Finding Lokrum Island

“Dubrovnik is great, but it is Lokrum Island that I want to bring with me everywhere!” – our host said excitedly as we were discussing life, travel and important things to do in this part of Croatia. And because we need no more reason to be going places, we caught a boat and wobbled away from the walled city of Dubrovnik, by that time filling up with the walking cargo the big cruise boats had delivered for the day.
Reaching the Island of Lokrum requires a 15 min boat ride. There is a monastery, castle tower and a botanic garden, but none alone will be worth the cost of the ride. People come here for the peace and quiet and to escape the insanity of the tourist site on the mainland.
And there are no cars.
And it has a lot of peafowls roaming around.
I wanted to spend the day sprawled somewhere, improving my trucker’s tan line.
Then as we arrived, it turns out that Mr.Blab wanted to climb to the tower. Fine, I thought in a fit of stupid generosity. An earthquake and the recent war have ensured that the way up consists of a struggle not to trip on the crumbling stones that have once been a path. It was warm. I was in flip flops. The kids were not excited either.
To the tunes of mumbles and grumples we arrived to discover that the view is not that special.
On the way down, one knee took a hit as Little B tripped. Tensions increased.
Then the path we were going to take was closed, so we took the long way around.
By the time we got back to the main part, we had hungry children chewing on our hands and a general gloom had taken over the excitement we carried with us on the boat.
We stuffed the kids with the cheapest sandwiches we could find from the limited options and dragged our feet around the island some more to discover that the only ‘beach’ is for nudists only; the rocky part of the island was windy, while the other side consists of big boulders, which soon would be in shade. Any romantic ideas we had for the day had long drifted away.
Determined we ventured into the windy side and found a spot amongst the rocks.
With giggling kids in the slippery rock pool and sun beaming on me, I felt whole again.
And this is where things got weird. Real weird. Almost just right
Temporarily blinded by the solar rays, I was competing with my daughter on stand planking, and not doing too bad ;)
Out of nowhere a crazed nut showed up and started vadering us, thankfully Miss Fab swiftly took control of the situation.
For awhile.
I tried to help, but Dude Weirdo attacked just as I was about to nag him to death.
After a few blows and forces flying around (it was crazy!), Little B saved us all by vadering the enemy into oblivion. His body still lies somewhere on the island in the form of green slime. Ewwww
Think of Lokrum Island as a rough blank plate on which you have to make your own experience. It took as awhile to figure that out, but once we did we loved our time spent there.
__________
Few practical details:
Take the boat from the port in the South part of the old town of Dubrovnik (42.640967,18.111314)
Family return ticket for the boat – 140 kunas ( from the guy that sits behind a fold-out table on the pier)
There are 2-3 places to eat, but it is best to bring a picnic
If you want to climb up the hill, bring your non-flipflop shoes
Have the right expectations and you will have a great time
:)))
Aaah – finally that Twitter comment makes sense! You are a silly bunch, you Aussies ;-)
But why for Gods sake would you not pull blank on the beach? I seem to remember a cute little naked bottom somewhere in the Asias… When in Europe, do as the Europeans do – at least here in East Germany, nudist bathing is quite common (although not usually compulsory, I admit).
Jenny, the little ones will pull blank anywhere. The teen definitely not. And the grown ups… frankly I hear enough about how flabby my belly is from the kids as it is, I don’t want to hear more of their truths ;)
I think the place looks awesome, peaceful and did you say windy? And it’s actually pretty nice that you have the place all by yourselves.
Wow, looks like Lokrum island is my kind of place. Beautiful pictures too – looks like you all had a blast :)
Cool blog! Is your theme custom made or did you download it from somewhere?
A design like yours with a few simple adjustements would really make
my blog shine. Please let me know where you got your design.
Thank you
Pattaya, it is custom made. I worked with a friend of mine to make it the way I like it.
Sorry, I am not much help. I hope you find what you are looking for.
Oh wow, haven’t been here for a while
too funny
Nice to know you are still having such fun
What an awesome place. I like the pictures!
The Island is beautiful with spectacular views and tracks.Locate a quiet spot and just chill out. It was exciting to hike up to the fort. The trails were a little bit rough. some were closed with very little observed.More Photos: http://www.worldfortravel.com/2013/06/23/island-of-lokrum-croatia/
Wow, I love the pictures.
Beautiful pictures! You are really an artist :)
Your site still boggles my mind. Wow! I wish you had met my better half. Donna loves your photos even more than I do.
Are you going to look up Tammy in Costa Rica?
Hugs,
Malcolm
Malcolm, I really wish we could have met Donna. Next time ;)
When we come close to her, we are definitely looking her up. But it wont be for another few months.
Hugs from all of us. (we are still wearing our bracelets!)
I am really impressed with your writing skills as well as wih the layout on your weblog.
Is this a paid theme or did you customize it yourself?
Anyway keep up the nice quality writing, it’s rare to see
a nice blog like this one nowadays.
Ira, thank you. The look is based on a free theme, which a friend of mine and I customized to fit it to my needs. I have been looking for it lately, as I need a few of the pieces again, but I think they stopped giving it out.
A day trip to Lokrum was all that we needed to find peace and tranquility ….away from the hordes of tourists in Dubrovnik!
http://tickingthebucketlist.blogspot.in/2014/09/dubrovnik-day-trip-to-lokrum.html
What’s an amzing pictures thanks a lot for sharing ;)
So cool and funny pics..love the nature pool. it made my day!
Happy travel