Dubrovnik Shopping

This tiny little bakery just off the Stradun is the perfect place to get breakfast or a snack and is open long hours (eary morning until midnight!). It's very cheap, too.

What to buy: We regularly got breakfast from here - usually a cream cake for each of us and a small loaf of fresh bread, to be eaten on the steps of the large Onofrian Fountain (sometimes with cheese from the market). Every day there are different cakes so I never got to try all the ones I wanted!

What to pay: For a loaf of bread and two cakes we spent about 14 kn. Definitely a budget option, but so yummy!

If you've read any of my shopping tips on other pages , you'll know that I love textiles - they make ideal souvenirs - as well as usually being part of a long tradition of local customs, they're unbreakable, functional and often an important source of income for the women of the community.
When I first went to Dubrovnik, nearly 40 years ago, there were women selling their handwork from stalls set up in the shade of the city's walls down near the harbour - I was delighted to see they're still there today.

You'll also find stalls set up along the wall-top walkway.

You should be able to pay in euros and US dollars as well as Croatian kunars.

What to buy: Hand embroidered table linen is the main stock. It's great to see that it is local work, albeit obviously produced in some sort of organized cottage industry - everyone has much the same patterns and prices are pretty well the same, but it's attractively done and fairly priced (an embroideress will know exactly how many hours have gone into it)

What to pay: I paid US$90 for a large table cloth with eight napkins - and more than happy with that price.

I love farmers' markets and rarely miss my weekend trip to my local farmers' market in San Rafael, California. This one in Dubrovnik looked every bit as appealing. If we had been staying somewhere with a kitchen, I'm sure I would have loaded up with these delicious looking fruits and vegetables and tried my hand at whipping up a Croatian dinner.

I don't know how often this market is open, but it was open the morning we were there, and was closed down by about 2:00 pm. It was located in a small plaza on the east side of the old town.

En-lu, on Ulitsa Od Puca (the street that leads out of Gunduliceva Square), is a great place to look for foodie souvenirs and gifts from Dubrovnik.

What to buy: Avjar, roasted red peppers, aubergine garlic and oil, and maybe some chilli, is the flavour of Croatia in a jar.

Everyone loves cookies and you'll find some Croatian specialities here, paprenjak - a biscuit flavoured with honey, walnuts and pepper, the recipe is reputed to be hundreds of years old - or perhaps you'd prefer seizis - nut coated biscuits with a strawberry jam filling.

Air-dried ham (prsut) - if your home bases' quarantine regulations allow it, beautiful almond nougat, sour cherry syrup (maraschino cherries originated here in Dalmatia), dried fig jam - they're all typically Croatian, and delicious.

The shop is located in one of the side and narrow streets of the old town and it connects the main street and Prijeko (the restaurant street). It is the warmest and cosiest place I've seen in Dubrovnik!! The interior is designed with wood and stone, old furniture, bricks for the wines, and old traditional objects. It is a place where you can really feel the local ambiance.
The shop has a great selection of local products: olive oils and wines from different Croatian regions, traditional and home made brandies and liquours, delicacies made according to the centuries old recipies, hand made emboidery, and many authentic souvenirs which are actually made in Croatia by local people (not in China)!!

What to buy: Croatia has a very old tradition of wine making and has very good wines made of their known grapes plavac mali, so buying a bottle of wine is a great choice for a good quality souvenir!!

While browsing through the shops on the main promenade, we came across a delightful gift and wine shop. The shop carried many wines produced in Croatia and we were very impressed with the selection. The prices were somewhat comparable to the price of a mid-priced wine in the US.

After paying our traffic ticket fine, and because we were there for only one day, our traffic ticket fine (150 kuna) became our unit of exchange. A good bottle of Croatian wine costs a little less (about 120 kuna) than one Croatian traffic ticket.

What to pay: One traffic ticket or less

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It's a small artwork shop near Pile Gate off on a small alley along Stradun, very nice shop, lovely and cleverly displayed, nice friendly shop owner and reasonably priced. If you would like to get a little handcraft as souvenir, this is the place to visit.

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Look out for the shops called Algoritam and Algebra as you walk down Stradun. These are branches of Croatia's biggest bookstore and they carry a fantastic range of titles - paperback and hardback - in several languages, the best by far of any bookshop in the city (there are branches in Zagreb and Split also). You'll also find a small range of not-so-tacky-as-usual souvenirs. Really eye-catching is the display of masks - they are gorgeous, fabulous colours and designs - and a fraction of the price you'll pay at the other end of the Adriatic in Venice.

What to pay: We paid about 180 kuna for a beautiful half-face cat mask. The price obviously varies according to how elaborate the one you choose is, but these are lovely and they certainly are well priced.