Overlooking the blue Adriatic, Dubrovnik is one of the world’s most charming and picturesque walled cities. Enclosing the whole historic old town is the Dubrovnik’s city walls. It’s walls and fortresses are the most perfectly preserved in Europe and indeed the world, and it is also listed as the UNESCO world heritage site.

We visited Dubrovnik in winter and we are lucky to have seen only a few tourist. In summer, if you intend to visit the city walls, you must buy the entrance tickets few days before to avoid the long queue.

There are 2 different entrance to Dubrovnik Old Town and Walls, the Pile Gate and the Ploce Gate. Dating back to 1537, Pile Gate is a stone gate at the east entrance. We chose the Pile Gate as it has the best view and we wanted the best picture taken before the midday.

• 

Once inside the gate we went straight up to the city walls. There was nobody around and the view is magnificent. In summer I think you would struggle to take a photo without any tourist in it.

Any visit to Dubrovnik must include a full circle hike (around 2 km) of the magnificent 13th-century City Walls. It has taken us more than an hour to complete the hike. The view over the terracotta rooftops of the Old Town and out to sea are stunning and can only be viewed from the city walls itself.

Another reason why Dubrovnik is becoming popular with tourist is because it was the main filming location King’s Landing, a fictional city in Game of Thrones tv series. There were many memorable scenes set along the city walls .

Lovrijenac Fortress also known as Gibraltar of Dubrovnik is located on the detached cliff outside the city wall, on some 30 meters above the sea level.

The views from the wall are stunning. You can’t go to Dubrovnik and not walk along the city walls even though it is very expensive. Dubrovnik walls go around the old town, offer different perspectives on the city and its out skirts, Lokrum island and the sea.

• 

Along the walls, you will see many houses that are not fully restored. Maybe that the reason why the entrance ticket is expensive. In many ways I really do not mind contributing a bit to the restoration of this historical place.

The Old Harbour of Dubrovnik with The Porporela Pier. The water is calm. Its really picturesque here.

We continue our walk after passing the old harbour. The walkway is now climbing up to the highest point of the whole fortress, the Minceta Tower. Along the way you could see the whole town of Dubrovnik from above.

The imposing Minceta Tower is the highest point in Dubrovnik and has gorgeous views over the Old City. We reached Minceta tower in around 1.5 hours with lots of stops to take picture. Once you reach here the walk is almost towards the end as you will see the entrance of the Pile gate on your right.

It has been a great walk. In summer I would believe it could be very hot as there are no shades along the way. All in all, the city walls meet my expectation as being the most complete and well preserved city walls in the world