...Taking a break...

I'm going on a trip for couple of days, on which I'll be internetless. :o) I'm back on tuesday, hopefully with lot of new useful tips on surviving in Dubrovnik.

Survival Tip 5: Money transfer services

Yes, we do live in the credit card era, but you might find yourself in a situation when you'll need to receive money from home, and receive it quickly. Your documents might got stolen, you might miscalculated your vacation cost, you have the opportunity to receive money for some work you've done before your vacation... All in all, you might need to receive some money from abroad.

Two major money transfer services are present in Croatia and can be used in Dubrovnik: Western Union and Moneygram.

Western union works with most of the banks, and what's more important, works with Croatian Postal Service (Hrvatska Pošta), which has offices in practically every village in the country. Rates don't vary much (if at all), no matter which Western Union partner you choose. When receiving money through Western Union, you'll be immediately paid out in cash, in Croatian Kuna currency. To check Western Union offices and partners positions worldwide, go to this page.

Moneygram agent is Atlas Travel agency exclusively. In contrary to Western Union, on receiving payment through Moneygram, you will not receive cash, but American Express Traveler Checks, which you can cash in to Croatian Kuna currency without a charge in PBZ (Privredna Banka Zagreb) bank. One PBZ office is placed right in Dubrovnik old town center main street, Stradun (don't worry about finding that street, once you're in old town center it's more than obvious which one it is). You can locate Moneygram agents location worldwide on this page.

Survival Tip 4: You CAN drink water from the city fountains

Most parts of the Croatia have lot of clear and fresh water. Dubrovnik region is no exception, and you'll notice couple of fountains in and around old city town center. Yes, you can safely use water from those to refresh and refill your water bottles.

What's even better and unusual to some western tourists, you can safely drink water from the pipes in the apartments and hotels. But that water you'll usually have to put in a fridge for some time, because pipes will rarely provide you with water which is cool enough to be pleasant at summer heats.

City fountains are whole different story. Water coming out of them is cold, fresh and incredible. If you are water person like I am, you might just wish to come back to south of Croatia to taste it again. Water from fountains is often cooler than water you might buy in a nearby store.

My recommendation is to buy one bottle of water in the store, just so you don't bring empty bottle with you half the way, and then when you're sightseeing old town center, stand by one of the fountains and refill.

Survival Tip 3: Don't waste time seeking adventure with local people

Prior to the war in the 90s, Croatian (back then Yugoslavian) coast was known for phenomenon of “seagulls”. It was local nickname for people (mostly men) who were always prepared to please people of opposite (but also the same) sex however needed and required. Don't get me wrong, it wasn't prostitution, let's just say “seagulls” were open-minded. Very open-minded.

But guess what... “Seagulls” don't live here anymore. Off course, anything is possible, really. You might meet someone you like, you might get beautiful romance or more (some would say less) than that. But generally, Croats don't compete anymore on who will please more woman, and who will do it better. During 10 years of complete lack of tourism, seems they've got to like another sport – compete on who will be a better husband or father. Let's put aside the fact that they were doing better as “seagulls” then as family men or women.

And if you're thinking of paying for good time... I don't want to lie to you, you'll find that. Just keep in mind that prostitution business is (still) illegal in Croatia. You might end up having not so good time if you're caught. And also, Croatia is a part of civilized world, it's not Indonesia – meaning you wont find yourself a pre-teen girl for money who will please all your sexual needs. If you seek that, just skip any part of Europe, please... I hope you'll soon have to skip the rest of the world also to find that, now we speak of that.

So generally, bring your affairs with you, or simply don't look for something from local people. Other tourists are probably more open for having fun with new people than local people are. And you wont lose anything, I can confirm you Dubrovnik is full of beautiful foreign women which are not in any way worse (most of them look far better!) than local girls. I can't judge men, so all you needy women out there will have to find another source for rating them. :o)

In the end, you can ignore this tip (as well as every other one), but there are very high chances you'll simply waste your valuable time.

Survival Tip 2: Rent a scooter

Second tip is somehow connected with the first, and there will be couple more traffic survival tips here in the future also...

Compared to cars, driving a scooter in Dubrovnik is a heaven. You can park it almost anywhere, and there are dedicated scooter parking spots here and there. Also, as you've probably noticed in your home towns, scooter motorcycle gives you ability to go through traffic jams smooth and easy.

And what's best, you don't have to bring your own scooter or buy one here. You can simply rent one - when you need it that is. As I've mentioned before, Dubrovnik is very far from being large metropolis, and most of the things you'll want to see you'll be able to get to on your own feet.

And you will hardly get to any of the Dubrovnik islands by car or scooter anyway.

P. S. Without any intention to do marketing for anyone, there is one rent-a-scooter service 2 minutes of walk away from old town center Ploce entrance.

P. P. S. Conditions for renting a scooter may vary depending on where you rent it. But it's safe to assume you'll need your passport and a widely accepted credit card (AMEX, VISA, MasterCard; somewhere instead of credit card you might be able to leave huge cash deposit as an insurance).

Survival Tip 1: Leave your car at home

But really, Dubrovnik is not car-friendly or driver-friendly city. If you take your favorite iron pet with you on vacation, you'll just bump on crowded tiny roads in a crowded and tiny city. Trust me, you really don't want to do that.

Not only that roads in Dubrovnik are not meant for such traffic that city is experiencing today, but also there are not enough parking spots throughout the wide city region. Things might get slightly better by summer 2007., when new public garage not far from old town center should be finished.

In the meantime, you are doomed to use regular parking spots which are always occupied, and you can safely assume that at any time of day or night, at least 5 other people are waiting to take that spot before you do. Did I mention city government recently raised parkings fines by 100-300%?

So, people, just come here by old-fashioned means: plane, bus or a ship. Your own car will not be of any use to you, and you'll just have to pay (too expensive) parkings fines.

Welcome to Dubrovnik Survival Guide

Imagine this...

You've came to Dubrovnik for a vacation... All goes well, the city itself, and a whole region infact, is wonderful. You've started to like mediteranean food, climate suits you, sea is really blue and not that developed-world-brownish colored...

But! There's always but...

You've managed to hit wrong places couple of times, and by now you have a feeling everyone is trying to charge you for breathing original Dubrovnik air. :o) You've concluded that restaurants are too expensive for your taste, you can't help but wonder why each drive with a Taxi service costs 50 euros... All in all, you ended up broke, and you've just decided to cut your vacation to enormous length of 5 whole days... Not to speak of those parking tickets prices which made you think about going on next vacation on bicycle.

But hold on! You can actually have a good time in Dubrovnik even if you're not Bill Gates. This blog will try to present you what to see and what to avoid in order to have nice, productive and affordable trip to Dubrovnik.

I hope you'll find this info useful, and don't hesitate to contact me in case you do.