Another travel day today. 250km to cover.
We have a space pre-booked at the Solitudo Camp Site in Durbrovnik, the only camp site, that we could see, in the town.
There was no particular rush to get packed and on the road, so Sue went for a double whammy… an early morning run, followed by a swim in the sea.
We then did a leisurely pack up and got on the road. Our pitch was in the cheap seats at Camp Rozac – group C. Our view of the sea was fine, but off in the distance you could see the boat yards of Trogir. The other side of the campsite was facing the sea with a nice view of the villages on the other shore, and had sunshine all day. We were perfectly happy that we had more shade and our side of the campsite was quieter, away from the restaurant and the bar too.
We also found out that the 17 brit motor-homes in a group were also heading out today, and we met a couple of them on the road as well. It turns out they were part of a tour party. They’d paid €2,000 for a one month tour, tour guides at various locations and camping fees. They still needed to cover the cost of the Chunnel/Ferry and their diesel etc. 16 of the 17 were heading to their next location for a few days, minus one guy who’d broken his arm and couldn’t drive – he was deciding whether to use his insurance to get him home again.
And here we are in the Solitudo camp site.
Considering this is the only camp site in Dubrovnik, we’re pleasantly surprised by how big the pitches are and how quiet it is. It’s probably only 1/4 full and we have plenty of space – even found, what we hope will be, a shady pitch. We did pay for a “comfort” pitch, that is bigger and shadier, but from what we can see, none of the non-comfort pitches are being used at all.
It’s odd in another respect. It feels like it’s been built for 10 times as many people as are here. Camp Rozac was full to bursting and felt like there was considerable demand for spaces. Here feels like it used to be a happening place but everybody decided they didn’t like camping in Dubrovnik anymore.
There’s even a derelict “party zone” at the campsite. A sort of water feature and bar that is now dry and looks like Banksy’s Dismaland 🤷♂️
We heard from a conversation at the last site that since Croatia joined the Euro, people are finding holidaying here much more expensive. Perhaps this site in Dubrovnik is suffering from that.
The loos are a bit of a hike away, but might start using the bikes to nip up there and back.
We also seemed to have chosen a pitch that’s almost, but not quite, out of range for our electric cables. The 2 x 10m cables we brought have been fine everywhere else, but here we’re having to string them behind our neighbours moto home at a bit of a stretch and it looks like someone could run over the coupler. Maybe need to invest in a 20m cable.
After a break once we got to the site, we took a stroll down to the public beach, about 5 minutes walk. The funny thing was, it also felt like it was built to cope with 10 times the number of people. Beach side amenities were either not working or looking decidedly dilapidated and the cafes and restaurants were either closed or empty. Wonder what’s going on.
And of course Sue had a swim!
It is fun to watch the world go by…
There were of course people on the beach…
The bikes have been a real bonus to have with us. It’s given us much more flexibility to rove around while the van is in camping mode. And while we’d have probably gone for walks with no bikes, we’ve often just taken a detour or gone off-piste with the bikes where wouldn’t have done on foot or with non electrics.
Tomorrow we have a 10am, 1.5 hour, Dubrovnik history tour booked. That should be cool! Nimber 6 bus into Pile and the Old Town.
Now 1,948 miles on the odometer.
Harry has arrived at Hogwarts for his OWLS year.
Leave a Comment