Everyone visits Dubrovnik in July. We arrived in October, right as the last cruise ships were leaving for the season. What we found: a walled medieval city almost entirely to ourselves.
The first two months of a long Dubrovnik stay taught us something specific. The Old Town is a completely different place when the crowds leave.
Renting an apartment near Dubrovnik’s Pile Gate
We stayed just outside the walls, in the Bellevue area near Pile Gate. Great location on paper. Real Dubrovnik character. Hosted by Zlatan. Ten minutes on foot to Stradun. Everything you’d want from a first Dubrovnik stay.
Except the apartment itself was rough. Up a serious hill (Dubrovnik is built on stone and gravity, and this address didn’t spare us). And once we got inside, it was a mess. Not what the photos had suggested. The kind of place you spend the first three days deciding whether to make it work or start looking for the next place.
We made it work for two months. Then we moved. More on that in the next post.
Life in Dubrovnik during low season
The Old Town in autumn is the version most people never see. Cafés stay open for locals, not tour groups. Stradun echoes when you walk it late at night. The city walls, which cost real money in summer, are a bargain in the low season.
We fell in love with Pošip wines at D’Vino Wine Bar, which quickly became our regular spot. When you’re staying near the walls for two months, you don’t need a lot of bars. You need one great one.
The cable car ride to the top of Mount Srđ was a welcome break from the daily climb home. Though we’re still not sure how you name a mountain with no vowels.
A typical day in low-season Dubrovnik
Coffee at a small local place near the harbor. A morning walk on the walls when the light was low and the sky was that specific autumn blue. Groceries at the small shop near our building. The walk down into the Old Town for whatever the day required, and back up the hill home.
Evenings at D’Vino for a glass of Pošip. Dinner at a small konoba where the menu was Croatian only. Bed early because Dubrovnik in November is a city that goes to sleep.
We took a quick getaway to Split at one point. Ended up going twice actually, once by plan and once because our plane back to Dubrovnik couldn’t land and Split had to do. That coastal bus ride down from Split isn’t one we planned to take twice, but the views are breathtaking.
Dubrovnik: our verdict after two months near the walls
Two months near the walls of Dubrovnik in the low season is one of the most quietly perfect long stays we’ve done. The city returned to itself. The people who actually live there stopped being outnumbered by the people who don’t. And we started to understand what Dubrovnik is when it’s not being a tourist destination.
The apartment situation is what pushed us to move for the second half of the trip. Sometimes a stay in a rough apartment is what shows you what you actually want next. In our case, it was Lapad Bay. That story comes next.
Dubrovnik long-stay stats
- Duration: Two months, autumn into early winter
- Neighborhood: Bellevue / Pile Gate area (just outside the Old Town walls)
- Cost tier: Cheap in low season
- Walkability: Walk everywhere, but expect a hill home
- Wifi: Reliable
- Cat-friendly: Yes
- Apartment: Would we book this one again? No. But the neighborhood was right.
- Best for: Off-season stays, history obsessives, cardio enthusiasts
- Would return: Yes, but to Lapad next time
Book the stay: Our Dubrovnik apartment on Airbnb →
