London Barcelona Dubrovnik

Five days in Dubrovnik is really A LOT. The walled portion is tiny, you can walk it in one day (pull up a Google map and you'll see how small it is). You can stay inside or outside of the walls, it really depends what kind of atmosphere you want (the center is lovely but plenty of nice, luxury hotels are in areas like Lapad or Babin Kuk). The local buses are very good so you don't absolutely have to stay in the center. I would do day trips for 3 of your 5 days. I went to Korcula and Montenegro. Can't help with restaurants as I went there partly for the seafood and I don't eat other meat. Pasta is often on the menu (with seafood).

Thanks for the tip! Yes we are definitely interested in exploring with day trips while in Dubrovnik to offset the 5 days with other places to see!

I didn't get to do this, but there's a nice cable car that goes to the top of the hill, for a good view of Dubrovnik. One thing I was glad I did was to buy a tourist card of some sort good for 3 (consecutive) days. I used it on all the local buses and the museums - if it wasn't for that card, I may have skipped some of the small museums because they're just not all that well advertised (so having the card "pushed me" to check them out). It was well worth it. I took a ferry to Lokrum, but the kayak idea sounds great. Actually, I wish I could slow down enough to see Dubrovnik in 5 leisurely days...while it is small, it's very relaxing and there are little things to do here and there.

We stayed at the Travelodge while in London. It isn't quaint, but very clean, very comfortable, and very cheap. And, of course they have private baths, plus we decided to get the breakfast so we could start our day faster ( there were 7 of us traveling- everyone liked the hotel just fine). There are many different locations all around London. Also, look up Premier Inn. I think I've heard they might be a bit nicer, again with many locations. Look at a map and get close to a tube station and on a line of most places that interest you. But, even if you change lines, it's no big deal. Transport is easy, although crowded!

Side-trips from Barcelona: Girona would be my #1 by some margin. You have a walkable wall, a beautiful, atmospheric historic district, two cathedrals (English audio guides), and a really good medium-sized museum. I spent several days there and used it as a base for a visit to Cadaques (beyond Figueres, bus required), which is a very pretty whitewashed former fishing village dripping in bougainvillea. If you're thinking "Sounds touristy", you would be right. But it is pretty. Might be pretty deserted and dull outside the warmer months, however.

Sitges is a pretty town south of Barcelona. On the coast, one or two interesting museums. I think there's an active social scene there in peak season.

I assume you've done Montserrat. (I haven't; that's for my next trip to Barcelona.)

The small town of Besalu with a fortified bridge is also a worthwhile destination. Accessible by bus from Girona and I think also from Barcelona. Someone on the forum speaks highly of a one-day bus tour he took from Barcelona that I think hit 3 small towns in Catalunya, one of which was Besalu. That's something you pretty much cannot do in one day on trains and public buses.

Side-trips from Dubrovnik: Mostar, Bosnia-Hercegovina, is the classic one, I think. It's the most "different" option that works well as a day-trip, I guess. I think some would recommend that you peal 2 nights off your planned Dubrovnik time and go to Sarajevo.

Montenegro is also good. Kotor is the main coastal tourist spot, and I enjoyed it a lot until a monumental cruise ship showed up one day; then it wasn't so much fun. Kotor is a walled town, and if you choose to go all the way up that hill on top of the wall, you will have had a good workout. It has been pointed out to me that Kotor bears considerable resemblance to Dubrovnik (I visited them 20 years apart, so it really didn't register with me.), so that probably would not be an essential destination for you. However, before you reach Kotor, not long after you cross the border from Croatia, you pass near Herceg-Novi, which is much less touristy than Kotor. Then you have the magnificent Bay of Kotor, which is truly something to be seen. If all you did was take the bus (or drive) to Kotor and back, it would absolutely be worth it to see the bay. You could stop at Herceg-Novi.

I know Trebinje, Serbia has also been recommended to folks staying in Dubrovnik, but I haven't been there myself.

Rather than watching Wimbledon in a pub, if the weather’s nice then try to find one of the big outdoor screens. Last year Granary Square, just north of Kings Cross station, had a big screen showing Wimbledon plus lots of deck chairs and a bar serving prosecco and strawberries in a lovely canal side setting.

You may see people watching on a big screen actually at Wimbledon - is this what you mean by watching “outside the stadiums”? To access this, you will need ground passes for Wimbledon, and you would need to be in the queue very early (people camp out all night!) If you were okay getting to Wimbledon itself by 6am and queueing for a few hours, you might be able to nab ground passes, but my personal choice would be to find a free big screen somewhere...

With regard to London hotels, Premier Inns are always a good choice for bed comfort & room size, and some of the newer ones have air conditioning too (not a given when it comes to London hotels). Good locations include their hotels at Waterloo, Southwark & Holborn. Avoid the ones that are branded as “Hubs” - the rooms are waaaay smaller.

Thank you so much! That was great advice and tips! I updated my post to just ask for outdoor recommendations. Thanks again :)

There will be loads of places around London showing Wimbledon on outside screens. One New Change will have it on their roof terrace. If you find yourself staying in Southwark (and I would recommend it) there's a bar called The Refinary that has an outdoor screen and deckchairs.