and out of ancient observation holes used back when the walls were a protective system for the city.

As the night came, we made our way across the Old Town towards the only bar you will ever need for sunset in Dubrovnik: BUŽA BAR! Being a combination of popular tunes and the relaxing bright red sunset, the atmosphere was pure bliss. The whole place is built onto the side of the cliff, outside of the Old Town walls, which you pass under to get in. The multiple levels mean that almost everyone gets a perfect view of the sunset and some even chose to climb onto the rocks to get higher. And when I thought the sunset couldn’t get any more beautiful, a traditional pirate-style ship sailed gently across the horizon perfectly timed with the sun setting, creating a magnificent photo opportunity, and yes, I sure did post that straight to my Instagram story!

Everyone was happy, dancing, chatting with friends, applauding after the sun had set and some even opted to cliff jump, with the support and attention of the audience cheering them on. However, there was one man who honestly took about 20 minutes to jump! He was so scared and counted down multiple times but never took the leap. After a LOT of encouragement, and some heckling, from the crowd, the man finally built up the courage and jumped (see the video below!). But here is a little gossip for you… I’m pretty sure the man was a performer, riling up the crowds for entertainment and providing a storyline for the bar’s marketing! Either way, it worked and the atmosphere was on point! Because I was on both the Croatia and Balkan Adventures, I could experience this sunset twice and on both nights there was a performing cliff jumper and the pirate-style ship gliding past at sunset, so it's likely that you will have the same beautiful experience that we did!

I have spoken with many people since returning from Dubrovnik and almost all of them said that it was one of their favourite places to visit, everyone is obsessed with it this year, and it is clear why! I would definitely go back multiple times, it was so nice. And of course, it goes without saying that the usual amenities like beach cleanliness, crystal clear sea, delicious food and welcoming locals, were all top quality too! I could write a whole other blog just about the mouth-watering Croatian food, and don’t get me started on the truffle pasta, but let's save that for another time :)

Needless to say, if you want to experience all the above this year, you have to book your Travel Queen tour ASAP! You even have two options to choose from: the Croatia Adventure or the Balkan Adventure, depending on what type of holiday you would like. OR, if you want longer being an independent solo female traveller in Dubrovnik, you can book BOTH tours and get a stunning 5 nights in Dubrovnik, which is a beautiful amount of time to have there! Just drop us a message, email or give us a ring and we will happily explain more and guide you towards the tour which is best for you.

See you in Dubrovnik!

Best wishes,

Emily x